Multiple challenges facing REITs

By RACHAEL KAM

Managers are looking at various options to raise capital

LIKE many other asset classes, Malaysia’s real estate investment trusts (REITs) have been sold down and are trading below their net asset values (NAV), made worse by the softening property market and weakening rent yields.

The challenges facing REITs is not only the negative market sentiment towards equity, but also the inability to raise capital due to tightening credit.

Stewart LaBrooy

Despite the challenging economic conditions this year, REIT managers in the country are confident they can mitigate the impact by looking at various options to raise capital, acquiring properties prudently and focusing on existing assets to ensure strong tenancy.

Axis REIT Managers Bhd chief executive officer and executive director Stewart LaBrooy said part of the growth process of a REIT was to continuously acquire properties to enlarge its portfolio.

He said Axis REIT would not discount the possibility of future acquisitions this year although it may not be as intensive as 2008.

“But any potential acquisitions will need to be yield-accretive,” he told StarBiz.

With the reclassification of Axis REIT as syariah-compliant last December, the REIT hoped to appeal to a broader investment base of both conventional and syariah funds locally and abroad to facilitate Axis REIT’s future capital raising exercises, he added.

Currently, Axis REIT’s focus is on local properties as LaBrooy believes there are still many “reitable” assets in Malaysia.

Datuk Jaafar Abdul Hamid

He said many companies were exploring strategies such as sale and leaseback, which would help release cash back into the business and operations.

“In addition, we are proactively engaging with property developers or contractors to produce more reitable assets,” he added.

Axis REIT, which owns 19 properties, has put on hold its acquisition plans until further capital can be raised. LaBrooy said the company had always tried to maintain a policy to cap its gearing level at 40%.

He said its gearing level was at about 34% now, which means it can still borrow RM260mil.

Axis REIT is also proceeding with refurbishment activities at three of its properties - Menara Axis, Nestle House and Crystal Plaza - which will cost about RM8mil.

The refurbishment is aimed at attracting tenants and potential clients, and sustain asset valuations.

Atrium REIT Managers Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Paul Lim said the earnings outlook for REITs for the first half year of 2009 was expected to be stable.

“But beyond that I am holding (off) optimism (until) 2010.

“The outlook is still unclear as the actual impact of the global financial meltdown is not yet felt, particularly on the rental squeeze (as) tenancies are still intact. Lower borrowing costs now may boost earnings a bit more. At the entry price today, our net earning per unit yield is in excess of 11%.

“I think it’s attractive compared with fixed deposit rates, which (are affected) by the reduction in the overnight policy rate by 75 basis points to 2.5%,” he said.

Currently, Atrium REIT is looking at logistics-based industrial assets.

Although it was in preliminary discussion with a few potential landlords, it had no plans yet for new acquisitions so far, said Lim.

For Hektar Asset Management Sdn Bhd, the manager of Hektar REIT, most of its income comes from leases to retailers.

Its retail mall properties have achieved relatively stable income, with only 26% of Hektar REIT’s monthly income tenancies expiring in 2009, while the rest of the rental income is already locked for longer term.

Hektar chairman and chief executive officer Datuk Jaafar Abdul Hamid said it would continue to focus on retail assets and grow its asset base via acquisitions.

He foresaw huge opportunities in shopping centres throughout Malaysia as Hektar REIT only owned 1.1 million sq ft of shopping centre space now, compared with a total of close to 90 million sq ft of shopping centre net lettable area (space for rent) in Malaysia.

Jaafar said Hektar REIT would develop new properties on a private basis through the group’s private company which is focused on developing retail assets as REITs are not allowed to develop new properties.

“We aim to develop and own world class retail shopping centres serving the needs of ordinary Malaysians,” he said.

Meanwhile, GLM REIT Management Sdn Bhd, the manager of Tower REIT, said it would continue to inject good quality and yield-accretive prime office assets in the Klang Valley into the REIT, but with greater caution and discernment.

“Our growth strategy emphasises on value and focuses on prime office buildings while maintaining uncompromising criteria for new acquisitions,” says GLM REIT chief executive officer Chan Wan Leong.

Tower REIT would continue to adopt optimal gearing levels and will actively manage the risks associated with changes in interest rates and capital markets, he said.

Chan believed that the REIT sector was still at a relatively early stage of development as there were not many players and the challenge was how to attract more REIT players and investors into the market.

“This in turn will improve liquidity and add vibrancy in the industry,” he said.

While there are challenges, Tower REIT is confident the market will improve eventually, especially with the Government’s support through its stimulus packages and fiscal policies.

Thestar

主页 资讯 中国 美国 亚洲 欧洲 奇闻轶事 专栏 图片 特别报道 医药健康 博客 投资 更多路透产品 路透邮件订阅 RSSRSS Feed 窗体化插件(widget) 路透金融词典 专业产品 金融产品 媒体产品 企业产品 关于我们 健康生活方式可减少三分之一癌症几率-研究

路透伦敦2月26日电（记者 Michael Kahn）---国际研究人员周四宣布，更健康的生活可以将富裕国家的常见癌症发病率减少约三分之一，将穷国常见癌症发病率减少约四分之一。

研究结果显示，与此同时，在某些国家更好的饮食、更多的锻炼和控制体重可以将结肠癌和乳腺癌的发病率降低逾40%。研究呼吁政府和个人采取更多行动，减少全球癌症死亡数量。

“目前全球每年有约1,100万人被诊断患有癌症，近800万人死于癌症，”领导该研究的Michael Marmot说道。他来自世界癌症研究基金会和美国癌症研究所。

“但癌症在很大程度上是可以避免的。”

有23位专家参与了该研究，分析了世界各地12种常见癌症的发生率，以及饮食、锻炼和体重数据，以确定这些因素是如何对肾癌、口腔癌、肺癌、胆囊癌和其他癌症产生影响的。

研究人员发现，更健康的生活将导致英国结肠癌发病率下降43%，乳腺癌发病率下降42%，美国结肠癌和乳腺癌分别下降45%和38%。

他们建议人们多食用水果、蔬菜和整粒谷物，少吃红肉、奶制品和脂肪。这一建议与政府和世界卫生组织健康专家的建议一致。（完）

路透

How long should investors hold their stock investments?

How long should investors hold their stock investments?

OFTEN we hear some financial experts say we need to hold stocks long term, especially during the weak stock market situation like what we are experiencing currently.

Some gurus say the “buy and hold” strategy is the best investment strategy. However, some retail investors may argue that “buy and hold” is not suitable in Malaysia because if they pick the wrong stocks, some companies might even get delisted after a while.

The question of how long to hold has always been on the mind of investors when they purchase any stocks. Given the present weak economic and stock market conditions, some investors may lose patience as they do not know when the market will recover again.

In this article, we will look at the number of years that we need to hold our stock investments in Malaysia. We use the KL Composite Index average daily indices to compute the stock returns.

The following data was provided by Dynaquest Sdn Bhd. With its permission, we will provide the historical rolling annual compounded returns from 1970 to 2008.

The table shows the rolling historical annual compounded returns for holding the stocks for one, three, five, seven and 10 years.

It shows the average annual compounded returns and risks (measured by standard deviation) regardless of any starting or ending dates.

For example, the 25% returns in the second row and the second column of the table was the annual compounded returns of investing for one year from 1970 to 1971. The three-year returns of 56.7% was what you would’ve got if you started your investment in 1970 and ended in 1973.

If you started investing in 1970 and held it for five years (up to 1975), seven years (up to 1977) and 10 years (up to 1980), your annual compounded returns will be 16%, 14% and 21.8% respectively.

In terms of the overall average returns, except for one-year and three-year holding periods of 13.4% and 9.8% respectively, we notice that the annual compounded returns for five-year, seven-year and 10-year holding periods were almost the same, about 8% per annum.

However, the longer we hold our investment, the lower the risks that we face, which are measured by using standard deviations.

For example, if we hold our investment for one year, the standard deviation is 30.8%.

However, if we hold it a bit longer to three, five and seven years, the standard deviation will drop to 16.8%, 11.4% and 8.6% respectively.

For 10-year holding, the standard deviation is 6.6%. Based on two standard deviations, we are 95% confident that our returns will range from -5.1% (8.1% - 2 x 6.6%) to 21.3% (8.1% + 2 x 6.6%).

This is supported by the minimum returns of -2% and the maximum return of 23.6% for 10-year holding periods.

In conclusion, we need to hold stocks long term. We may not need to hold them up to 10 years.

However, we need to understand that we will face very high volatility on returns if we invest only for one year.

Besides, we need to make sure that we are buying good fundamental stocks in order to avoid poor quality stocks that are not suitable for long-term investment.

Ooi Kok Hwa is an investment adviser and managing partner of MRR Consulting
Thestar

Bonds provide capital preservation and stable income stream

By CECILIA KOK

Bonds may lack the glamour of equities, but the high probability of a bond investment in preserving the investor’s capital and in generating a predictable stream of income is appealing to many, especially in the current volatile bear market.

However, direct bond investments are currently not as accessible to most retail investors as it is to institutional investors and high net worth individuals. (A high net worth individual is defined by the Securities Commission as one whose total net personal assets exceed RM3mil and has a minimum principal investment value of RM250,000.)

Liza Mohd Nor

Most retail investors’ exposure to the bond market is through their investments in unit trusts, where the minimum initial investment required for bond funds is only RM1,000, compared with the minimum amount of RM250,000 required for direct bond investment.

Currently, local institutional investors such as the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and other financial institutions, including fund management and insurance companies, are the main investors in the Malaysian bond market.

Issued by government bodies such as Bank Negara for the Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) market and private corporations for the Private Debt Securities (PDS) market, bonds are debt instruments that the issuer uses to raise finances for various purposes.

For instance, the government may issue bonds to finance its economic stimulus programmes such as the highly anticipated “mini-budget”, or to refinance its maturing debts. Corporate issuers may also want to refinance their maturing debts through the issuance of new bonds or they may want to raise funds for some of their major projects such as the construction of roads.

When an investor buys a bond, they are essentially lending money to the issuer for a period of time. The due date of the bond refers to its maturity period, which could range from one to 20 years.

As a “lender”, the bondholder will be paid a certain percentage of return called the coupon rate, and throughout the life of the bond, the investor will earn a periodic income based on the coupon rate.

Upon maturity of the bond, the investor will get back his principal amount.

Stable returns

According to CIMB Private Banking head of investment and product development Cho Chuan Yu, more investors are likely going to flock to the bond market in search of safe haven because bond investments provide “the certainty of returns and capital protection”.

Given that bonds are relatively less risky investments compared with equity investments, there is a common misconception that bonds do not give good returns. But the truth is, bond investments can provide good returns in the form of higher yields, particularly with corporate bonds.

This is because corporate bonds are generally more risky than government-guaranteed bonds. In other words, the risk of a corporation defaulting on the bond it issued is higher compared to the risk of a government defaulting on its bond. Hence, investors are paid a higher yield, or interest, for undertaking the riskier bond.

“Corporate bonds give investors a good opportunity to invest in some good-quality companies that offer attractive yields,” Cho explains.

Although there is the risk of the issuer defaulting, such incidences have been insignificant in the Malaysian bond market. This is particularly true for bonds with an A rating and above. (Among the corporate issuers in the Malaysian bond market are Binariang GSM Sdn Bhd, PLUS Bhd, RHB Capital Bhd, Tenaga Bhd and YTL Corp Bhd as well as a foreign issuer, the Export Import Bank of Korea.)

Bonds with good ratings and shorter maturity period can also be easily traded, compared with bonds with poorer ratings and longer maturity periods. In other words, investors do not necessarily have to wait until the maturity period of the bond to dispose of it.

As long as there is demand for the paper, investors can easily sell it back to the market. If the value of the bond is high during the time of disposal, investors can easily make a good profit.

Bond values will increase when interest rates fall, and vice versa. Currently, interest rates are at a cyclical low due to the easing of the monetary policy by the government to help sustain the weakening economy.

RAM Ratings Services Bhd chief executive officer Liza Mohd Nor says the lower interest rate environment is favourable to both issuers and investors in the local bond market.

“It is an opportune time for corporate bond issuers to capitalise on the lower cost of borrowing, while investors could reap higher total returns on their bondholdings as bond prices increase,” she says.

“While the higher credit risk premiums may partly offset the lower interest rates, it may still be a worthwhile exercise for corporations with good credit standing,” Liza adds.

Yields could spike

Citigroup, in its recent report, said the cuts in EPF contribution rates and the widening fiscal deficit were raising supply risk in the Malaysian bond market.

Firstly, the cut in EPF contributions means inflows to EPF would be reduced and hence less funds for investment purposes. Given the fact that EPF is an important source of demand for MGS, this would likely push yields upwards to attract more investors to buy government bonds.

On the other hand, the widening fiscal deficit would deteriorate the ratings of Malaysian bonds, as seen when Fitch Ratings recently revised its outlook on ringgit-denominated debts to “negative” from “stable” previously.

That could potentially lead to further sell-off in foreign holdings of Malaysian bonds, resulting in further weakness in ringgit and cause yields to spike.

As of November last year, foreign investors held around 12% of RM288bil worth of total outstanding government bonds, including bills, compared with 44% of RM255bil in April last year.

Their investments in Malaysian bonds are generally skewed towards government bonds with relatively short maturity periods of less than five years.

Maybank Investment Bank Bhd head of fixed-income research Tan Chee Wee explains that when foreign investors buy Malaysian bonds, they are also looking to make a gain from the ringgit appreciation, besides the bond yields.

So, high yields aside, foreign investors will find more incentive to buy Malaysian bonds when the ringgit is on the appreciating trend against their currencies.

Tan says investors are now looking towards the announcement of the “mini-budget” next month to get a clear indication of how wide the fiscal deficit is going to be.

He foresees that the issuance of Malaysian government bonds this year to be around RM79bil, after taking into consideration a fiscal deficit that could rise to RM37bil and total government debt maturities of RM42bil.

Last year’s fresh issuance of government bonds were estimated to be worth a total of RM60bil. Maybank expects the total gross value of corporate bond issuances this year to decelerate to between RM35bil and RM40bil.

This compares with total gross PDS issuances of RM45.1bil from January to October last year. RAM, on the other hand, projects corporate bond issuance this year to total between RM20bil and RM25bil.

Liza says: “The bond market remains attractive to large corporations that require funding for long-term capital-intensive projects and the financing of the maturing debts”.

Thestar

Why selling is a common problem

Why selling is a common problem

2009/02/04

* People tend to sell winners too soon and hold on to losers too long

You will find that regardless of whether the market is running hot or is coming down, there are still a lot of people out there who either sell their stocks too early only to realize that the prices continue to soar, or hold on to losers for too long only to see them continue to bleed further.

From a behavioural finance standpoint, this phenomenon is held by Hersh Shefrin and Meir Statman (1985) as the "disposition effect". This was discovered from their research entitled, "The disposition to sell winners too early and ride losers too long: theory and evidence".

Based on research, individual investors are more likely to sell stocks that have gone up in value, rather than those that have gone down. By not selling, they are hoping that the price of the losers will eventually go back to their purchase price or even higher, saving them from experiencing a painful loss.

In the end, most investors will end up selling good quality stocks the minute the prices move up and hold on to those poor fundamental stocks for the long term, while the performances of these stocks continue to deteriorate.

* People tend to forget their original objectives

In stock market investment, there are two types of investment activities, trading versus investing. Trading means "buy and sell" while investing means "buy and hold". The stock selection criteria for these two types of activities are entirely different.

Most of the time those involved in trading will choose stocks based on factors which will affect the price movement in short term, paying less attention to the companies' fundamentals whereas those involved in investment will go for good quality stocks which are more suitable for long-term holding.

However, you will find that many people get their objectives mixed up in the process. They get distracted by external factors so much so that some panic when the market goes in the direction that is not in line with their expectation, and as a result, end up selling the stocks that they find too expensive to buy back later.

On the other hand, some force themselves to change the status of the stocks that were originally meant for short-term trading into long-term investment as they are unable to face the harsh fact that they have to sell the stocks at a loss, even though they know that the stocks are not good fundamental stocks that can appreciate in value.

So, when to sell then?

There are few different schools of thoughts on this. Based on the advice from the investments gurus, like Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffet and Philip Fisher, when you buy a stock, you need to make sure that you understand the companies that you are buying, and these are good fundamental stocks, which will provide good income and appreciate in value in long term.

Therefore, you will be treating your stock purchase as a business you bought, which is meant for long term. You should not be affected by any temporary price movement due to overall market volatility.

You will only consider selling the company if the growth of the company's intrinsic value falls below "satisfactory" level or you find out that a mistake was made in the original analysis as you grow more familiar to the business or industry.

However, if you find that your investment portfolio is highly concentrated on one single company, then you might want to consider diversifying your portfolio and lowering your risk.

Any single investment that is more than 10 per cent to 15 per cent of your portfolio value should be reconsidered no matter how solid the company performance or prospect is, suggested Pat Dorsey of Morningstar.

Last but not least, if you find that by selling the stock, you can invest the money in a better option, then that is a good reason to sell.

In summary, successful investing is highly dependent on your self-discipline, taking away the emotional factors and not going with the crowd. It should always be backed by sound investment principles.

Always remember there is no short cut in investment, only hard work and patience.

Securities Industry Development Corp, the leading capital markets education, training and information resource provider in Asean, is the training and development arm of the Securities Commission. It was established in 1994 and incorporated in 2007.

Business Times

Understanding effects of economic indicators on stock market

Understanding effects of economic indicators on stock market

2009/02/25

IF YOU have been following the news on a daily basis, you surely would have heard the repeated news on the fall of the US and European markets that are currently spreading gloom across the globe.

With the risk of global recession on the increase, global stock markets are not left unscathed by the predicament the world's economic giants are in. Stock markets worldwide are left to face strong selling pressures that are wiping out their asset values.

As a result, you might be wondering whether your portfolio (albeit confined to the local business environment) is strong enough to weather the adverse external shocks that are causing jitters in markets across the globe.

Why do you need to understand and monitor the economic situation?

A company's earnings and future prospects depend largely on the overall business and economic climate. No matter how strong a company's fundamental is, if the economy is down, the performance of a company will inevitably be affected somewhat. Cyclical stocks will probably face a larger impact compared to non-cyclical or defensive stocks.

Meanwhile, the stronger companies will be able to weather the harsh economic situation better than the weaker or less well managed ones.

Therefore, as an investor, it is important for you to understand the macro picture of the economy, not just the sector/industries or stock/company that you are interested in investing in.

What is an economic indicator

An economic indicator is in simple terms, the official statistical data of a certain economic factor that are published periodically by the government agencies, which an investor can use to gauge the economic situation. It allows investors to analyze the past and current situation and to project the future prospects of the economy.

There are three basic indicators that matter to investors in the stock market, namely inflation, gross domestic product (GDP) and the labour market.

* Inflation

Inflation is important for all investments, simply because it determines the real rate of return that you get from your investment. For instance, if the inflation rate is 5 per cent and the nominal return is 8 per cent, this means that your real rate of return is 3 per cent as the 5 per cent has been eaten by inflation.

Inflation's impact on the stock market is even more complicated. A company's profit will be affected by higher inflation. Its input cost will increase and the impact of the increase will depend on how much of the incremental cost the company is able to pass on to its consumers. The amount that the company will have to absorb will reduce its profits, assuming all else being equal.

The stock market will suffer further negative impact if it is accompanied by increased interest rates as the bond market is seen as a cheaper investment vehicle compared to stocks. When this happens, investors will sell off their stocks to invest in bonds instead.

The most commonly used indicator for the measurement of inflation is consumer price index (CPI). It consists of a basket of goods and services commonly purchased by consumers, such as food, housing, clothes, transportation, medical care and entertainment.

The total value of this basket of goods and services will be compared with the value of the previous year and the percentage increase will be the inflation rate.

On the other hand, where the value drops, it will be a deflation rate. A steady or decreasing trend will be favourable to the overall stock market performance.

* Gross Domestic Product

Another important indicator is the GDP measurement. It is the total value of goods and services produced in a country during the period being measured. When compared to the previous year's reading, the difference between these two readings indicates whether a country's economy is growing or contracting. GDP is usually published quarterly.

When the GDP is positive, the overall stock market will react positively as there will be a boost in investor confidence, encouraging them to invest more in the stock market. This will in turn boost the performances of companies.

When the GDP contracts, consumers tread cautiously and reduce their spending. This in turn will affect the performance of companies negatively, thus exerting more downward pressure on the stock market.

* Labour market

The unemployment rate as a percentage of the total labour force will basically indicate the country's economic state. During an economic meltdown, most companies will either freeze hiring or in more severe cases downsize, by cutting costs and reducing capacity. When this happens, the unemployment rate will increase, which in turn, creates a negative impact on market sentiment.

Bottom line

By understanding the economic indicators, you should be able to gauge the current state of economy and more importantly, the direction in which its headed. Pooling this knowledge together with the detailed research on the companies that you are interested in, you should be well equipped to make sound investment decisions.

Bear in mind that when the economy slows down and the market is on a downward trend, it is not necessarily bad as this could be your golden opportunity to spot some good stocks at a bargain that are worth buying.

Malaysia's economic indicator data can be obtained from the Department of Statistics website at www.statistics.gov.my

Securities Industry Development Corp, the leading capital markets education, training and information resource provider in Asean, is the training and development arm of the Securities Commission. It was established in 1994 and incorporated in 2007.

NST

酒精 破坏细胞加速老化

酒精 破坏细胞加速老化 2009/02/19 ●南洋商报

相对于只在用餐时喝一杯酒，酗酒则会造成身体上许多发炎的问题。肝脏会分解酒精的毒性。而烈酒的酒精成分非常高。

酒精新陈代谢后的成分是一种让人讨厌的分子，称之为乙醛。除了引起发炎反应外，乙醛还会 对内部细胞的不同部位造成损害。如果你要喝烈酒，那么切记，果汁或汽水中的糖份也有助长发炎，让皮肤老化，因此，你要避免这些饮料，改喝开水或是矿泉水。 总而言之，适量的喝些红酒是可以接受的——甚至是有益健康的——但是马丁尼和大都会等鸡尾酒除外。

★　酒精对睡眠的影响　★

睡眠对于皮肤和整个身体的影响是那么的重要，因此，我们要尽所能，让我们睡得好。为了睡得好，绝对不要空腹喝酒，而且最好多喝水，让你的体内保持适当的水分。

在晚上喝一点酒，可能会让我们昏昏欲睡，但是酒精很快地就会引发正肾上腺素，一种类似荷尔蒙的神经传导素，会引起兴奋或压力的感觉。喝了酒几个小时后，正肾上腺素会打断你的睡眠，甚至让你清醒。这不但会让你晚上睡得不好，还会让你的皮肤在第二天看起来斑驳且无光泽。

★　酒精无助于美貌　★

虽然有许多的研究指出，少量的饮酒有助于心血管的健康，但是饮酒过量却有许多的危险，包括对皮肤的损害。

一般人都认为，酒精对皮肤不好，因为酒精会让我们脱水。人们认为，他们可以大量喝水以抵销这种情况。补 充水分当然很重要，但是酒精会在我们全身造成发炎，其所造成的影响远比脱水长久。酒精会改变皮肤的血流，长期下来就会让我们的外表不健康。这会造成皮肤粗 糙、毛细孔加大、呈现班点、肤色起红点、眼睛四周浮肿、脸型走样、下陷，以及丧失弹性。之所以会产生这些负面的结果，是因为酒精让皮肤里面的细小血管扩大 了，让更多的血液流经皮肤的表面。除了让肤色泛红，感觉温热外，血管扩张还会破坏脸部的毛细孔。酒精还会造成皮肤脱水，而干燥的皮肤比水分充足的皮肤更容 易留下线条。

当我们年轻的时候，我们还可以免于饮酒过量对身体和外貌所造成的损害，也就是说，我们皮肤的损害不会像 老年人那样的严重，因为年轻人的身体比较有弹性。但是这些影响是累积的，总有一天会浮现出来。当我们将酒精和阳光的损害混合在一起时，我们就会加速老化及 损伤皮肤，包括维护皮肤坚实与弹性所必须的胶原也会受损。

買車是風險 非投資,80%供款還利息

買車是風險 非投資
80%供款還利息

買新車或二手車？

汽車是代步用的，而且會貶值。

買車前，到底應該先考量什么以免影響日后理財大計？

擁有交通工具代步固然方便，但如果沒有必要，那只會成為一種財務負擔。

買車是項沉重的財務負擔，尤其汽車會逐漸貶值。其他資產投資是有風險，也有回酬，但買車卻得面對100%的風險。

邁利財務規劃（Moneywise Wealth Planning & Consultancy）董事經理張梅香指出，不管買新車還是二手車，最大的考量是“有沒有需要”？

她說，若抱著“人有我有”的心態，或為了方便接送女友而買車，那只是意氣用事，肯定會影響財務狀況。

若確認買車是了謀生計，且沒有其他交通工具可代步時，就得檢視自己的預算和現金流。

換言之，買車應該先看能力，才決定車款。

張梅香指出，許多人在買車時，往往會掉下被預設的“陷阱”。

延長車貸是陷阱

她舉例說，汽車仲介商常以堂而皇之的理由，遊說購車者延長車貸期限。

藉口一般是延長供期以減少每月供款，可讓購車者現金流不會太緊湊，也能善用余下現金作其他用途等。

她指出，上述理由看似在為購車者著想和管理現金流，但最終獲益方卻不是購車者。

這是因為許多車商和特定銀行有掛鉤，前者所賺取的佣金，一般透過車貸供期轉嫁給消費者。

只要供期越長，購車者繳付的利息更多，車商佣金也更多。

值得一提的是，由于每次供期的車貸利息是以車貸總額計算，不像房屋貸款般，以遞減方式算利息，因此很可能超過80%的供款，是在還利息。

不同銀行標榜的車貸利率，屬于名義利率（Nominal Rate），例如2.9%，購車者實際償還的有效利率，可能近倍（按此計算為5.8%）。

張梅香建議，購車前除了應鑑定是否需要，也得考量現金流、車貸利率和供期長短等，先自行拿定主意，才能避免掉入高息陷阱、影響財狀況。

二手車 貶值空間有限

若購車者尚有其他財務目標待完成，張梅香建議不需購買太豪華的汽車。

例如豪華房車每月供款3500令吉，若購買其他車的供款為3000令吉，那可利用500令吉購買保險或其他投資產品，好為財富增值。

新車和二手車的價值各不同，都會影響個人資產總值高低。

張梅香指出，二手車價值可能已貶值到一定程度，未來下跌空間或有限。

若購買冷門的新車，貶值速度可能較快，如此一來，可能拖低資產總值。

中國報

不景声中扩大纳税对象　月入2401须缴税

二零零九年二月二十四日 晚上七时十四分

（槟 城彭振威、林乡响24日讯）我国内陆税收局在全球经济市场萧条的时刻，公布的最新（2009年度）个人所得税制度，除了全年收入超过25万令吉者，获得减 税1％外，当局并未减少收入低于25万令吉者的纳税率（tax rate），反之调整了国人的纳税资格，让低收入者雪上加霜。

根据最新的个人所得税制度，举凡每月薪金在扣除公积金后超过2400令吉（2401令吉起）的大马居民，从今年4月起都必须缴纳个人所得税，税率则维持0－24%不变，然而全年收入25万令吉以上者，则获得减税1％，即从原本的28％税率减少至27％。

于2008年之前，每月收入超过2550令吉（2551令吉起）的大马居民，方需要缴纳个人所得税。但从今年起，收入介于2401至2550令吉的国民，每月皆必须缴付13至20令吉不等的税收。

骆淞佑：百姓添负担

骆淞佑会计师今日接受《光华日报》访问时指出，有关1％的减税率并未惠及大部份国民，大马目前绝大多数人民的收入都低于1万令吉，在这新的个人所得税制度下，只有每月收入平均2万令吉或以上者，方得以享有1％的减税优惠。

他说，每月收入超过2万令吉的人民，相信少于总人口的1％，然而，有关制度却只惠及该一小撮的族群，对市井小民而言非但不是经济风暴时期的及时雨，反之还让薪金低于2500令吉的百姓添加负担。

汽油津贴未逾6000免付税

为了鼓励资方提供更多的津贴及福利予员工，内陆税收局在雇员薪酬表（Borang EA）的G部份，作出多达17项修改，其中包括公司所提供的汽油津贴，若一年不超过6000令吉的话，则可免付税。

骆淞佑接受《光华日报》记者询问时披露，以往只要是公司（雇主）给予的津贴，雇员都必须据实申报，只要总收入超过2550令吉，就必须依据税率纳税。但在全新的制度下，津贴部份已有所更动及修改。

如今，泊车津贴、食物津贴、电话津贴、购买新电脑津贴等，都完全免纳税。

“至于汽油津贴方面，则分为两个不同单位，第一项是从住家前往公司的远程津贴（类似车马费），1年不超过2400令吉（每月不超过200令吉）可免纳税，第二项则是一般的汽油津贴，有关津贴只要每月不超过500令吉（1年不超过6000令吉），同样可享免纳税。”

托儿津贴不超过2400令吉

托儿津贴的最高限额则是每年不超过2400令吉。

另外，资方提供的旅游奖励项目，在作出修改后，首3次的国内员工旅游奖励可免纳税(之前只要超过500令吉即得纳税)，至于出国的旅游奖励，则只要不超过3000令吉，即可享有免纳税福利。

但有关项目当中，部份免纳税福利的有效时限截至2010年而已。

资方在4月杪前　须发出EA表

纵使税收局今年允许公司延迟一个月(至5月31日)，呈报雇员缴税表(BORANG CP8D)，但资方仍然必须在职工呈报个人所得税的4月30日截止期限前，向职工发出雇员薪酬表(BORANG EA)以让他们报税，否则逾期呈报的职工将会面对罚款。

根据税收局规定，每间公司都必须在每年的4月30日前，即职工呈报个人所得税截止日期前30天，向他们发出雇员薪酬表，以便员工可呈报个人税收。

然而，基于这项新措施是于今年2月才落实，还有考虑到时间太过仓促，资方需时适应，所以该局特别给予通融，允许公司比往年延迟一个月即至5月31日，才呈上雇员缴税表。

一般上，雇员缴税表是依附在雇员薪酬表的内页，是让公司填写上职员收入的表格。但在日前的一项官方呈报所得税汇报会上，当局宣布了这项新措施时，却一度引起许多公司会计人员的混淆。

会计师们疑惑，并误以为既然雇员缴税表可以延迟呈报，那是否意味着，连同职工的雇员薪酬表也可在5月才呈上。

然而经过《光华日报》记者向税收局了解后却非如此，公司依然得一如往年般，在当局限定的个人所得税呈报期限前，发出顾员薪酬表予职工报税。一旦逾期报税，职工同样会面对罚款。而雇员缴税表则可延迟一个月呈交。

购运动器材　唯一全新回扣项目

骆淞佑指出，根据去年8月公布的2009年财政预算案中，300令吉购买运动器材是唯一全新的回扣项目，但必须与大马政府所承认的运动项目相关的器材方获得回扣，例如篮球、足球、羽球拍等，但不包含运动衣裤、鞋袜。

至于过去经已获准回扣的项目，包括保险、电脑、书籍等，都将持续保留。

“纵使税收局增添了一项全新的回扣项目，但300令吉的回扣额似乎太少了。” 骆淞佑说，政府附加回扣购买运动器材项目，主要是鼓励人民多运动，以减低国内的肥胖人数，但，1年300令吉对一个经常运动的人士来说，是绝对不足够的。

他举例道：一般素质普通的羽毛球一罐（12粒）市价约50令吉，素质较好的一粒就需要8令吉左右了。如此一来，300令吉对一名羽球爱好者来说肯定不足。

光华电子新闻

怒火vs大笑

大怒一次，短寿一年；大笑一次，年轻一天

雅量

一个人是否活得成功，关键不在于他的力量，而是雅量

善用衍生产品减风险

善用衍生产品减风险 ●郑汉聪 大华银行（马）个人财务服务部门高级主管

要了解债券及股票，就像是从嬉水泳池到成人泳池的游泳学习过程，之前也曾提过，没有任何传统的方法能够作为这两个水深或资产类别的桥梁。

但若有创意的想法，一个不会游泳的人要安全进入成人泳池的最深处，这就必须仰赖救生设备如充气水袖或救生圈了。而在投资方面，“衍生产品”也可作为债券及股票之间的桥梁。

什么是衍生产品？衍生产品是一种反映原产品、资产、比率、指数或事件等价格的合约。衍生产品中世纪时是用来锁定农作物的预订合约，并在1848年时在芝加哥交易所正式成立农作物期货的衍生产品交易市场。

金融衍生产品在70年代才出现，并在90年代获得广泛的欢迎。今日，伦敦及纽约是公认的全球衍生产品主要交易市场，美国占了全球35％的期货及期权交易。

也许会让很多人感到惊讶，但事实上韩国股票交易所是全球最大的衍生产品交易所。在2002年，预计衍生产品市场拥有高达109万亿美元的未支付合约，成交量达400万亿美元。

其中，最基本的衍生产品包括下列几项：

◎远期合约：

最原始及基本的衍生产品，即是根据资产或原产品的数量，以未来具体的价格、时间及地点作出的买入或出售合约，这类合约可随买家及卖家之间改制。

◎期货：

和远期合约相似，期货亦是以未来特定价格、时间及地点，来买入或卖出资产或原产品，但与前者不一样的是，期货的数量、具体的资产或原产品，以及时间和柜台交易均是标准化的。

◎期权：

期权赋予买卖的权力而不是义务，必须在未来以特定执行价格、时间或地点买进或卖出资产或原产品数量的义 务。期权分成两种：看涨期权及看跌期权。看涨期权是指按执行价格买进的权力，经常在执行价格低于确实市场价的时刻进行；而看跌期权则是在执行价格超出市场 价格时卖出的权力。

◎外汇互换／掉期：

即是相互交换两系列支付交易的净值，以锁定多变的波动，通常用作在利率或外汇掉期的类型

举个以看跌期权投资股票的例子，我可以100元的价格买入股票，但为了保护自己，我可以90元购买在几个月后到期的看跌期权，而我必须要“额外”支付予看跌期权。

若股价跌至90元以下，我可行使我的权力以90元的价格脱售该股，将我的损失限制在10元的范围内；若股价上扬，我可持续持有该股，待看跌期权过期后就会变成无价值。如果我要持续受到“保护”，我可购入另一个看跌期权。

投资保险”保护投资者

这些衍生产品原是旨意以“投资保险”的方式保护投资者，帮助他们在波动及不稳定的市场中进行护盘，就好像在深海中让你漂浮在上的充气水袖。初学投资者也可借此在更高风险的领域（如新兴市场）内，通过此资本保护或基金担保，以及特别票据的结构，一尝股市投资的滋味。

“衍生产品”，它获得这个名字是因为它的价值是衍生自实质的证关。举个例子，期权都拥有一个证券做为参阅，以敲定价格。

我也分享了如何在买入股票的同时，也购买同样股票的回售期权，以以限制我的下跌风险（就好像购买投资保险一样）。当然，与保险一样，这样的话，保费成本将会随着上涨到所预期的风险水平。

不过，期权可以发挥的空间，比只是组合保险更多。它也可以模拟拥有“股票权”，而实际上不必完全支付全 部最初成本。在传统的情况下，投资者必须付清全部的款项，例个例子，一只股票价值100令吉（没有计算佣金成本），就必须全部付清，而只面对纯股票风险， 也就是股价起就有钱赚，而股票跌就亏钱。

期权成本低于股票

不过，通过期权，这可能“综合”持有这个股票盈亏，但是实际上却没有买进这个股票。这可以通过以同样的 敲定价格100令吉，同时买入回购期权和卖出回售期权。买入回购期权的成本将会被卖出回售期权后所得的款项抵销（部份或是全部）。因此，虽然我没有“实质 上”拥有有关股票，但是，我却可以享有我在执行有关期权时所取得盈利（或所蒙受的有限制亏损）。更重要的是，我初步成本与直接购买有关股票低很多。

由于金融创意来自对衍生产品的运用，所以衍生产品市场在过去几年过快速发展，并不令到感到奇怪的。许多采取各种形式的架构产品，以让投资者在当今的市场拥有更伸缩性的投资选择。

目前没有硬性规定一个产品应该如何架构。举个在中国股票市场所常用的简单资本保护产品。对于马来西亚市场而言，资本保护通常可以通过拥有一揽子可转让存款票据（或是金融机构存款）来达到，这些票据到期后的款额，与取回的本金款额一样。

没有放在一揽子内可转让存款票据，到时则可以用来支付管理费。其余的则可以用来购买中国股票市场的回购期权。由于期权价格是一种参与率功能，价格高的期权，参与率就低，反而亦然。

了解期权执行后意义

当然，上述的例子已经简化以方便讲解。在市场使用回购-回售期权的风险可以是非常显著，因为受到不同市场因素的影响，例如市场的波动、到期期限等，这些都会影响期权的实质价格。

更重要的一点是，使用这些工具者必须了解有关期权的执行后的意义！

因此，专业人士在制定这些架构产品，然后在市场上卖给广大投资之前，必须对有关产品非常的了解，这是非常重要。到最后时，银行必须进行所需要的精密审核，以确保有关产品投资者是有利的。

我本身在进行精密审核时，是遵守以下的原则：

●如果我不能明确和简易地解释好处以及风险，那么这产品便是属于难卖出的复杂产品。

●如果它的利益看来是好到令人难以置信，那么，它的利益可能是不存在的。当制定衍生产品架构时，这往往是建立在公平的基础之上。

●如果产品风险看来比实际情况低很多，那么，这可能存在误导，因此不适合推销。

在我职业生涯当中，到目前为止我还没有批准过任何以担保债权凭证（CDO）为基础的产品销售给散户，这主要是因为这些产品看来风险低，然而杠杆的内在风险并不容易向散户解释。

南洋报

Saving for your child’s future

By LAALITHA HUNT

Parents should consider various factors when choosing an education policy for children.

THE rising cost of education has made it compelling, if not daunting, for parents to start saving early to ensure their children’s education needs are well taken care of.

Indeed, there are many options in the market that assist parents with young children to keep an eye on their future needs in terms of education.

A recent projection on the cost of tertiary education and its tuition fees and living costs both locally and abroad is an eye opener.

A three-year study in a public university in Britain costs some RM280,000 while studying in a local private university (for foreign university degree courses) for the same period costs over RM70,000 including living expenses.

A good starting point for any savings plan is for parents to estimate how much they need to fork out for their child’s college or university fees 10, 15 or 20 years from now. That way, parents can determine how much needs to be set aside, says Prudential Assurance Malaysia Bhd chief marketing officer Thomas Wong.

“They need to ask themselves certain things – where do they intend to send their children? Local or overseas university? What field of study? For how long? These are important factors that will ultimately influence the expected cost of education,” he says.

However, more often than not, consumers tend not to carry out detailed objective setting right from the start. As a result, they stand the risk of saving less than what may be required, which somewhat defeats the purpose and still results in them scampering for loans at the last moment.

There are websites that host an education calculator tool to help provide an estimate of the future cost of tuition and the amount of savings needed to generate sufficient funds for the child’s tertiary education.

For example, the education calculator in Prudential’s website shows that a three-year study in Australia some 15 years down the road (not including living expenses), would cost about RM320,000, factoring in an education inflation rate of 4.9%.

On the other hand, a three-year study programme at a private college in Malaysia in 15 years’ time could cost only RM70,000, factoring in an education inflation rate of 3%.

Once the expected education costs have been determined, parents should then decide on an amount which they can afford to set aside on a regular basis. “As saving for child’s education fund is a long term commitment, it is therefore crucial for them to be realistic about the amount they could afford to set aside in the long run,” Wong says.

There are several savings tools available for parents to save for their children’s tertiary education. One option is to purchase a child education policy, which is a life insurance plan designed to provide your child with an amount of money when he or she is ready to go to a university or college.

Combining savings and protection elements in one plan, such policy not only helps you grow your child’s education fund, but also provides your child with the necessary insurance coverage – a unique feature not offered by an ordinary savings plan or other investment tools.

“What makes an education plan even more attractive is the ‘continuity’ it offers. Ordinary savings plan stops if something unfortunate happens to the parent who is paying for it. But with the education policy, the premiums can continue to be paid through the payor’s benefit if something unfortunate happens to the parent such as death, total permanent disability or diagnosis of a critical illness,” he says.

The payor’s benefit would ensure the child’s education fund is secured and continues to grow consistently and when the policy matures, the child would then have the financial means to further his or her studies.

One such example is Angela De Cruz, 44 who took a investment-linked policy with a medical card that includes hospitalisation benefits for her eight-year old daughter.

“It is important to ensure medical coverage as a substantial amount of our savings would be used in the event a child falls ill. Besides that, if anything unfortunate were to happen to me, my child would continue to be provided as well,” she says.

A flexible education plan is also one worth considering as it allows parents to maximise their funds and support the choices that suit one’s budget and needs as they change with the circumstances.

For parent’s looking for investment plans, CIMB Bank offers capital protected investment deposit that is long term, yet flexible for top-ups – a good fit for parents who want to invest and save for their children’s education.

CIMB Bank Bhd head of retail banking Peter England says this product encourages a savings-discipline in account holders, where they consistently set aside extra cash into the account, which offers potentially better returns than regular savings accounts and/or fixed deposits.

“From as little as RM50, customers can invest in a capital-protected instrument for tenures of 15, 20, 25 or 30 years that pays out a profit based on the highest value achieved during its tenure. Customers would also have full flexibility to withdraw and invest at any time at prevailing market values,” he says.

England added that besides education loans of up to RM500,000, parents could opt to exercise overdraft (OD) facility on a pledged-fixed deposit (FD) by CIMB.

“With this, parents do not need to uplift the interest bearing FD while enjoying attractive OD rates,” England says.

Besides banking and insurance products, parents could also choose to save in the National Education Savings Scheme (SSPN) account offered by the National Higher Education Corporation (PTPTN).

The SSPN account provides a number of benefits to depositors including eligibility to apply for PTPTN loans with minimum savings of RM20 in their SSPN accounts, tax relief on savings of up to RM3,000 a year, free insurance coverage of up to RM50,000 for depositors who have a minimum deposit of RM1,000, dividends and tax exemption on dividends.

Thestar