Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1310476
4 NEWS 19.11.2020 Celebrating one year of the Merill Strategic Balanced Fund JESMOND Mizzi Financial Advisors Ltd, the investment manager of Merill Funds, recently celebrated the first an- niversary since launch of Merill Strate- gic Balanced Fund USD 'Accumulator' Share Class (MSBF). e sub-fund which is denominated in USD was launched on 14 October 2019 and aims to invest predominantly in US assets, without limiting its exposure to just this geographical region. As characterised by other sub-funds of the Merill range, the objective of this sub-fund is to have a diversified port- folio of investments and also achieve long-term growth. e majority of the sub-fund's invest- ments are dollar denominated, but the investment manager may participate and benefit from opportunities of in- vesting in other currencies, whilst tak- ing the necessary measures to mitigate the sub-fund's risk. e MSBF is a multi-asset fund which invests in sovereign bonds, investment grade, high yield and equities. e investment approach adopted is a very systematic one which aims to gen- erate better risk-adjusted returns. e portfolio managers aim to achieve this by applying a dynamic allocation ap- proach. Fundamental analysis combined with market sentiment and technical anal- ysis is systematically applied to deter- mine market timing. is is coupled with various optimization techniques in the portfolio construction. Merill Strategic Balanced Fund USD which is an accumulator share class was launched with an initial capital of $10million. In the past year, it has experienced robust growth in assets under manage- ment, both as a result of positive perfor- mance as well as due to strong demand from investors. is sub-fund has now exceeded $29.1 million or €25 million, as at 14 October 2020. During the period, the sub-fund gen- erated better risk-adjusted returns ver- sus its peers, delivering positive returns in contrast to the average peer group, and has also achieved a first quartile ranking on a year-to-date basis. To mark the first year anniversary of this success, a webinar on BrightTALK was organised by the asset manage- ment team at JMFA. Dr Mark Azzo- pardi, partner and portfolio manager and Marc El-lazidi, CIO and portfolio manager, gave an overview and insight of the MSBF, its strategy, the perfor- mance delivered, its investment alloca- tion throughout the past year, and also their future views and outlook. e webinar may be followed on h t t p s : / / w w w. b r i g h t t a l k . c o m / w e b - cast/18508/450511 Jesmond Mizzi, managing director of JMFA said the company was very pleased to have achieved this success in just one year since launch of the MSBF. "Our aim has always been to offer add- ed value to both individual and institu- tional clients by developing new prod- ucts, diversifying our product range and extending our product offering also internationally," he said. "e MSBF attracts a specialized niche market and has proved to be mostly popular with foreign investors and family offices seeking to invest and accumulate their wealth in a sub-fund which forms part of a reputable brand." APS Bank launches home deposit scheme BOV seeking to adopt variable remuneration share plan at AGM FOLLOWING the signing of an MOU last June between the ministry for social accommo- dation, the Housing Authority and APS Bank for an agreement regarding the home deposit scheme, the bank launched the scheme on Monday. e scheme is aimed at as- sisting young adults who are eligible for a home loan but do not have the funds to pay the re- quired 10% down payment. e bank will be offering this scheme as it reflects their com- mitment towards supporting the local community, by helping people make that important first step to purchase their home. e facility will be split into a personal loan for the 10% de- posit required as a down pay- ment at 0% interest (up to a maximum of €17,500), and a home loan covering the rest of the 90% (up to a maximum of €157,500) at a favourable inter- est rate. Since this product is designed to truly support those who need it most, applicants need to satis- fy a number of criteria to benefit from it, including being in full- time employment and have cer- tain income thresholds. Anthony Buttigieg, APS Bank Chief Banking Officer said the bank was proud to be collab- orating with the Housing Au- thority and Government in sup- porting more young people to become home owners. "We will be there to guide them every step of the way," he said. Interested applicants are invit- ed to visit APS Bank's website for more information. BANK of Valletta will be seeking sharehold- ers' authorisation at an upcoming annual gen- eral meeting to adopt a variable remuneration share plan and to make awards of BOV shares as part of the variable executive remuneration. Awards under this share plan may be satis- fied using either the issuance of new shares or through shares purchased in the market. BoV dismissed reports that it was seeking approval for a new share issue or that share- holders would be called to inject new capital to maintain their holdings. It said the reso- lution of the AGM's agenda was seeking the authorisation of shareholders to issue up to a maximum of 14,596,232 shares from the Bank's authorised share capital. If issued in full, this would be equivalent to 2.5% of the Bank's current issued share capital. e 2.5% limit is an overall cap on the Bank's obligations under the variable remuneration share plan and it is not envisaged that this cap will be reached any time soon. In the event that the Bank opts to issue new shares from its authorised share capital, this will entail only a marginal dilution of the rights of other shareholders. Finance Minister Edward Scicluna also dis- missed reports of a new share issue or that the government, which holds a 25% shareholding in BOV, would be injecting new cash. He con- firmed that it is the government's policy to maintain its 25% holding in the bank. e AGM is scheduled for 26 November.