In my case, I've learned not to rely on Public Mutual's funds that invest outside Malaysia. I find that their domestic funds earn very steady returns but there is a lot of variation between their foreign funds. It makes sense too. I trust Public Mutual to be knowledgeable about the Malaysian market but do I trust Public Mutual to have enough skilled analysts to be knowledgeable as well on US, China etc. stocks? I think not.

I think if you want to invest in a foreign country it is better to try to find the best unit trust fund for that country that is based there directly. Of course, this is only feasible if your investment amounts are large enough.

I think the foreign fund prices are doing badly in local terms precisely because they are foreign funds. Remember that the Malaysian Ringgit has been very strong lately, and has been appreciating faster than the local currencies of most of the countries the foreign funds are invested in. But because Public Mutual's fund prices are published in Ringgit terms while their assets are foreign-based and traded in foreign currencies, then understandably the fund performance will be lacking compared to the funds that are invested only locally.