Yes, the minimum amount to have in your Account 1 is RM9000 at 25 years old, to be eligible to invest using your EPF money.. It's way better than the previous RM50k minimum amount..
So, this would be viewed positive by many young high paid investors..

So for 25 years old with RM9000 in A/C 1, how much can be used to invest?

Maybank's Latest Capital Guaranteed Series Ventures into Asian Equities

Maybank today rolled out ASEQ Capital Guaranteed, the 13th offering of its popular Investment-linked capital guaranteed series.

Underwritten by Mayban Life Assurance Bhd, a member of Maybank Group, ASEQ Capital Guaranteed is a structured single premium investment-linked plan that combines insurance and investments in top performing Asian equities. The subscription is open from today and is on a "first come, first served" basis. The plan is eligible to those aged 18 to 70 years. Maybank targets a RM300 million fund size for ASEQ Capital Guaranteed.

Spencer Lee, Maybank's Head of Consumer Banking, said ASEQ Capital Guaranteed is designed for investors who seek stability and uncapped potential returns via access to a Propriety Index which consists of stocks that have potential and showing strong price and earnings momentum. It also provides several benefits such as affordability, savings and protection to investors.

ASEQ Capital Guaranteed is affordable with a minimum entry level of RM15,000 with investment period of 3 years 11 months. During the offer period, investors will receive free units for investment amounts above RM50,000 per policy. Further benefit is provided with a value-added protection insurance policy providing coverage of up to 125% of the single premium.

"There is considerable risk in directly investing in Asian equities because it requires high capital, infrastructure to access the markets and expertise. With ASEQ Capital Guaranteed, investors are shielded from capital loss if investment is held till maturity," explained Lee.

He said the Fund will assist investors to invest in USD-denominated equity derivatives on the Propriety Index, which comprises approximately 30-50 equally weighted stocks from 11 selected countries in Asia Pacific, namely, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Pakistan," said Lee.

"The equity investment employs a systematic method to select the highest ranked Asian equities based on fixed parameters, namely, value and momentum," said Lee.

The Fund's income is generated from the returns of equity investments. "The investment strategy is expected to generate an average potential return of 6.7% per year. If the underlying investments performed well, this returns will be paid upon maturity," added Lee.

ASEQ Capital Guaranteed is available at all Maybank branches nationwide. Further information is available at www.maybank2u.com or Maybank's Group Customer Care at 1-300-88-6688.

URL: http://www.maybank2u.com.my/corporate/pres...07/251007.shtml

ASEQ Capital Guaranteed

ASEQ Capital Guaranteed is a short-term, single premium investment-linked plan which offers full protection of your capital at maturity, with attractive projected returns in 3 years 11 months. ASEQ Capital Guaranteed provides you with a dynamic, capital guaranteed investment-linked plan with potential returns of 6.7%* per annum through investment in the highest ranked Asian equities. The projected returns are based on backtesting and the results will vary depending on the period of backtesting chosen.

*Estimated based on the average 3-years, 11-month rolling returns the year 2000. The potential returns shall depend on the dynamic allocation to the Index throughout the invested period

Features
1. 100% Capital Guaranteed
2. Uncapped Potential Returns*
3. Dynamic Investment Allocation Strategy
4. Highest ranked Asian Equities
5. Managed Index
6. Value-added Protection

Eligibility
Individuals aged between 18 and 70 are eligible to take advantage of ASEQ Capital Guaranteed. The minimum single contribution amount is RM15,000. Any higher single contribution amount will be in multiples of RM1,000.

URL: http://www.maybank2u.com.my/consumer/onlin...ices/aseq.shtml

None..
Please do take note that the RM9k is the minimum amount you'll need to have in your Account 1..
You can only invest using your Account 1 funds in excess of RM9k up to a maximum of 20%, ie if you have RM15k in your Account 1, and you're 25, you're able to invest 0.2(RM15k-RM9k)=RM1.2k..
Due to the regulation on UT (minimum investment of RM1k is required for new accounts), you can only start investing your EPF money into UT if you have RM14k..

The main problem of withdraw EPF fund to invest in UT is that they don't allow you to invest in global/regional funds, only local equities which is not diversified enough. All (local equities fund) are almost has roughly same portfolio across.

Even so, I think not all local funds are approved..
That is the disadvantage of EPF investment..

Yup...it makes the EPF investment look less attractive, with juz a handful of fund to choose from.

Anybody knows which UT is allowed?

I rather just dump into any authorized local bond funds :-\
Low service charge when entering. Hopefully can beat EPF's pathetic 4-5% rate can liao.

Locally bond funds average return for the last few year also not performing well either, around 3-5% also due to low interest rate compared to overseas.
Gain nothing or not much different from it either way.

This post has been edited by cherroy: Oct 28 2007, 10:38 PM

Bond fund won't provide an attractive return. You consider some moderate risk equity fund or income/dividend funds.

so where can we view their performance?

and where can i get certain funds price history (for past few years)?

to be exact im looking for CIMB Dana Al-Ikhsan price hisotry..

http://www.cimb-wealthadvisors.com/resourc...IHSAN_Oct07.pdf

For PM....

PIX, PRSF, PIDF, PIBF, PSBF, PMMF, PIMMF

For those who has more than 5 years to retire, it's good to withdraw the EPF to invest in unit trust. Even local fund, it should give better return than EPF. Since EPF is money for retirement, it's not good to invest in high risk fund, dividend fund should be the best choice.

I wonder do many people actually use their EPF money to buy UT?

I guess there are quite many people use their EPF to buy UT, especially those who are in 30s and 40s.

This I find is the most sickening list of funds... by any standard the PIX and PRSF are second tier-ed fund at best in terms of performance.

This ruling is to ensure, EPF money still goes back into the Local capital market otherwise ppl will start flocking in to buy China Funds...

Even my auntie operator told me that she got buy PCSF and has gained RM 1k.