Valletta Fund Management has announced that as at 30 June 2005, investments in the domestic and international bond markets exceeded Lm135 million. These bond funds, denominated in the Maltese lira, the euro and Sterling, are managed by Valletta Fund Management and advised by Insight Investment Management of the UK.
Valletta Fund Management general manager Kenneth Farrugia said: “The affinity for fixed income investments has always been significant since Valletta Fund Management’s launch of the Vilhena Malta Government Bond Fund, the first of its kind then launched in Malta.”
He continued: “Looking back over the years since the fund’s launch on 6 July 1998, this investment solution has delivered excellent returns for its investors, consisting of an annualised return of 6.70 per cent per annum from launch to 30 June 2005.”
The Vilhena Malta Government Bond Fund followed on the footsteps of the La Valette Malta Bond Fund, the latter fund having an exposure to corporate bonds other than government bonds and delivering a strong annualised return of 6.73 per cent from launch on 30 April 1997 to 30 June 2005.
Driven by the success of these two funds, and also as a result of the equity market backdrop that prevailed over the years from 2000 to 2003, Valletta Fund Management further widened its bond fund range to include the La Valette Sterling Income Fund and the La Valette Euro Income, both of which distribute income on a quarterly basis. It also included the La Valette Monthly Income Fund, which is denominated in the Maltese lira and distributes income on a monthly basis.
Valletta Fund Management also offers the opportunity to invest in high quality European bonds through the La Valette European Bond Fund. Investors in these funds have benefited from the investment management expertise of Insight Investment Management in London, who have delivered strong returns for investors across all these funds, particularly when these same returns are viewed in the light of the prevailing low interest rate scenario.
Kenneth Farrugia continued: “Through this range of funds, Valletta Fund Management is to date the only fund management company registered in Malta to provide investors with a choice of six proprietary investment opportunities in the international and domestic bond market denominated in the Maltese lira, Sterling and the euro”.
This range of funds indicates two things to the investor: choice and flexibility, that is, the choice to invest in either or both the domestic and international bond markets, through which they can structure a well-diversified portfolio, and the flexibility for investors to avail themselves of the opportunity to receive income on a monthly, quarterly or six-monthly basis.
Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance.