HSBC No-Load Funds SICAV plc held its seventh annual general meeting. During the meeting, the members present approved the annual report and audited financial statements for the year ended 30 April 2005. Prof. Peter Xuereb was re-appointed chairman while Charles Azzopardi and Robert Scott were re-appointed as directors of the company. The shareholders also re-appointed KPMG as auditors.

Charles Azzopardi, managing director of HSBC Fund Management (Malta) Limited, gave a brief overview of recent developments in the local and international markets and provided information about the income class of shares that is available in a number of its funds.

He also referred to the important milestone reached by the Malta Government Bond Fund that exceeded the Lm100 million mark in its net asset value, making it the first local fund to achieve this significant threshold.

He thanked investors for the confidence and trust shown in this popular fund as well as other HSBC products. He added that for the 12 months ended 21 July 2005, the fund recorded an increase in unit price of 4.1 per cent, which compares very favourably with the return obtainable on a local one-year term deposit account. The Maltese Assets Fund, a ‘balanced’ fund, was even more successful, with an increase in unit price of 14.9 per cent during the same one year period.”

Mr Steven Tedesco, Investments Manager at HSBC Fund Management (Malta) Limited, then delivered a detailed presentation on the performance of the Malta Government Bond Fund and the Maltese Assets Fund for the financial year under review, highlighting the main factors contributing to the performance of the funds. The accumulator shares in the Malta Government Bond Fund recorded a noteworthy annualised return of 4.9 per cent while the Maltese Assets Fund achieved an impressive annualised return of 6.8 per cent since their launch on 23 December 1998 up to 30 April 2005.