Middlesea Valletta Life (MSV) recently organised a seminar for intermediaries involved in the promotion of MSV’s unit-linked range of life insurance products. The seminar focused on a selection of Fidelity International funds available to MSV clients under unit-linked products.
The funds chosen for the seminar were Fidelity Funds Euro Bond Fund, Fidelity Funds European Growth Fund, Fidelity Funds India Focus Fund and Fidelity Funds European Aggressive Fund.
The seminar was intended to disseminate fund-specific knowledge to the intermediaries in order to further raise their competence and ability to guide existing and potential customers. The information was provided by means of a teleconference by the respective fund managers/senior fund representatives with the aid of visual presentations.
(The performance of these funds is summarised in the table at the bottom)
Of particular interest is the India Focus Fund – a relatively new fund that was launched in August 2004. It aims to provide long-term growth, mainly through investment in equity securities listed in India, as well as non-Indian companies that derive a significant portion of earnings from India. The fund manager favours companies with the potential to deliver superior earnings growth, in particular either emerging growth, or unrecognised growth. The fund has registered a cumulative growth of 123.9 per cent (equivalent to an annualised return of 70.1% since its launch).
Arun Mehra, Head of Investment Strategy with Fidelity International India, provided a review of the Indian equity market and of the fund itself. Over the past couple of years the Indian equity market has been a star performer among Asian markets. A combination of improving macro fundamentals, corporate sector resurgence and buoyant global liquidity has seen a close to 100 per cent rise in the market.
Foreign buying interest has been a feature of the market, with net inflows of US$23bn over the last three years. Arun emphasised his view that the big picture of the Indian market is a long-term secular growth story in its nascent stages.
MSV’s unit-linked product range offers customers a wide variety of choice both at the level of product choice as well as at the level of underlying investment fund choice. The entire range of products can satisfy the needs of customers irrespective of whether they wish to invest cautiously or in an adventurous manner, on a regular basis or else on a single premium one-off basis, in Maltese or international assets and in Maltese currency or foreign currency products. The customer is really and truly spoilt for choice.
Together with the choice of funds, one may also combine flexible life cover (that comes in handy for personal protection or as security against a bank loan) conveniently and cost-effectively under one plan. Strong demand for these plans has resulted in an increase of 100% in 2005 (over 2004) in the funds under management generated by MSV’s unit-linked range of products.