GYC Financial Advisory Pte Ltd ("GYC") is the investment adviser of this Fund, whose registered office is at 1 Raffles Place, #15-01 One Raffles Place, Singapore 048616.
GYC is a licensed financial adviser under the Financial Advisers Act, Chapter 110 of Singapore. It is an exempt fund manager and exempt corporate finance adviser under the SFA as well as an exempt insurance broker under the Insurance Act, Chapter 142 of Singapore. It is an established wealth manager offering investment advice, investment management solutions, financial advisory services as well as lending solutions for both individuals and companies. One of GYC's key strengths is in advising on investment portfolios. Since 2004, it has established portfolios of funds with varying allocations into equities, fixed income and alternatives. In providing guidance on its investment strategy, GYC has both an investment committee as well as a portfolio workgroup. Both these groups comprise key management staff, external members from Singapore's asset management fraternity and external investment consultants. The investment committee and portfolio workgroup focuses on different areas such as reviewing the global macro-economic environment, studying the latest economic data and incorporating both fundamental and technical analysis to discern investment signals, making decisions on fund selection and asset allocation strategies for its different portfolios. In addition, it prides itself on implementing purpose-designed software tools to help its advisers analyse portfolios, perform fund switching as well as analyse data in comprehensive financial planning.
GYC believes in being transparent on how well its portfolios perform and hence regularly publishes the respective portfolio performance on its website at www.gyc.com.sg. In 2007, GYC launched "EVEREST", which is a managed portfolio of unit trusts with zero up-front fees and where GYC is only rewarded through performance fees.
GYC also has a Private Client Services division which specialises in advising high net worth clients on both discretionary and non-discretionary bases. GYC is also the external asset manager (EAM) of several top international private banks. In addition, GYC manages two private equity funds, including a property fund, solely for its high net worth clients. Due to the diversity of experiences in its management team, GYC also advises businesses on mergers and acquisitions as well as leveraged management buy-outs.
The managers of the Fund are UOB Asset Management Ltd ("UOBAM"), whose registered office is at 80 Raffles Place, UOB Plaza, Singapore 048624.
UOBAM is a wholly-owned subsidiary of UOB Group. Established in 1986, UOBAM has been managing collective investment schemes and discretionary funds in Singapore for 24 years and as of 31 March 2010 manages about S$14.85 billion in clients' assets. UOBAM also has investment operations in Malaysia and Thailand.
UOBAM offers global investment management expertise to institutions, corporations and individuals, through customised portfolio management services and unit trusts. As at 31 March 2010, UOBAM manages 49 unit trusts in Singapore, with total assets of about S$3.19 billion under management. UOBAM is one of the largest unit trust managers in Singapore in terms of assets under management.
In terms of market coverage, UOBAM has acquired specialist skills in equity investment in Asian, Australian, European and US markets and major global sectors. In the bond markets, UOBAM covers the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries to emerging markets. UOBAM's investment philosophy is to emphasise on securities selection using a bottom-up approach. UOBAM makes regular company visits and supplements its fundamental investment approach with quantitative tools to control risks and to aid in the portfolio construction process. UOBAM has also established itself as one of the leading players in structured credits and investment solutions, managing third party investments in global emerging market securities as well as global investment grade, non-investment grade and multi-sector credits.
In addition, UOBAM is committed to achieving consistently good performance. Since 1996, UOBAM has won 110 awards for investments in local, regional and global markets, and across global sectors such as Banking and Finance, Technology, Healthcare, as well as Gold and Mining.
As at 31 March 2010, UOBAM has a staff strength of over 200 including 46 investment professionals in Singapore.
The investment objective of the Fund is to achieve medium to long-term capital appreciation by the strategic allocation of the Fund's assets into various investments corresponding to market conditions. There is no target sector, industry or geographical area.
To meet the investment objective, the Fund may invest in any Authorised Investment (as defined in the prospectus). As at the date of the Prospectus, it is intended that the Fund will primarily invest in ETFs of various asset classes such as equities, fixed income, commodities and other underlying assets as may be selected by the Managers. The selection criteria for such ETFs include (without limitation):
a) liquidity;
b) efficiency in tracking indices; and
c) cost efficiency.
The Managers do not intend to invest in leveraged or inverse ETFs. In addition, the Managers may seek to gain exposure to various markets through investing in exchange-traded index futures. Index futures are a form of futures contracts whereby two parties agree to complete a transaction at a future date. In the case of an index futures contract, the value of the specified index serves as the underlying asset for the agreement. Once the contract expires, the holder of the contract will either pay or receive the difference between the opening price for the index and the actual index price at maturity. Investments into such exchange-traded index futures will be subject to the risk management procedures of the Managers.
The Managers generally aim to construct a diversified portfolio, with exposure mainly to the equity and fixed income markets. The asset allocation between equities, fixed income, cash and other asset classes (if any) will be actively managed by the Managers, who will constantly monitor and adjust the asset allocation in light of market conditions. The Managers may also seek to invest higher allocations into economic regions which in the Managers' view offer the best strategic or long-term returns.
Depending on its view of the global markets, the Managers may potentially move to a "maximum overweight" position where up to 100% of the assets of the Fund may be exposed to equities and/or higher risk assets (excluding any amounts held in cash or money market instruments), or a "maximum underweight" position where up to 100% of the assets of the Fund may be moved into cash, money market instruments or other money market funds. A "maximum underweight" position would occur in the event of extreme market conditions or severe market stress or disruptions, as determined by the Managers at their sole discretion.
The Managers have the discretion to determine the asset allocation of the Fund between the "maximum overweight" and "maximum underweight" positions at all times.
The Fund may invest in financial derivative instruments for the purposes of hedging, efficient portfolio management and/or to meet the investment objectives of the Fund.
Important: There is no guarantee that the Fund will meet its investment objective.
Currently, the Fund is structured such that the Fund will invest in exchange traded funds ("ETFs"), exchange-traded index futures and other Authorised Investments (as defined below) globally in accordance with the Fund's investment focus and approach in order to meet its objective.
In respect of the Fund's investments in ETFs, it is the Managers’ current intention to invest primarily in ETFs domiciled in USA, Hong Kong, Singapore, Luxembourg, France and Ireland, and which are managed by managers domiciled primarily in USA, France, Ireland, Hong Kong, Luxembourg and Singapore.
Subject to such regulatory approvals as may be required, the Managers may, with a view to achieving the Fund's investment objective, from time to time at its sole discretion invest in ETFs which are domiciled or managed by managers domiciled in jurisdictions other than those stated above. The Managers may effect such changes without prior notice.
You can invest in this Fund in the following ways:
i) Directly
You can just invest into this Fund as a stand-alone fund.
ii) Through our strategic portfolios
Most of our clients invest with us via our strategic portfolios. Each portfolio comprises different unit trusts in different geographical regions (e.g. Emerging Markets, US, China, India, etc.) or asset classes (e.g. bonds, commodities, etc). The United G Strategic Fund is one of the core funds within our portfolio. Depending on the market outlook and the portfolio type, GYC will allocate different percentages of the portfolio into these funds, including the United G Strategic Fund. The allocations can change depending on market conditions. The advantage of investing in a portfolio is that you are invested into more than one unit trust and into a portfolio of funds that can more closely match your investment objective.
Yes, provided the unit trusts are also carried on our platform. Also note that there will be an administrative fee involved - please contact us for more details.
You will be given up to 7 calendar days where should you change your mind about your investment, you can cancel the transaction. However you may not receive 100% back of your investment amount if the funds have already been invested and there are market losses. Conversely, should there be market gains you will only receive up to 100% of your investment amount, not more (in which case, you may want to consider selling your investment rather than cancelling your transaction). Any upfront charges collected will be refunded less the administrative fee of S$100.00 should you decide to cancel your transaction within the 7 days.
You will receive quarterly statements via mail. If you buy the Fund from GYC, you can also get access to your account details using our online portal login access.
