TA Investment Declares Distribution For Dana Optimix, Tadif

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 (Bernama) – TA Investment Management Bhd has declared a gross income distribution of 1.5 sen for TA Dana Optimix and 0.30 sen for TA Asia Dividend Income Fund (Tadif) to registered unit holders of the funds as at Jan 31, 2019. TA Dana Optimix aimed to achieve steady capital gains with consistent income over the medium to long term by investing in a diversified mix of Shariah-compliant instruments, while Tadif seeks to provide income and long-term capital appreciation by investing in collective investment scheme which invests mainly in a portfolio of Asian stocks, it said in a statement Monday. Meanwhile, the company said it remained cautiously optimistic on Asian equity markets, based on the attractive share price valuations, improving corporate earnings and resilient growth prospects, especially relative to the developed world. In the short term, however, markets would likely remain dictated by political factors and economic data especially from the US and China. “We remain focused on domestically orientated sectors with a preference for dividend growth opportunities over defensive high yield based on share price valuation differentials. “Although the earnings recovery in Asia is encouraging, the outlook for dividends is even more exciting as strong free cash flow, low levels of corporate debt and low dividend payout ratios should allow dividend growth to outstrip earnings growth over the next few years,” it said. It noted that the Asian markets continued to track lower in the second half of 2018 following a difficult and volatile first half as familiar issues remained at the forefront of investor’s minds, including escalating trade tensions between the US and China, rising US interest rates and stronger US dollar. But on a more positive note, the market was not expected to crash as investors generally were already cautious, it said. “Global economic growth is slowing but not seeing any sharp slowdown. In the short term, it would be a trading-oriented market until market finds its own comfortable levels,” it said. Fund managers would have to be nimble to outperform and at the same time look for yields in stocks to generate returns. “We are monitoring the trade war saga closely as any settlement agreement could be a game changer for the market. It may cause a major re-rating in regional outlook,” it added. -- BERNAMA