AmFraser Securities and PhillipCapital launch industry’s first retail allocation reports on ETFs, with SGX’s support

24 July 2008 – AmFraser Securities Pte Ltd (AmFraser) and Phillip Securities Pte Ltd, a member of PhillipCapital, are pleased to launch today the first retail ETF allocation reports produced by Singapore’s stockbroking firms, with support from Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX). To be issued monthly by AmFraser and PhillipCapital, these reports cover exchange traded funds (ETFs) listed on SGX.

In conjunction with this launch, AmFraser, PhillipCapital and SGX will conduct a series of marketing seminars in the next few months to educate investors on ETFs, and tap on the reports to help investors in making informed decisions in diversifying their portfolios through ETFs on equity and commodities indices.

AmFraser and PhillipCapital will issue separate reports starting today. These reports provide macro overviews and performance analyses of selected underlying markets of SGX-listed ETFs, with recommendations and adjustments for new ETF listings. They are available on the brokerages’ websites - www.amfraser.com.sg and www.poems.com.sg.

"It takes a paradigm shift to view ETFs in an innovative way so as to provide relevant investment solutions for our clients. Being an absolute returns portfolio, this report hopes to stimulate the average investor to take a portfolio approach, rather than investing purely into one or two stocks. AmFraser is excited to be pioneering this for the investor community, and hopes that the report will help educate and guide our clients to maximise the potential of these instruments – such as accessing overseas stock markets and other asset classes such as commodities," said Mr Ma Wei Tong, Managing Director & CEO, AmFraser Securities.

“Looking at the success of ETFs in financially advanced countries, we believe that ETFs will be a popular investment product in the near future. PhillipCapital is proud to be a partner with SGX to develop the ETF market in Singapore with this collaboration with SGX. We believe that PhillipCapital’s expertise in wealth management products and distribution through our online trading platform, Phillip’s Online Electronic Mart System (POEMS), will prove useful in promoting ETF trading to many investors. Our ETF reports aim to provide the investing public recommended ETFs for their investment portfolio for diversification purpose,” said Mr Loh Hoon Sun, Managing Director, Phillip Securities.

“Asset allocation is about the most important factor in sustainable investment portfolio growth. The current suite of 19 ETFs listed on SGX allows investors to construct a pan-Asian equities, commodities, gold and fixed income portfolio. We are pleased to work with our industry partners AmFraser Securities and PhillipCapital to provide the Singapore stockbroking industry’s first allocation reports on ETFs. We look forward to working with more industry partners on this worthy initiative,” said Mr Andrew Ler, SGX Senior Vice President and Head of Private Investors.

SGX has listed ETFs covering Singapore, Asia and the United States, as well as commodities.

To read PhillipCapital's ETF Report, please click here.

About AmFraser Securities
AmFraser Securities Pte. Ltd., Singapore’s oldest stockbroking company, started out in 1873 as Fraser &Co., and today continues to uphold its long tradition of providing value-added services for both institutional and private investors in the region. AmFraser was the first in South East Asia to produce research reports - back in the 1940s! Since then, AmFraser have continued to focus on research as an important service to our clients.

Following a restructuring, AmFraser Securities is now a member of AmInvestment Bank Group Malaysia (AIGB). AmFraser Securities now provides improved expertise and complete provision on a suite of financial instruments and services. AIGB is consistently ranked as one of the top Investment Banks in Malaysia.

In addition, FraserDirect, their internet trading platform, was selected as one of the top 25 IT projects in Asia in the early days of technology revolution. AmFraser Securities now boast a newly enhanced internet trading platform, AmFraser Online Trading, which offers more features and benefits to meet the demands of today’s investments.

About PhillipCapital
PhillipCapital is a group of companies which offers a full range of quality and innovative financial services to retail, corporate and institutional customers. PhillipCapital is an integrated financial services provider with more than 2800 staff in Asia and Europe and total shareholders’ funds in excess of US$600 million.

We provide a comprehensive suite of financial services to individual and corporate investors as well as institutions. Our services range from fund management, unit trusts, hedge funds, insurance planning, mortgage loans, investment research and broking in bond, securities, futures, foreign exchange, precious metals and commodities. Institutions can also benefit from our corporate finance and advisory services as well as information technology solutions.

About Singapore Exchange Limited
Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX) was inaugurated on 1 December 1999, following the merger of two established and well-respected financial institutions - the Stock Exchange of Singapore (SES) and the Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX). SGX is Asia-Pacific's first demutualised and integrated securities and derivatives exchange and is listed on its own bourse. The exchange's stock is a component of benchmark indices such as the MSCI Singapore's Free Index and the Straits Times Index (STI).

SGX aims to offer a highly trusted, comprehensive and efficient securities and derivatives marketplace for raising capital, risk transfer, trading, clearing and settlement. SGX facilitates the trading and clearing of commodity futures such as crude palm oil and rubber and over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives such as forward freight agreements and oil swaps. Through strategic alliances and partnerships with other exchanges around the world, SGX is firmly positioned as an Asian Gateway.

For more information, please visit SGX website: www.sgx.com