SUNDAY STAR, 2 AUGUST 2015

special

MONEY & YOU

THE digital investment magazine
The Fifth Person is hosting an
investment summit in Kuala
Lumpur The Level Up Your
Wealth 2015 summit, which aims
to bring real-life investment
knowledge and financial literacy to
Malaysians.
It will be held at Mid Valley
Megamall, Kuala Lumpur, on Aug 8
and will feature speakers Victor
Chng and Rusmin Ang, full-time
investors and international authors
of the book, Value Investing in
Growth Companies, who will share
their insights and strategies on
how to invest profitably in regional
stock markets.
Chng and Ang are regulars on
the CIMB Securities speaking
circuit and have spoken about the
securities broker on multiple
occasions, including in Penang,
Sibu, Miri and Kuala Lumpur.
They also appear regularly on
programmes on Singapore radio
station 938LIVE and their
investment articles have been
published on The Business Times
online and in Business Insider
Singapore and Business Insider
Malaysia.
Chng and Ang will be speaking
about value-growth investing and
dividend-growth investing, the
two areas of investing that they
specialise in. They will also talk
about why investors who seek solid
capital gains and stable dividends
should utilise these two proven
investment methods to grow their
wealth and generate multiple
streams of passive income.
The summit will also feature
renowned wealth coach and
professional investor Adam Khoo
who became a self-made
millionaire at the age of 26, making
him one of the youngest
millionaires in Singapore.
He now runs Adam Khoo

IN the face of the rising cost of

living and currency depreciation
risks, investors are seeking
strategies to protect their
purchasing power.
To combat these risks, a right
mix of investment strategies may
be employed to accelerate returns.
However, many still lack
understanding of essential
investment principles or how to
apply the correct tools to meet
their investment objectives.
One of the most misunderstood
and often misapplied principles is
compounding, which is capable of
creating the best advantage in
meeting your financial goals.
To appreciate the power of
compound interest, you should
understand how simple interest
works.
When you make an investment,
the amount of money paid is called
the principal and any investment
that pays simple interest calculates
payments based only on the
principal.
An investment of RM10,000
principal that pays 10% simple
interest means your investment
earns on 10% of the principal,
therefore generating RM1,000
annually.
This means that your investment
will come up to RM11,000 at the
end of the first year, RM12,000
after the second year, RM13,000 in

Learn to grow your wealth

Learning Technologies Group, one
of Asias largest private educational
institutions, which organises
educational seminars for more
than 80,000 people annually in
seven countries.
Khoo is also the bestselling
author of 13 books, including
Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires,
Secrets of Millionaire Investors, and
Winning the Game of Stocks, as

well as a member of the Singapore

Chapter of the Young Presidents
Organization, membership to
which is available only to business
owners below age 50 who run
businesses with a minimum
annual turnover of US$9mil
(RM34.3mil).
Khoo, who focuses on stock
market trends and momentum
investing, will be at the summit to

share his unique strategies for

investing in stocks that have an
upward trending price momentum.
He says that he can receive 50% to
60% returns annually by using his
method of identifying the best
times to enter and exit an upward
trend to maximise returns in a
short period of time.
Khoo has been teaching his
methods to investors through

education seminars held across

Asia for the past 10 years.
Entry to The Level Up Your
Wealth 2015 summit is free but
limited to the first 200 people on
a first-come first-served basis on
the day of the event.

n To book a seat, visit notice.

shareinvestor.com/
LevelUpWealthSummit

Have your best interest in mind

the third year and so forth.
Investments with compound
interest work differently. They pay
a fixed percentage, 10% yearly in
this example, on the entire balance
accumulated. In other words, you
earn interest on both the principal
and the interest.
Compared with the earlier
example of the simple interest
investment, the investment with
compound interest will give you
RM11,000, RM12,100 and RM13,310
at the end of the first, second and
third year respectively.
Compounding is the greatest
asset to grow your egg nest, says
William Ng (pic), chief executive
officer of TFDC Asiacorp Berhad,
who is also a Certified Financial
Planner and Islamic Financial
Planner.
Simply stated, compounding is
the idea of earning interest on
interest. As the interest grows, the
interest on the interest grows.
At some point the interest-oninterest portion becomes bigger
than the initial investment.
Similar to a snowball rolling
downhill, the more times goes by,
the bigger the interest-on-interest
portion becomes. Hence,
compounding can be seen as an

accelerating force to grow your

investment.
The understanding of
compounding and its application
allows you to leverage on its
acceleration power to help realise
your financial goals, particularly if
your objective is to plan for your
retirement.
However, not all types of
investments are inherently
structured to facilitate the effective
application of compounding.
For example, in a stock market
where pendulum swings of equal
size occur, investing RM10,000 will
allow you to earn 10% in the first
year but lose 10% in the second
year, meaning you will not break
even and may end up with
RM9,900, a loss of 1% of your
principal.
The key to successful
application of compounding is to
seek investments that grow the
principal sum and interest over
time, says Ng.
Therefore, investments that are
structurally suitable to optimise the
application of compounding are
those that provide autoreinvestments of the returns along
with the principal, or those that
provide the short-to-medium

payback of the capital and returns,

hence providing reinvestment
options.
TFDC Asiacorp is a boutique
property development investment
firm that promotes property bonds
and luxury community properties
in Forest Lakes Country Club,
Halifax, Canada.
The company is a
subsidiary of Terra Firma
Development Corporation
Limited, Canada, which is
the master developer for
Forest Lakes.
TFDC Asiacorp
promotes structured
investments and lifestyle
properties to grow wealth
using a mix of
compounding, global
diversification, and
inflation and risk control
applications.
TFDC Asiacorp conducts
regular investment
seminars and
financial

talks. Its next event will be held on

Aug 9 at the One World Hotel,
Petaling Jaya. Registration is
required.

n For more information,

call 011-1222 1998.

SUNDAY STAR, 2 AUGUST 2015

2 money & you

MCIS Insurance Berhad (MCIS

Insurance), a leading life insurer in
Malaysia, has 61 years of
experience under its belt.
A proud homegrown brand, it
has amassed significant
understanding of local market
needs. MCIS Insurance takes pride
in going for the mass segment of
customers and working to realise
the full potential of this segment.
Driven to serve all Malaysians,
it continuously designs products
that not only suit the needs of
its customers but also ones that
complement customers stages
of life.
In collaboration with its
international association by way
of shareholder, South Africa-based
Sanlam Emerging Markets, MCIS
Insurance offers its latest
innovative investment-linked
product, the MCIS Premier
FlexiInvest (PFI).
This product was a result of
comprehensive knowledge sharing
between the local product
development team and its
counterparts at Sanlam Group.
In essence, PFI is a
comprehensive protection and
savings plan meant to grow
with the ever-changing needs
of customers.
New developments are meant to
fulfil the needs of customers as
well as realise the potential of
entering newer market segments
while not forgetting its focus on its
core target audience.
Kevin Jones, chief executive
officer of MCIS Insurance, talks
about the insurers offerings:
l On target market segments
Through PFI, we target young
working professionals and
professionals who seek protection
and wealth accumulation as well
as retirement solutions.
This caters to different life stage
changes and most importantly,
helps build a solid financial safety
net to assist them in achieving
long-term financial goals.

Flexible investments
guarantee your future
It is only
prudent to
shield against
the risk of
economic
fluctuations.

MCIS comprehensive investment product caters to all your different life stages.

and other protections.

Your wealth should be protected
too and this plan not only
safeguards the wealth
that you have worked
hard to create but also
protects the lifestyle
and aspirations of
you and your loved
ones.
With this plan, you
can rest assured that
your retirement plans,
property, dream car
and childs
education
funds,
among
others, are
well
protected
in the event
of death
or other
unfortunate
events.

l On the nature of PFI

Naturally, we seek to protect
what we hold dear special life
events such as the birth of a child,
marriage, starting a family or
purchase of a property leads us to
be more protective. We celebrate
your special life events together
with you by granting you the
privilege to increase your
protection coverage up to 20% of
your basic sum covered, subject to
a maximum of RM500,000, free of
underwriting requirements.
All you need to do is to inform us
of your change in status (supported
by relevant documents) to increase
your protection coverage.
l On its special features
We also believe that rewards
and loyalty go hand in hand. In
reflection of this philosophy, this
plan rewards loyal customers with
an anniversary bonus as early as
the beginning of the second policy
year right up to the golden age of
80.
This bonus will be in addition to
the cash value gained from the
investment fund.
If you enjoy ad hoc windfalls
such as bonuses or salary
increments, you can also perform
ad hoc or regular top-ups to your
favourite investment-linked funds
and witness the potential growth of
your savings.

Features of the MCIS Premier FlexiInvest.

This plan also allows for flexible

access to your savings. Partial
withdrawals of cash value are
possible if you need access to
funds.

l On protection
It is only prudent to shield
against the risk of economic
fluctuations. With the 5 Years
Guaranteed Coverage, this plan
shields you against policy lapsation

even if your policys investment

funds falter during unfavourable
economic climate.
The 5 Years Guaranteed
Coverage starts at the inception of
your policy until the fifth policy
year, subject to terms and
conditions.
You may further enhance your
protection by adding our available
features ranging from medical,
hospital benefit to critical illnesses

l On the fund options

available
The product also boasts of four
funds from which customers can
choose the Balanced fund, the
Equity fund, the Jati fund and the
Dividend fund.
By having a variety of funds, we
cater to the different risk tolerance
level of customers.
We enable you to switch
between funds depending on your
financial needs and investment
appetite and waive any fundswitching fees.
The company also has plans
to introduce more funds to meet
customers evolving investment
appetites.
We want to cater to everybody
regardless of age, status or current
circumstances. In other words, the
everyday Malaysian.
With the array of options
provided by MCIS Insurance, you
can be assured that you and your
family members are being taken
care of.
Giving you the instruments you
need to shape and secure your
financial future is the aim of
MCIS Insurance.
n For more information,
visit www.mcis.my
Kevin Jones,
chief executive
officer of MCIS
insurance.

SUNDAY STAR, 2 AUGUST 2015

4 money & you

SUNDAY STAR, 2 AUGUST 2015

Manage
your credit
YOUR credit score can have a major impact
on your life and finances. Everyone should
take time to review, manage and boost their
credit score.
Your credit score will not only affect
whether you can get mortgages, credit cards
and loans, it can also affect attainment of
mobile phone contracts, monthly insurance
premiums, opening of bank accounts, job
applications and more.
Every individual has a unique credit score.
It is a three digit number calculated based on
the credit history from your credit report. A
credit score makes it easier for individuals to
comprehend their credit standing.
Five components determine the outcome
of your credit score payment history, length
of credit history, credit limit utilisation, new
credit applications, legal history trace.
In many instances of interactions with
consumers by RAM Credit Information Sdn
Bhd (Ramci), an accredited credit reporting
agency in Malaysia, consumers shared that
credit reports can be a bit confusing as they
contain a huge amount of data.
It is also sometimes difficult for an
individual to determine which part of the
data is considered important to lenders.
Nonetheless, a numerical expression in
the form of a credit score can help explain
how a persons credit standing is categorised.
The credit score developed by Ramci
ranges from 201 to 781. A higher score
makes a consumer more credit-worthy.
Generally, a score of 621 or higher indicates
that you have managed your credit well.

It is important to maintain a good credit score

as part of your financial routine.

When it comes to locking in an interest

rate, the higher your score, the better the
terms of credit you are likely to receive.
Your credit score is a key indicator of your
credit risk, used by lenders to determine
your creditworthiness at the time of any
related applications.
Good credit management leads to higher
credit scores, which in turn lowers the cost
that you need to borrow. Living within your
means, using debt wisely and paying your
bills consistently and on time are smart
financial moves.
Good credit management helps improve
your credit score, reduces the amount
you pay for the money you borrow and
puts more money in your pocket to save
and invest. It is always a good idea to make
monitoring your credit score a part of
your financial routine.
This will allow you to be better prepared
to work with your credit standing when you
are about to make major purchases such as
buying a house, car or taking a loan to start
a business. If you are interested to determine
your credit score, you may request for a
credit report from Ramci.

n For more information, call 03-2615 1191 or

03-2615 1128 or www.mycreditinfo.com.my