This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on August 1, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB-Principal Asset Management Bhd (CIMB-Principal) is aiming for a RM150 million subscription to its newly launched CIMB-Principal Total Return Bond Fund 3, which focuses on growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

The fund is a three-year close-ended bond fund that will close on Aug 24, 2016, and will enable investors to benefit from the potential growth of the region, covering countries such as South Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Australia, said CIMB-Principal in a statement.

The fund aims to achieve potentially higher returns than CIMB Bank’s three-year fixed deposit rate, by investing up to 100% of its net asset value in a diversified portfolio of debt instruments, money market instruments and deposits, it said.

CIMB-Principal chief executive Munirah Khairuddin noted that economies in the Asia-Pacific region have continued to show resilience and offer relatively attractive risk-adjusted returns, compared with other regional markets, providing favourable conditions for bond issuances.

“The demand for improved infrastructure in many of the target countries, for example, bodes well for the fund’s ability to provide total returns exceeding FD (fixed deposit) rates to investors, who, through the fund, will be able to access both local and foreign higher-yielding investment-grade bonds,” she added.

The fund, said the asset management company, is suitable for investors with medium-term investment goals and requires a minimum initial investment of RM1,000, with a minimum subsequent investment amount of RM500, and could be purchased from CWA unit trust consultants, CIMB Bank and OCBC Bank.

HSBC (Malaysia) Trustee Bhd has been appointed the fund’s trustee to safeguard unitholders’ interests.

To date, CIMB-Principal has launched 42 unit trust funds and two exchange-traded funds. As at June 20, 2016, CIMB-Principal had RM60.3 billion in assets under management.

CIMB-Principal is jointly owned by Malaysia’s second-largest lender CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, and New York-listed The Principal Financial Group USA.