In a statement today, OSK-UOB chief executive officer Ho Seng Yee said the fund was "a 100% capital protected fund with an option that indicatively gives a 10%-15% head start coupon".

He said the closed-ended fund had tenure of four years and was aimed at providing capital appreciation over the medium term while protecting investors' capital on the maturity date.

He said although the recovery of the global financial crisis was in progress, the direction of the capital markets around the world was still hazy.

"Even though the signs of a market rebound are strong with emerging positive economic numbers, abundance in cash holdings and clearly some recovery being played out, nevertheless, the direction of capital markets is still uncertain with lingering reservations of the sustainability of this global recovery thus making investment decisions difficult.

"With these factors in mind, we have now designed an all-in-one fund under an umbrella that takes care of bull, bear and defensive market conditions."   

Ho said the fund's principal strategy was to invest in high quality fixed-income securities via a four-year zero coupon negotiable instrument of deposit (ZNIDs).

Simultaneously, it will invest in a four-year over-the-counter option which is structured to potentially benefit from a combination of different underlying asset classes in gold which performs well in bear markets, Berkshire Hathaway shares which are a bull market play and Singapore dollar cash, a defensive asset.

"Hence the Gold Buffett strategy has been structured to take care of all eventualities — uncertainty/recovery/continuing bear markets."

Ho said gold had long been considered as an ideal investment in times of uncertainty and whether it was a weakening US dollar, periods of high inflation, or turmoil in the financial markets — investors had faithfully turned their attention towards the metal.

He added that since January 2000, gold had appreciated at an annual compounded rate of 13.73%.

Berkshire Hathaway is a listed holding company with subsidiaries that engage in a number of diverse business activities including property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, utilities and energy, finance, manufacturing, services and retailing.

Ho said led by the Sage of Omaha, Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway's book value had grown from US$19 to US$70,530 (RM248,971); a rate of 20.3% compounded annually.

He said Singapore's currency had appreciated in a steady manner versus other Asean currencies due to political stability, market liquidity and attractive valuations conducive for investments.

The Gold Buffett Fund is introduced with an initial approved fund size of 120 million units, and is offered to the investing public at an initial unit price of RM1 per unit. The initial minimum investment amount is RM1,000 and the subsequent minimum top-up is RM1,000.