McOttley Unit Trust (McTrust), a product of McOttley Capital Limited and an investment company from the McOttley group of companies, was adjudged the Best Balance Fund in 2015 among about 16 other balance funds operating in Ghana with the highest return of 22.60 percent, the board chairman of McOttley Capital, Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere has disclosed.
Addressing unit holders at the just ended First Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Accra, the the Board Chairman said, even though economic activity was slow, McTrust was adjudged the best performing balanced fund in 2015.
“McTrust stood tall among a total of 16 balanced funds currently operating in the industry,” he stated.
Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere said, the objective of the fund was to build a solid fund size to create diversification and reduce negative effects on the fund’s performance returns.
He urged all unit holders to increase their holdings in order to grow the fund. He appreciated the unit holders for their support and the staff of McOttley capital for their continuous commitment to growing the fund.
Dr. Ken Kwaku the Group board chairman of McOttley Holdings Limited, on his part stressed on the importance of investment and mentioned that no country can prosper without savings and investments.
He added that, financial inclusion was one of the major challenges facing the Ghanaian economy. He however said, the introduction of mobile money platform has increased financial inclusion particularly for rural communities and some urban dwellers.
The Group board chairman of McOttley Holdings Limited encouraged the fund managers to introduce new and flexible mode of payment for unit holders.
Contributing, the fund manager represented by Mr. Hilary Lomotey, noted that, the year under review saw growth in the industry in respect of Collective Investment Schemes in Ghana, from GH¢196,793,084.72 in 2014 to GH¢ 727,626,915.89 in 2015, representing a 269.74% increase over the period.
“After the Initial Public Offer (IPO) of McTrust, the fund saw growth in deposits and positive responses from investors and unit holders in 2015,” he stated.
The Net Asset Value (NAV) at the end of 2015 was GH¢223,252.52 as compared to a GH¢ 151,036.00 at the end of the Initial Public Offer (IPO). This represents a 47.81% growth in deposits since inception with the price per unit over the same period being GH¢0.12.
Mr. Lomotey added that, the asset class of the fund was 85.42% money market instruments whilst equity accounted for 12.56% for the period under consideration. With the GSE CI recording YTD return of -11.77% by the close of the year 2015, the strategy was to hold on with the addition to the composition of the equities until the market bounced back, which was in accordance with the Investment Policy.
Mr. Lomotey outlined some of the strategies adopted for managing McTrust in 2016 which he noted was to continue to offer a well-diversified blend of securities to the fund in such a way that its portfolio will be well cushioned to withstand any market volatility and to invest in high earning and carefully selected money market instruments whilst seeking growth in periods of rising markets and to preserve capital in periods of market decline and uncertainty. He also encouraged unit holders to top up their investment so that the fund could grow.
The Managing Director of McOttley Capital Limited, Mrs. Happy Forson, appreciated the unit holders for the commitment to the fund and assured them of a higher yield in the next AGM.
She mentioned that a lot more activities would be undertaken by the fund manager through other mediums including social media platforms as a way of reaching out to existing unit holders and prospective clients.
She encouraged unit holders to send their feedbacks through www.facebook.com/mcottley, @mcottley on twitter and Instagram. She further directed the unit holders and the public to visit their website to update themselves of happenings on the financial market and the Ghanaian economy as a whole.
“We owe our clients continuous education and quality market research information for their business decision and personal financial management,that we are committed to,” she added.
Among other attendants were some of Mcottley Capital board members including Dr. Doris Dartey, former chairperson of Graphic communication group and Mr. Paul Nafrah of GetFund. Representatives from Securities and Exchange Commission-The regulator, Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) – the trustee and the Auditors of the fund were also present.
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