[This is a sponsored article with HSBC Malaysia.]
As someone who’s entering their 30s with limited investment experience, it is both relieving and alarming to learn that I’m not alone. Turns out, roughly 43% of local millennials have not dabbled in investments at all, and have no plans to.
Taking a closer look at the financial habits of millennials, another recent report found that 40% of millennials actually spend beyond their means too. This means that a large number of the young workforce is not saving or investing.
The ongoing pandemic is likely their very first economic crisis where they are managing their own finances. It’s not all bad news though, experts believe that the Movement Control Order (MCO) is a good training period for the youngsters to reflect and adjust their spending and lifestyle.
Investing can be a good starting point to potentially grow your wealth. But that said, there are risks involved in investments, so make sure to do your own research and due diligence before making any financial decisions.
One investment option available to Malaysians are Unit Trusts.
What exactly are unit trusts?
Unit Trusts (UT) act just like normal investments, where we exchange funds for assets. However, there are a few key things to note about how UT works.
When first investing in UT, your money is pooled alongside other investors. The money is then managed by a financial professional who will invest the pooled money to fulfil the investment objective and approach agreed beforehand.
Example Scenario: Alan wants to invest RM1,000 into UT. He talks to a financial professional and they set a goal for how much Alan wants to profit. Alan wants to get out with a RM300 profit. The investment amount of RM1,000 is then channeled to the financial professional.
The financial professional also manages other investors like Alan. With a combined pool of money from different investors, they can invest more into different assets.
A year later, the market favoured Alan’s investments and reached his goal profit. He then decides to sell off the investment. Of course, other factors such as market volatility, risks and management fees are still at play even in UT. And depending on the UT, some might pay out yearly dividends.
Since the funds are managed by a financial professional, the unit holders (the investors) have limited control of the assets they’re investing into. In terms of profit, unit holders might also get less profit as they have to pay management fees to the financial professional.
Benefits-wise, unit owners will have a large portfolio list, as the financial professional will often diversify into different assets, in line with the age-old saying of “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”.
Dipping your toes into UT investment
HSBC’s investment platform on the HSBC Malaysia Mobile Banking App, EZInvest, is now available in Malaysia to give users convenient access to UT investing.
Compared to conventional UT investing where you need to talk to a financial professional, EZInvest provides you with the flexibility to invest in UT through a secured platform right on your mobile phone. To start, you’ll need a HSBC Unit Trust Investment account or a HSBC Amanah Unit Trust Investment Account.
With EZInvest, you can start investing from RM500.
Aside from the low entry point, HSBC allows investors to get access to different assets ranging from local, Asian and global markets. HSBC EZInvest is designed to be easy to use. Here are the steps to access its services:
1. Open up the HSBC Malaysia Mobile Banking App (download the app on Apple App Store or Google Play Store) and login via Biometrics or your account details.
2. Tap on EZInvest, which can be found under the “Products and Services” tab.
3. If you’re a first-time investor, you’ll be prompted with a welcome screen, showing the features of UT. If you’ve invested via the app, you can tap on “My Holdings” to view all your current assets, their market value, and the potential gain or loss of the asset. If you wish to buy more, you can do so in this section as well.
4. To begin investing, tap on “What Can I Invest” and you’ll be brought to a page where you can see all the details of a fund that you can invest in. It’ll show you detailed information about the fund’s price, performance, allocation, fees and charges. If you’re interested in investing in that specific fund, tap on “Invest Now”.
5. Fill in the necessary details as prompted, verify the details of the transaction, and you’re set. If you wish, you can save the transaction details by clicking on the share button.
With EZInvest, you won’t have to talk to any financial professionals or the likes to make an investment since you can buy, sell and manage your investment through the platform. And you will have access to your UT portfolios under HSBC and HSBC Amanah.
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It is worth noting that gaining a profit from investing is not a sure thing. So make sure you study up what investment you are buying into to see if it suits your lifestyle, spending habits, and financial goals. Investments are usually tied to long-term profits, so it makes sense to start as early as you can.
The usage of EZInvest (app) is governed by the HSBC Bank Terms and Conditions for Online and Mobile Banking, End User License Agreement, and Important Notes available in the HSBC Malaysia Mobile Banking app. In order to perform transaction in this app, a sole Unit Trust investment account needs to firstly be opened. Please visit HSBC Bank or HSBC Amanah branch or contact us by phone to open a Unit Trust investment account to perform transaction on this app. The services provided through this app involve no recommendation of, or advice on, any product from us. All transactions that you enter into through this app are conducted on an execution-only basis and based on your own judgement. The value of investments, unit prices, income distribution and impact of exchange rate movement may go down or up, and the investor may not get back the original sum invested. Past performance of a unit trusts should not be taken as indicative of its future performance. Investors are advised to read carefully and understand the contents of the prospectus and consider the general risk factors associated with investing in unit trusts in addition to other specific risks uniquely associated with the unit trusts. All the relevant risk factors are set out in the relevant prospectus for the unit trusts. The list of Unit Trust funds provided through this app is not reflective of the full fund list offered by HSBC Bank and HSBC Amanah via the branch channel. If you’re looking for the full list of Unit Trust funds, you may visit our HSBC website or our branch for more information. The scope of available transactions are lump sum investment, Monthly Investment Plan (MIP) and redemption. To perform switching, transfer or exercise of cooling-off right in relation to unit trusts, please visit the nearest HSBC Bank or HSBC Amanah branches. If you would like to enquire of such procedure, please contact HSBC Bank Malaysia via the channels specified in https://www.hsbc.com.my/contact/. Unit trust schemes and units in such schemes are not protected by Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia (“PIDM”); and any money withdrawn from an insured deposit for the purpose of purchasing any units in a unit trust scheme is no longer protected by PIDM. This material has not been reviewed by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC).
Featured Image Credit: HSBC