Strong Demand for Public Bank’s First Euro Pacific Fund

KUALA LUMPUR 17 July 2007 – Public Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Public Mutual announced that to date, more than RM311 million (or more than 1.24 billion units) worth of units of its recently launched PB Euro Pacific Equity Fund (PBEPEF) were sold. PBEPEF was launched on 8 June 2007. Chief Executive Officer Yeoh Kim Hong said the demand for PBEPEF has been good and the initial approved fund size of 1.5 billion units is almost fully subscribed. “The increase of fund size to 2.25 billion units will allow us to cater to the high demand of this fund since its launch,” she added. PBEPEF is an aggressive equity fund that seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing in equities and collective investment schemes in domestic and foreign markets. “Up to 98% of the fund’s net asset value (NAV) will be invested in foreign markets which include Europe, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and other approved markets. The equity exposure of PBEPEF will generally range from 75% to 90% of its NAV,” she continued. PBEPEF is suitable for investors with aggressive risk-reward temperament. The fund is distributed by Public Bank branches nationwide. Public Mutual is the largest private unit trust company in Malaysia, and it manages 47 funds for more than 1,000,000 accountholders. As at 29 June 2007, the total NAV of the funds managed by the company was RM22 billion.