During the first quarter the unit trust industry attracted a total of Rs 1.3 billion new funds. The majority were for the income funds and equity funds, Unit Trust Association of Sri Lanka (UTASL) Treasurer, P.Asokan told Daily News Business.
“It is important to change the traditional mind set of the public from savings to investments. Majority of the people are unaware of the unit trust concept. They invest their funds more in fixed deposits and bank savings. With the interest rates brought down drastically, people are now looking at alternative investment methods,” he said.Increasing collections especially from small scale investors apart from large scale investors to the unit trust industry is vital for their long-term objectives.
He said many of the people depend on the income of interest rates that they get for their deposits. With reduced interest rates the public should look at long-term investment opportunities such as unit trust for higher returns.
“We are confident that the industry will have the capability to record strong growth supported by corporate earnings growth. Although the price levels of some equities have not increased mainly due to market speculators investing in illiquid equities; the investors who are keen on fundamentally good stocks can enjoy a high and a sustainable dividend yield for their long-term investments,” Asokan said.
“As industrialists we suggest the Government to introduce such incentives or to invest part of the EPF and ETF funds in unit trusts as members handle the risk and the return on investments are higher,” he said.
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