HSBC No-Load Funds SICAV holds AGM

HSBC No-Load Funds SICAV plc recently held its seventh annual general meeting. During the meeting, members approved the annual report and audited financial statements for the year ended on April 30.

Professor Peter Xuereb was re-appointed chairman, and Charles Azzopardi and Robert Scott were re-appointed directors of the company. The shareholders also reappointed KPMG as auditors.

Mr Azzopardi, managing director of HSBC Fund Management (Malta) Limited, gave a brief overview of recent developments in the local and international markets, and provided information on the income class of shares that is available in a number of its funds.

He also referred to the important milestone reached by the Malta Government Bond Fund, which exceeded the Lm100 million mark in its net asset value, making it the first local fund to achieve this significant threshold.

Thanking investors for their confidence and trust in this popular fund, as well as other HSBC products, Mr Azzopardi said for the 12 months ended July 21, 2005, the fund recorded an increase in unit price of 4.1 per cent, which compares very favourably with the return obtainable on a local one-year term deposit account.

The Maltese Assets Fund, a 'balanced' fund, was even more successful, with an increase in unit price of 14.9 per cent during the same one-year period.

Steven Tedesco, investments manager at HSBC Fund Management (Malta) Ltd, delivered a detailed presentation on the performance of the Malta Government Bond Fund and the Maltese Assets Fund for the financial year under review, highlighting the main factors contributing to the performance of the funds.

The accumulator shares in the Malta Government Bond Fund recorded a noteworthy annualised return of 4.9 per cent and the Maltese Assets Fund achieved an impressive annualised return of 6.8 per cent since their launch on December 23, 1998, up to last April 30.