HFC-ISL records significant improvement

Accra, June 23, GNA - Mr Joseph Nketsiah, General Manager of Home Finance Company Investment Services Limited (HFC-ISL), a subsidiary of HFC Bank (Gh) Limited, on Tuesday said the company had recorded a significant improvement in performance during the 2008 financial year. He said the fund value for the three Collective Investment Schemes, namely, HFC Unit Trust, HFC Equity and HFC Real Estate Investment Trust managed by the HFC-ISL had also increased by 47 per cent.

Mr Nketsiah, speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said the yields on the various funds also improved tremendously. "The yield on the Unit Trust Fund has increased from 12.75 per cent in 2007 to 18.7 per cent in 2008 while that of the Equity Trust Fund also increased to 38.89 per cent as against 34.19 per cent in 2007. "The yields from Real Estate Investment Fund equally increased from 17.5 per cent to 28.97 per cent in 2008," he added. He said the Assets Management Portfolio of the company including the highly networked individuals, provident and endowment funds had also recorded an increase of 50 per cent.

Mr Nketsiah said to position itself as the preferred pension fund manager; the HFC-ISL had recently embarked on specialized recruitments and overseas training for those staff who would be managing the various funds.

"Only last week, we introduced another fund called HFC Future Plan Trust designed for anyone who is looking into the future - for example child education, a dream home plan, enjoyable retirement plan, among others," he said.

He said the new product was to encourage parents to invest for their children considering the recent economic hardship. A parent needs just 50 Ghana cedis to start this investment plan and a minimum of 10 Ghana Cedis monthly deposit. He mentioned Initial Public Offerings, Private Placements, Asset Management, Investment Banking, Feasibility Reports and Management of Funds as some of the services rendered to the public. The company also provides investment-managed services such as Investment of Funds for Unit Holders, Disinvestment of Funds for Unit Holders and Funds Administration, Marketing of Funds and Client Relationship Management for the three Collective Investment Schemes. Commenting on the challenges facing the company's operation, Mr Nketiah said, managing funds in an economy which was witnessing ripple effects as a result of the global recession was very challenging. "One would always have to be on his feet and to do lots of financial and investment analysis to know the appropriate areas worth investing," he added.

Mr Nketsiah therefore advised the public to show interest in investing, saying, "investment is not only for the rich, everybody can invest and the best time to invest is now". HFC-ISL is a wholly owned subsidiary of the HFC Bank (Gh) Limited and is authorized to carry on the business of an investment company and for that purpose to acquire, hold, manage or deal in securities or property of any description as principal or agent.

It also provides property management, financial and investment services, establishes and manages funds for investment purposes including, but not limited to, real estate, profit sharing and other financial transactions and arranges capitalization and other financial packages for its clientele. The company's Annual General Meeting is schedule for Friday, June 26. 23 June 09