打鼓's posts with tag: ~l'abaque~
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 美国经济有问题，但是很多国家的分析员都在互相抄着同样的口水，都说自己的国家，例如香港，大马，都会面对问题。我越看越不明白，究竟他们学的分析是哪一门的分析，他们花了那么多钱学了什么呢？还是把美国佬的报告，这里抄下，那里抄下，然后再加入各自自己国家的情况，就说美国有问题，个别国家就有问题？
我先来说说自己的看法。就用历史来说说吧。
春秋时期，秦国的实力最大，剩下的就是齐国。这里有一个问题，如果秦国的经济面对问题，难道身为对头的齐国就要感到害怕？ 我相信齐国的君主高兴够来不及。
再来一个，贞观之治，唐太宗韬光养晦。颉利穷兵黩武，加上旱季来临，收成不好。在这个古代，农桑就是国之根本，也就是一国的经济。当颉利面对经济问题的时候，你说唐朝时害怕还是高兴呢？ 很明显的，唐太宗高兴到不得了，立刻拜李靖为大将军，带军几十万攻克颉利的大漠。
再来，冷战时代，美国跟苏联对弈。历史告诉我们苏联国力不济，渐渐败落。当苏联佬不行的时候，难道美国佬就害怕？困惑？ 当然不是，美国佬高兴都不得了。
再来，美国，德国，日本，三头马车并立的年代，美国的经济也有些冷冒，难道德国佬跟日本卡佬就要怕？要担心？我看德国佬跟日本卡佬在后面卡卡大笑，因为是时候他们上位咯。 美国经济不行，就由德国跟日本的经济来顶！
再来，1989～1990 年代，美国经济也是感冒了一下。难道全球的经济圈就不行？但是实际上却不是啊，那些资金和热钱都涌来来了亚洲。亚洲四小龙就这样崛起了。93 年开始，大马股市就经历了一个牛市。
那么，现在呢？ 美国不行，很严重吗？全球的经济圈还有金砖四国，而且还有 N-11 呢！难道就抵不过一个美国？ 加上如果稍微研究一下，就知道全球的GDP, 美国所占的比重已经不如从前，从以往占了很多比重下跌只占了很少而已。
难怪，已故德国股神说国民经济家里开了数据，is nothing. 他们都只注重数据。但是数据并不能完全代表整个大局。“The undercover economist" 就说了嘛，经济学家应该是从人们的日常生活中去寻找答案。无形的手会校正一切，让经济资源重新分配。
所以，真不明白那些分析师是这样作出结论的。根据数据？还是收人钱财，替人消灾？哈哈！古人有曰，欲穷千里目，更上一层楼。我看，全球的分析师应该往更高一楼爬上去，这样才能观览大局。 而不是根据数据，或者人家的报告，就写出让人心彷徨的报告。
*chukh1在佳礼的文述 
 BY ROSS PARKS, SPECIAL TO THE DAILY BUSINESS BUZZ The Nova Scotia Business Journal After 18 years in media, I realized 99% of advertising was nothing but fluff. Words like friendly, professional, service, quality…these words do nothing to communicate why you're the best deal. But most businesses go on year after year spewing out the verbal platitudes. But why would anyone want to waste all that money hardly saying anything to anyone? It’s because all of our training on how to do advertising and marketing comes from the WRONG sources. The government is a Level 1 business. Level 2 businesses include General Motors, McDonalds, and Nike. We've been indoctrinated by years of advertising and social acceptance to buy from these companies. The key to their success isn't necessarily based on how good they are, but rather on advertising repetition that builds brand awareness. For instance, General Motors spent a whopping $3.087 billion. That's why they can sing “like a rock” and it works. If you spend over $3 billion, I promise you'll get stellar results, too. The problem? We are constantly exposed to Level 2 advertising, and everyone assumes that’s how marketing and advertising is done. But Level 3 companies (everyone else) have to be smarter with their dollars and create action-oriented advertising, because they can't rely on broad based repetition-oriented advertising. But here's the problem: none of these guys who graduate with all these degrees in advertising and marketing know how to make money in the real world. They don't know how to get prospects to take action. And, for you, that's what's crucial. You need to craft your advertising to where you can get prospects to take action that leads to a purchase. Maybe you want the prospect to send in a reply card or call a toll-free hotline. That's different than Level 2 advertising, where you're trying to create a feeling and attach it to your product. You've got to have your advertising make the prospect take ACTION! The way you do that is by using action-oriented advertising. You'll hear a lot of people in the advertising industry say you can't quantify the results of your advertising like that...and in some cases they're right. But that's only because many businesses don't understand the fundamentals of how to make their advertising make money. So spend your dollars more intelligently. – Nova Scotia Business Journal Ross Parks is a Master Consulting Agent with the Monopolize Your Marketplace Program & Seminar series called ‘Everything You’ve Learned About Marketing is WRONG.’ He can be reached at (902) 869-2000. Used with permission of Rich Harshaw, owner of the MYM system. http://www.novascotiabusinessjournal.com/index.cfm?sid=99114&sc=107
 KUALA LUMPUR (Dow Jones)--Malaysian state-owned investment firm Khazanah Nasional Bhd. Tuesday said it has called off talks with Volkswagen AG (VLKAY) and General Motors Corp. (GM) on a possible alliance with Proton (5304.KU).
Khazanah, which owns 43% of Proton, said the government feels the loss-making automaker's management should be allowed to continue with their plans to strengthen the company.
It pointed out that Proton's domestic sales and exports have recently improved.
"The issue of a strategic alliance, if necessary, can be considered at a later date," Khazanah said.
But most analysts contacted by Dow Jones Newswires said they are disappointed over the announcement, and warned that it could spark off downgrades from those who have Buy calls on the stock.
"The market had been hoping for a deal to be done... It remains to be seen whether Proton can be turned around," said an auto analyst with a foreign research house.
"I will have to review my investment case for Proton," he said, adding that a downgrade is on the cards.
An automobile analyst with a local research firm agreed.
"Personally, I think it's tough for the management to turn the company around, given the bumpy road ahead and the intense competition in the market," the local analyst said.
"I am not even sure if Proton's car sales are sustainable, given the slow rate of growth in the auto industry," he said. "I really don't think Proton can survive without a foreign partner."
Khazanah has long stressed the need for foreign expertise, particularly via a stake investment, to revitalize the flagship automaker.
Talks on a partnership with either Volkswagen or General Motors were expected to conclude before the end of the year.
The German company was believed to be most likely to take a stake. The possibility of a local partner joining a tie-up had also been mooted.
Proton has been reporting losses and fighting increasing competition for several years now. Since the beginning of this decade, its market share in Malaysia has fallen to around 23% from nearly 60%.
For the year ended March 31, 2007, it posted a loss of MYR591 million - although the current financial year's figures are expected to be better.
The average forecast from 16 analysts polled by Thomson Analytics One predicts that full-year loss will narrow to MYR153.6 million.
The company posted a loss of MYR46.8 million for the first quarter ended June 30.
In September, Proton Managing Director Syed Zainal Abidin revealed an ambitious target of more than quadrupling exports to help stem hefty losses at home.
He said that Proton is targeting exports of 100,000 units within two to three years, up from 23,000 units at end-March 2007.
"The domestic market will remain key for us, but we are looking to focus on exports," Syed Zainal said then.
- By Elffie Chew, Dow Jones Newswires; (603) 2692 5254; elffie.chew@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 20, 2007 06:50 ET (11:50 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
 （吉隆坡訊）大馬企業界鉅子及百盛商業集團創辦人丹斯里鍾廷森有意栽培長女鍾惠嚴成為大馬百盛（Parkson）接班人。他安排女兒在百盛出任總經理助理，讓女兒按部就班從基層做起。這名“太子女”從男裝內衣褲和化妝品部門起步，逐步熟悉每年營業額超過5億令吉的百盛企業運作。
10月才滿24歲的鍾惠嚴有望成為的“大馬芭莉絲”，但她在公司內並沒有享有特權，薪金只有兩千多令吉，年假18天，在公司內購物的折扣率也有限制，即所享有的福利與同級職員無異。
一臉稚氣的惠嚴一聽說“百盛接班人”這稱號便搖頭擺手謙虛的說，“言之過早，爸爸要我跟公司內的同事多學習，一切都要從最基本的學起。邊做邊學，多向不同的人學習是爸爸給我的提點。”
邊做邊跟同事學習
惠嚴在百盛上班已有兩年，平時要到全馬31家百盛分行去巡視運作情況，並與供應商接洽。她目前只專注在男裝部，所以被媽媽潘斯里陳秋霞笑說：“我女兒現在學習賣男裝內褲。”
鍾惠嚴於墨爾本大學修讀大眾傳播，對商業管理一知半解。大學畢業後，鍾廷森便建議她回馬到百盛上班，並強調必須從基層做起，乖巧的惠嚴一口答應並接受父親的安排。
鍾廷森培訓女兒在商場發展卻沒有傳授任何經商秘訣，只要女兒一步一腳印，在商場打好紮實的基礎。惠嚴也在父母的安排下，在北京一家美國廣告公司Saatchi & Saatchi當不受薪學徒3個月，以吸取多方面的專業知識。
“我很喜歡這份工作，有很多東西好學，而且上班像shopping般開心。”
沒名門后代架子
鍾惠嚴穿著樸素
身為百盛商業集團的太子女，鍾惠嚴穿著樸素，沒有名門後代或千金小姐的架子。她平時上班只穿便服，不擅於打扮，而且生活節儉，在公司內人緣頗佳，連化妝部服務員也稱讚她為人謙虛，平時多穿便服，看不出是老闆的女兒。
惠嚴雖然喜歡逛街，記者問她一件衣服1000令吉是否太貴，她馬上瞪大眼睛說：“當然貴啦！我的衣服通常在100令吉以下。1000令吉買一件衣服不如用100令吉買10件衣服更劃算，更多衣服好穿。”
她的節儉行為是否受父母影響？她相信是受到朋友影響，因為朋友們不買名牌，大家都穿得普通，如果她穿名牌，反而顯得很怪異嗎。
她心滿意足地說，現在她這份薪水已夠用，吃住都在家裡，而且還有車子代步，不像一些朋友要自己供車供屋，薪水僅剛剛好夠用。
受詢及她最欣賞父母的哪些優點？她說，“我爸爸的數學和記憶力都很好，他很懂得運籌帷幄，可是不會唱歌；我媽媽很會唱歌，很有才華，可是數學很爛。他們沒有遺傳優點給我，我卻擁有他們的缺點。”
教拿筷子到拿香檳高腳杯
陳秋霞盼女兒踏實
陳秋霞看著長得亭亭玉立的長女惠嚴，臉帶慈愛的笑容說，“以前我教她拿筷子，現在則教她拿香檳高腳杯。”長女踏足社會工作，她也沒有太多耳提面命的忠告，給女兒的職場錦囊只有三個字：“平常心”，希望女兒腳踏實地，從低做起。
當晚，陳秋霞的心情很愉悅，不經意透露了女兒的一些事說，惠嚴這個名字很多筆劃，當年她出生時，長輩說名字的筆劃越多越好，所以給女兒取了這個名字，可是沒想到，大馬是用簡體字，“嚴”這個字竟然被簡化成只有7劃。
詢及她在百盛是否有扮演甚麼角色，她直言沒有，但凡是有香港的親朋戚友來訪，她必然帶他們去逛百盛和大力推銷，因為百盛內各品牌的化妝品價格比香港便宜10至20%，在做促銷時更是便宜一半。
看來陳秋霞在百盛雖然沒有實質的職位，但卻是最佳的百盛推銷員，讓人來到百盛便想到這位優雅可親的老闆娘。
業務多元遍佈各國
鍾廷森財富20億
由丹斯里鍾廷森掌舵的金獅集團，據稱他的個人財富達到6億美元（約20億6600萬令吉），業務遍及東南亞和中國，涉足的領域涵蓋鋼鐵業、車輛、輪胎業、電腦業、百貨、房地產、紙漿與紙張、種植業等。
他真正涉足百貨業是於80年代開始，他於1986年創辦百盛超級市場集團，在大馬各大城鎮開設了4家百盛超級市場和25個百盛商店，目前已擴展至31家，可說是大馬最大的超級市場集團。
營業額超過5億
根據資料指出，大馬百盛每年營業額超過5億令吉。在過去10年來，百盛在中國的發展更是迅速，在中國30多個城市開了50多家百盛連鎖店，年銷售額約50億令吉，成為中國最大的百貨連鎖企業。
鍾廷森也是大馬中華工商聯合會總會長、坤成女中董事長等。
採訪手記
太子女似鄰家女孩
與惠嚴做採訪就像與一位年輕朋友聊天、話家常般輕鬆愉快，雖然這是我們第一次見面。她的身材嬌小，五官深邃，嘴角邊帶酒窩，笑容像極媽媽陳秋霞般甜美，更令人喜愛的是她的單純、嬌柔，就像平易近人的鄰家女孩。
惠嚴與母親陳秋霞是於吉隆坡Pavillion的百盛旗艦店開幕晚會上，接受《光明日報》專訪。當晚，鍾廷森沒有出席，由陳秋霞和鍾惠嚴以主人家的身份與百盛高層一起接待賓客。
就算在隆重盛大的開幕晚會上，惠嚴身著媽媽買的一件式連裙洋裙，腳趿平價鞋來接待高官顯要，穿梭在衣香繽影的社交名流之間。深得眾人喜愛。
惠嚴大方的說：“我穿的這件洋裙是媽媽買給我的，價錢有些貴，所以要多穿幾次才值得，這雙鞋子是在Vincci買的。”
目前要把“百盛接班人”這頂光環套在她的頭上，實在有點沉重，正如她說的：言之過早。對這位小女子來說，好好學習是她目前最重要的事。這正是記者寄予她的祝福。
大馬另一名太子女
李金友女兒23歲創業
大馬另一名有名的太子女是富商丹斯里李金友的長女Dian，她剛大學畢業就出任綠野集團的澳洲公司執行董事，還以23歲之齡雄心勃勃自行創業。
姓名：Dian Lee Cheng Ling
年齡：23歲
婚姻狀況：已婚
身份：綠野集團（CHHB）創辦人丹斯里李金友的長女
成長背景：澳洲墨爾本RMIT大學文科系（主修專業通訊與市場）畢業，當年她已出任綠野集團（澳洲）有限公司的執行董事。在最後兩年的學期休假時，她返回大馬擔任父親的特別助理，負責產業與酒店管理的投資計劃。
最新動態：自行創業，與4位朋友聯營一項總值估計達1億2000萬令吉的“Clearwater Residence”高級產業發展計劃，並由她出任董事經理，產業地點是在白沙羅嶺。此公司與綠野集團沒有關係，其中一位合伙人是新加坡著名繪測師。 （光明日報•2007.09.22）
 Recognition will lead us to a better protection in this community thus seeking recognition is our top priority of life. Yet recognition is not coming from the superior but coming from the business itself.
 | 亿以内数的读法 | Jan 23, '07 9:34 AM
for everyone |
 汉人是以万位做基础，而马来西亚以千位作基础的读法是有偏差或者可以说是错误的
举例：三万写作： 30000
四十万八干写作： 408000
七千零三万零二十写作： 70030020
三亿 300000000
四十亿八千万 4080000000
七千零三亿零二十万 700300200000 请把以上的数字以万位分开然后参考以下的列表阅读以上的串码  亿级 | 万级 | 个级 | …… | 亿 | 千 | 百 | 十 | 万 | 千 | 百 | 十 | 个 |
| 万 | 万 | 万 |
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| 位 | 位 | 位 | 位 | 位 | 位 | 位 | 位 | 位 |
Every CIO wants a seat in the boardroom, but as Linda Brigance, CIO of Fedex Express Asia Pacific, believes, they have to earn it by demonstrating leadership.
Sometimes, CIOs complain: “We’re not being heard.” But I believe a large part of getting that seat in the boardroom is the responsibility of the IT leaders themselves.
At FedEx, getting closer to the business has been one of our key strategies in engaging top management in IT policy. The strength of FedEx’s IT strategy is in making sure that IT projects are for the benefit of the customers. IT isn’t technology for the sake of technology.
Our role as CIOs is to understand the business well enough – particularly the needs of the customer – to make recommendations on solutions that are needed either to improve service of efficiencies. The different business groups recognize the value in this, and when they do they start looking to IT as being a business partner, not a cost to the business. Because of this, our business groups also understand the value of IT and they bring IT into decisions and discussions earlier rather than later.
The most important way to get into the business discussion is by tightly linking IT decisions with business goals. We need to make sure that what we focus on as an IT group is what the business views as critical. We make it a priority to ensure that our IT strategy is aligned with FedEx’s global strategy: “Operate independently, compete collectively and manage collaboratively.” Each part of this strategy is interconnected.
But our corporate strategy is flexible enough to take into account the variances between markets and operating companies. The saying in China: “The emperor is very far away” is sometimes real when global issues are prioritised over vital local issues. What we hope to avoid is a situation where people blame the strategy when the local department is the one that is out of line.
Here are some of the essential elements in IT planning:
PRIORITISATION
One of the most important elements is prioritization. We need to ensure that we are working on the most important project for the business. We must make sure that we go through a prioritization process and that we understand the business well enough to know when to say yes and more importantly, when to say no.
Having a process where all projects go through the same prioritization exercise allows us to have a complete view of where resources are being spent. We need to keep the entire range of projects visible so that we can avoid a situation where we are focusing on a particular project because it’s the only one we can see.
Prioritisation is also the key to doing more with less. You can’t expect people to work harder and get more done. It’s really about being able to focus: putting more resources on the most critical projects that mean the most to the business. There are projects that are just “nice-to-haves” that can be delayed, allowing resources to be diverted to more critical projects. This also means that the business groups believe they are getting more IT support because the projects that mean the most are getting completed.
We have a global governance structure, a decision making body, in place to help us with this process.
MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING
Another key element is understanding the request and expectations of the business. But this also goes two ways: we must help the business groups understand what we’re planning. One way we do this is that we develop prototypes, where possible, to help communicate and show the business groups what we are planning to deliver.
It’s also important to communicate the successes and the accomplishments of the IT organization to the rest of the business groups. When we have achieved a measurable result, we make a point of discussing this with the rest of the organization, both to help them understand the capabilities of the IT organization, as well as for ourselves, to better understand what is critical to the business.
ALLOCATING RESOURCES
We also need to dedicate the right resources to the right project. No one can dedicated 40 or 44 hours a week to a project because people take vacation leave and spend time doing some administrative work. Proper planning of developers’ time is critical.
We are always devoting time and energy to hiring and keeping a superior team of IT resources. Sometimes IT management gets too wrapped up in projects and we don’t’ spend enough time coaching and working on strengthening the IT organization. It’s critical to work with your management staff and spend time to identify areas of potential growth and weakness and how they can work on strengthening their weaknesses.
Sometimes we run into resistance from the IT team in bringing the most appropriate technologies into the organization. We put a lot of emphasis on training, coaching and mentoring. We have a support technologist in place early in the adoption phase, who can then show the way for others. We bring vendor demonstrations in-house for all to see.
Another approach at FedEx has been to put people on the ground in other countries for a certain amount of time. They can then become ambassadors either from this region to our head office, or vice versa. This helps create an understanding of the culture in different regions for problem solving and establish a level of trust.
USER ACCEPTANCE TESTING
We always allow time and resources for proper user acceptance testing. People have learning curves, and getting used to new processes and systems takes time and energy. It isn’t as simple as “Develop-Implement-Leave”. We dedicate a great effort to after-deployment support. There is a lot of care and nurturing of users to ensure IT is successful. You must plan resources for these.
STANDARDISATION
A consistent environment is more cost effective and efficient to support. With a global standard, we only need to test programmes once – not multiple times – because the environment is the same for everyone. Standardisation in hardware, applications and processes really is the key to being able to successfully operate a business globally.
If you need an IT solution in Hong Kong, you’ll probably need it in Santiago and New Delhi. If you don’t focus on a global solution, you will pay for the same mistakes over and over again. This global capability will give you speed to market and competitive advantages.
People used to take the “personal” in “Personal Computer” too literally. They felt that they could buy and kind of machine for the office. However, the support costs for maintaining that type of environment are substantial. The debugging process is also extensive since programmes work differently on different hardware and operating systems.
However, many providers in Asia are local or regional, not global. When equipment standards for servers, processors or laptops are not the same, we insist that our providers come up with “same as” equipment and services.
PROTOCOLS FOR SUPPORT ESCALATION
You also need well-established protocols for support escalation. If you have your entire technology support located in a central location, your production support may run into language barriers, which in turn will make it harder to decipher and fix the problem. To spread this support out throughout an entire region, you will need well-established protocols.
For example, employees requiring support need to know who they can contact, whether this is the same of midday on a Tuesday, at 3am on a Saturday, or when support is critical to the business. In addition, if the matter isn’t resolved in this first contact, all employees involved need to know whose responsibility it is to escalate the issue, and to follow it through to completion. At FedEx in Singapore, employees can call a dedicated IT Support Helpdesk number at any time of the day or night and know that they will get the support they need.
BUILD A DIVERSE TEAM
You need diversity on your team. No matter whether I’m based in Asia or in the head office in Memphis, I’ve hired people from all around the world because they bring bench strength in ways that we wouldn’t be able to replicate without them.
By having members on your team with difference backgrounds, you gain a significant advantage. The benefit of having individuals with different, but complementary, skills sets would be clear to every manager. However, having team members who have lived and worked in other countries gives you access to a much deeper understanding of the needs and requirements of your customers in those markets. In addition, these employees bring a greater level of cultural understanding, which, as mentioned above, leads to better or more effective problem solving.
I have found that having employees from a diverse background, including individuals from other countries, gives us a significant advantage through the first-hand knowledge and experience of other technology or policies and regulation that may be indigenous to that country (such as the mobile or wireless standards operating across Asia, including Singapore, Japan and South Korea)
FLEXIBLE RESORUCES
During the past few years, I have been putting increasing emphasis on increasing our variable bandwidth by leveraging vendors and contractors. The reality is that the needs of the business are not consistently at the same level; there are occasional spikes. We need to be able to align our IT resources with the changing level of request. We do this by using external contractors and vendors.
We’ve also learned through experience that using commoditised hardware, open source software and developers in third-world countries can drive down cost. And again, this shows the business that we are managing our resources and costs effectively.
To quote a now-famous comment from our chairman, president and CEO, Frederick Smith: “The information about a package is as important as the delivery of the package itself.” Fred Smith’s vision for the company has always had a business and IT strategy mix.
The most important way to get into the business discussion is by tightly linking IT decisions with business goals.
This is an adoption article from Business Today, Business Logistics on page 40 - 42
 A financial plan, once conceived and implemented, should not be left untouched as if it is cast in stone. You have to keep tabs on your investment portfolio to determine how well it is doing and whether it needs adjustment as capital market conditions changes or as your own life situation changes. Now’s not the time to sit back and do nothing.
The day you start investing is NOT the day you stop looking at your investment plan or doing your homework. You still need to read your financial papers and company reports, keep your eyes and ears open to news affecting your investments and generally be on top of what’s going on with the companies behind your investments. Why?
Because, first, we live in a dynamic world. Nothing is static – which makes your financial plan, no matter how brilliantly conceived and properly implemented, susceptible to changes. A company whose stock you are holding, could for instance, lose its competitive lead and make your investment risky. Changing laws and regulations, turns and twists in the domestic and world economic environments (remember September 11, 2001 bombing of the World Trade Centre in the US?), changes in the capital markets and reversal of company fortunes can affect your investments.
As a consequence, your investments may need restructuring because they no longer jive with your financial plan and goals. An investor who wants to succeed, needs to be proactive to these changes.
MODIFYING YOUR PLANS
Second, you should also review your portfolios for the reason that your own financial situation may have changed to necessitate restructuring your plan and goals.
Say, you may receive a windfall and now have a lot more funds to invest so you can aim for bigger goals. Or you may have increased your net worth by buying a piece of property so that you have less funds for investing and have to adjust your plan.
EVALUATING PERFORMANCE
Third, you should continuously monitor and evaluate the performance of your investments to find out how they are doing. If they are faring well, you may want to pump in more money, or take part of the profits and look for another vehicle. If they are not, you may decide to sell. How often the review should be depends on the size and time frame of your investments and whether you have chosen high-risk or low-risk assets.
When measuring the performance of your asset, use the total return figure, and not the income return figure. The income return refers only to the income derived from an investment. IN the case of shares, the income is represented by dividend payments; with debt investments such as bonds, the income is in the form of interest payments.
The total return is the more accurate measure of performance because it also takes into account whether there is a gain (or loss) in the value of the investment over time.
For shares, total return is the sum of divided income and the capital gain/loss (difference between the sale price and the cost price). To get the percentage returns, divide the total return by the cost of investment and multiply by 100.
MONITORING SHARES
You should also monitor the company whose shares you have bought by tracking its profitability, earnings growth, gearing and dividend payouts. Read the company’s announcements, shareholders’ circulars, annual and interim reports and focus on closing dates of rights, warrants, takeovers, earnings, auditor’s report and the directors’ interest.
You should also attend the annual general meetings to find out how the company is managed and to gauge its business prospects.
MONITORING UNIT TRUSTS
For collective investment schemes such as unit trusts, you should monitor your fund manager in terms of performance (relative to the objectives of the fund), strategy, reporting and portfolios. You could benchmark your funds against similar funds.
You can request for information from your fund manager, such as:
- Performance of relevant investment markets
- Level of volatility associated with return
- Rate of inflation
- Performance of other similar fund managers
- Strategies employed over recent periods
Fund managers are reviewed on the services they provide, namely performance and reporting. Have your expectations of returns been met? Is the fund manager doing what is expected e.g. buying stocks in accordance with laid-out strategies and mandate?
You should also bear in mind that the investment outcome is subject to a large number of random factors and short-term performance data may not accurately assess the fund manager’s investment skills.
* This article was found on Business Today(February 2006) under Consumer Today section on page 70 and 71
[This article is courtesy of The Malaysian Investor Series of the Securities Commission Malaysia]
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I had taken the fuss re-typing this article, posting it here to share with whom that may concern
 Save more on your own (By LISA GOH)
PETALING JAYA: It is not enough to rely solely on savings from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) when you retire, say financial planners.
"While the EPF has been very successful in forcing people to save, it is still not enough as most Malaysians cannot support their lifestyle over 20 years solely with their EPF," said licensed financial planner Rajen Devadason.
"Also, to depend on your children for support can be quite difficult.
"They will have their own families, their own retirement plans, taxes, loans and mortgages. Too many goals, too little money to go around."
He was elaborating on The Star's frontpage report in which psychologist Prof Dr Low Wah Yun advised Malaysians to start planning their retirement 20 years in advance.
Dr Low said retirement is a transition that could cause major life changes and be very stressful if one is not prepared. "But with advance planning, it can be very satisfying and retirees can lead a very productive life," she told a conference on Saturday.
Rajen, who has been in financial planning for 10 years, said he would convince his client to save up to half his or her take-home salary.
"This is after deductions in EPF, Socso and taxes. But if a 35-year-old person saves 30% (excluding EPF) of his nett salary every month until he is 55, he should be all right.
"People should also set up a three to six months' buffer fund from their savings, so that they will have something to fall back on should they lose their job.
"Three months if you have a stable job, six months if your boss hates you," he said with a laugh.
He said Bank Negara Malaysia's insurance mortality table showed that the average 55-year-old man is expected to live up to 79, while the average 55-year-old woman to 83.
Chartered financial consultant Gary Low recommends a 10% savings of the salary for those who have just started work and save more as their career develops.
"A recent survey showed that 17% of Malaysians cannot survive more than a month with no income. And I believe many more would not be able to survive three months without income. This is what the emergency buffer is for," said Low.
The crucial thing retirees should remember, he said, is that their health would not get better.
"And it is for this time of old age that you will need your finances to support your medical bills. When you retire, you should enjoy retirement, and not spend it worrying when your money runs out."
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Happy retiree reaps reward of diligent labour
PETALING JAYA: Lee Poh Sin is a happy retiree.
The 55-year-old former logistics manager has been working for the last 33 years and he knows his savings can last him the next 25 years.
"I started planning for my retirement about 15 years ago. I wanted to make sure I would have a relaxing retirement and sufficient cash to last me another 25 years.
"And so I started investing in properties, unit trusts, fixed deposits and other forms of investments.
"They were accumulated in stages and like most people, I couldn't afford everything at one go," said Lee who was working for a food and beverage company.
Lee said he and his wife put their heads together and planned for the financial security of their family.
"Now that my three children are all working, it is a big relief for us. We would save up to 25% of our salary every month when we were working.
"We didn't use the services of a financial planner as they were not well-known back then.
"The important thing is that you plan and save," he said adding that he could now rely on returns from his investments.
Lee has also nurtured the habit of planning and saving in his three children.
"Sometimes during our family dinners, I would impart to them the importance of saving.
"As long as you don't spend unwisely or have a spur-of-the-moment expenditure, it should be all right. The problem starts when people spend beyond what they can afford."
Lee said people his generation were generally more thrifty. Some young people, he added, were not aware of the risks in not planning ahead.
"If you earn RM1, you should only spend 80 sen. It's okay to give yourself a treat once in a while but to spend beyond what you earn all the time is a no-no.
"And the easy availability of credit cards these days only worsens the situation. Some people keep four to five credit cards, but find it very hard to pay the money back.
"There really is no shortcut to saving ? you have to be disciplined," he said.
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Gone within three years
PETALING JAYA: One of the most painful realities about retirement is that your money will run out.
In a recent study by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), almost 69% of retirees deplete their EPF funds within the first three years of retirement.
While most Malaysians are enjoying better health and a longer life expectancy ratio, what seems rather worrying is that if the trend continues, the majority of our retiree population will probably have little or no money left by their fourth or fifth year into retirement.
Those with filial children or caring family members might still be able to eke out a living, but for hundreds of thousands of others in a less fortunate position, the future would look rather bleak.
Neither the EPF nor the Government seems to know how to get retirees to change their minds from treating the EPF as their savings account.
And the temptation for retirees to lay their hands on the lump sum of cash is very strong.
The EPF can only advise contributors and hope good sense will prevail, but unfortunately, many retirees feel they are the best judge of how to invest or spend their savings.
National Council of Senior Citizens Organisations Malaysia president Lum Kin Tuck said 56 is "too early an age for retirement".
"I urge the Government to consider pushing the retirement age to 65. Senior citizens have a lot of potential and they are still capable of contributing to society," he said yesterday.
Lum said it was very difficult for a retiree to gain re-employment as "nobody will hire us".
He suggested that coffeeshop owners hire senior citizens instead of taking in foreign workers.
"Simple jobs at coffee shops can be given to old people so that they have a chance of earning a living."
Asked if the association had programmes to help people plan for their retirement, he replied: "No, we don't have any such programmes although we are advocating a social pension."
Do Malaysians in general plan for their retirement?
"No, most people don't actually plan for their retirement. Young people can be very materialistic and so they don't save. As for the lower income groups, it is hard enough to make a daily living. How can they save for retirement?"
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Plan your golden years (BY LISA GOH)
KUALA LUMPUR: Start planning for your retirement 20 years in advance. It will save you a whole lot of anxiety and worry.
"Retirement is a transition which can cause major life changes and it can be very stressful if you're not prepared for it.
"But with advance planning, it can be very satisfying and retirees can lead a very productive life," psychologist Prof Dr Low Wah Yun said.
Retirement should be planned in advance in various aspects, including finance and healthcare, she said.
"Strategies for a successful retirement include planning for the transition, and it is not just about finances," she said in her paper Is There Life After Retirement? at the three-day Second National Men's Health and Ageing Conference yesterday.
Dr Low, head of Health Research Development Unit at Universiti Malaya, said that being physically active and optimistic were also essential in having a successful retirement.
"There are four stages of retirement that everyone goes through - honeymoon, reorientation, stability and termination," she said.
Malaysia's retirement age of 55 (56 for civil servants) is one of the lowest in the world.
In 2000, there were two million Malaysians above 55, making it 9.2% of the total population.
Dr Low said there could also be a positive or negative impact on retirement, depending on the person's viewpoint and his or her state of "preparedness."
"It is also important for retirees to keep themselves physically active, by walking, jogging or doing gardening.
"Being physically active acts as a confirmation that they are alive, can continue to face challenges and are trying out new things," she said.
However, there is also another reason why retirees should continue to stay physically active.
In a community survey carried out on men over 50 in Selangor, Dr Low discovered that a "significantly higher proportion of retirees had heart problems, joint pains and prostrate problems" and other chronic illnesses compared to active men or those who were still working.
"People have to start changing their mindset about retirement and retirees. Those approaching retirement age should mentally prepare themselves for the transition, and others should not look at retirees as useless people.
"With preparation and the right state of mind, you can still live happily-ever-after, after retirement," she concluded.
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