MeDirect’s MeManaged now with €100 minimum investment

MeDirect customers can now open a MeManaged account with a minimum investment of just €100. MeManaged is Malta’s first and only online discretionary portfolio management service and is available through the MeDirect mobile app or internet banking.

A discretionary portfolio management service provides an investment strategy based on the profile of each individual customer’s financial goals and risk appetite. This strategy is then entrusted to the global network of financial experts at MeDirect who take care of it diligently and on an ongoing basis, in partnership with BlackRock – the world’s largest asset manager. To open a MeManaged account, customers are asked to complete an intuitive online questionnaire which establishes their investment profile. Based on this individual profile, an investment strategy is specifically assigned.

Those customers who open accounts before 30 June 2023 and opt to invest a minimum of €2,000 will also enjoy the additional benefit of having their accounts topped up by up to €200. More information on MeManaged, including the additional top ups available until 30 June 2023, is available on https://promo.medirect.com.mt/discretionary-portfolio-management/.

Investors can then opt to continue building their portfolio by investing a minimum of €100 every month. Consequently, customers can continue to build their portfolio and benefit from cost-averaging meaning that they are buying assets at regular intervals, and at different prices, thus providing some protection from market volatility.

The portfolio is fully managed by MeDirect, and customers will receive regular monthly updates on its performance. Customers can also track its performance online through the MeDirect mobile app, or via internet banking, on a 24/7 basis.

Ingrid Micallef, Head of Products and Marketing, at MeDirect Bank said: “Discretionary Portfolio Management has traditionally been a personalised service reserved only for high-net-worth individuals. By using technology and partnering with BlackRock we have fully digitalised this product, making it available to practically everyone. In the weeks and months ahead, MeDirect will continue to launch new initiatives geared towards the democratisation of investment and wealth management products.”

MeDirect Bank Malta is the Island’s First Digital Bank and offers its clients access to market-leading financial products. One can become a client of MeDirect and open a MeManaged account by clicking https://onboarding.medirect.com.mt/start. For further information clients may contact MeDirect Bank on 25574400 or visit www.medirect.com.mt.

This is a marketing communication by MeDirect Bank (Malta) plc. Terms and conditions for the promotion apply. Offer is valid for a limited time only. MeDirect Bank (Malta) plc, company registration number C34125, is licensed to undertake the business of banking in terms of the Banking Act (Cap. 371) and investment services under the Investment Services Act (Cap. 370).


 

MeManaged issa b’investiment minimu ta’ €100

Il-klijenti ta’ MeDirect issa jistgħu jiftħu kont MeManaged b’investiment minimu ta’ €100 biss. MeManaged huwa l-ewwel u l-uniku servizz onlajn ta’ Discretionary Portfolio Management f’Malta li hu aċċessibli minn fuq il-mobile app jew l-internet banking ta’ MeDirect.

Dan is-servizz jipprovdi strateġija ta’ investiment ibbażata fuq l-għanijiet finanzjarji tal-klijent u l-ammont ta’ riskju li jkun lest li jieħu. Din l-istrateġija mbagħad tiġi fdata f’idejn esperti finanzjarji ta’ MeDirect li, fi sħubija ma’ BlackRock, jieħdu ħsiebha b’mod diliġenti u fuq bażi kontinwa. Biex il-klijenti jkunu jistgħu jibdew jużaw il-MeManaged, l-ewwel jiġu mitluba jimlew kwestjonarju onlajn sabiex jinħoloq profil ta’ riskju individwali u tiġi assenjata strateġija ta’ investiment speċifika għall-klijent.

Dawk il-klijenti li jiftħu kont qabel it-30 ta’ Ġunju 2023 u jagħżlu li jinvestu minimu ta’ €2,000 se jgawdu wkoll minn ammont addizzjonali sa massimu ta’ €200 li MeDirect se jkun qed iżid mal-ammont investit mill-klijent.  Aktar informazzjoni dwar il-kont MeManaged, inkluż it-top ups addizzjonali  tinstab fuq https://promo.medirect.com.mt/discretionary-portfolio-management/.

L-investituri jistgħu jagħżlu li jkomplu jibnu l-portafoll tagħhom billi jinvestu minimu ta’ €100 kull xahar. B’hekk il-klijenti jistgħu jkomplu jibnu l-portafoll tagħhom u jibbenefikaw minn cost averaging, li jfisser li jkunu qed jixtru assi f’intervalli regolari, u bi prezzijiet differenti, u b’hekk din l-istrategija tipprovdi protezzjoni mill-volatilità tas-suq.

Il-portafoll huwa mmaniġġjat totalment minn MeDirect, u l-klijenti jirċievu aġġornamenti kull xahar dwar il-prestazzjoni tiegħu. Il-klijenti jistgħu jiccekjaw l-portafoll onlajn permezz tal-mobile app jew ta’ l-internet banking ta’ MeDirect, fuq bażi 24/7.

Ingrid Micallef, Head – Products & Marketing ta’ MeDirect Bank qalet: “Discretionary Portfolio Management tradizzjonalment kien servizz personalizzat riservat biss għal individwi li jkollhom ammonti sostanzjali biex jinvestu. Permezz ta’ l-użu tat-teknoloġija u s-sħubija tagħna ma’ BlackRock, iddiġitalizzajna dan il-prodott għal kollox, u għamilnieħ aċċessibli għal kulħadd. Fil-ġimgħat u x-xhur li ġejjin, MeDirect se jkompli jniedi inizjattivi ġodda mmirati lejn id-demokratizzazzjoni tal-prodotti tal-investiment u tal-ġestjoni tal-ġid.”

MeDirect Bank Malta huwa l-ewwel Bank Diġitali f’Malta li joffri lill-klijenti tiegħu aċċess għall- prodotti finanzjarji ewlenin fis-suq. Wieħed jista’ jsir klijent ta’ MeDirect u jiftaħ il-kont MeManaged billi jzur hawn: https://onboarding.medirect.com.mt/start. Għal aktar tagħrif il-klijenti jistgħu jikkuntattjaw lil MeDirect Bank fuq 25574400 jew iżuru www.medirect.com.mt.

Din hija komunikazzjoni kummerċjali minn MeDirect Bank (Malta) plc. Termini u kundizzjonijiet għall-promozzjoni japplikaw. L-offerta hija valida għal żmien limitat biss. MeDirect Bank (Malta) plc. bin-numru ta’ reġistrazzjoni C34125, huwa liċenzjat biex joffri servizzi bankarji skont it-termini tal-Att dwar il-Kummerċ Bankarju (Kap. 371) u servizzi ta’ investiment skont it-termini tal-Att dwar is-Servizzi ta’ Investiment (Kap. 370).

Notes from the Trading Desk – Franklin Templeton

Franklin Templeton’s Notes from the Trading Desk offers a weekly overview of what our professional traders and analysts are watching in the markets. As part of Templeton Global Equity Group, the European equity desk is manned by a team of professionals based in Edinburgh, Scotland, whose job it is to monitor the markets around the world. Their views are theirs alone and are not intended to be construed as investment advice.

The Digest

Last week saw a numbers of events and challenges for investors to navigate, with some key central bank decisions and ongoing turmoil in the US regional banking system. Both the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates as anticipated, but there is now a view the Fed will pause its cycle of rate hikes. If all that wasn’t enough to digest, there was a lot of micro and macro economic news, with corporate earnings coming thick and fast throughout the week and April US employment data out on Friday. On the week, the MSCI World Index declined 0.5%; the Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.3%; the S&P 500 Index fell 0.8%; and MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1%.

On Wednesday, the Fed unanimously agreed to raise rates by 25 basis points (bps), bringing the target range to 5.0%-5.25%. In the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC’s) statement, there was a key change in the wording, notably the removal of forward guidance for future hikes. It removed “the Committee anticipates that some additional policy firming may be appropriate…” from the statement. In the press conference, Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the FOMC statement language, saying that the “extent” of more monetary policy tightening now depended on incoming information, a meeting-by-meeting decision.

The market is now pricing that this move is the last rate hike in the current hiking cycle, following 10 consecutive months of rate hikes. Indeed, the market is pricing 70 bps of cuts by year-end and the probability of a cut in July increased to 40.5% from 31.1% prior to the meeting. This is something Powell pushed back on in the press conference. He said that rate cuts would not be appropriate for the Fed’s current forecast of inflation coming down very slowly.

On the recent US regional banking turmoil, Powell seemed confident in suggesting that the deposit crisis was limited to the few small banks that have failed and that it was not seeing broader stress.

ECB: Slowing down, but not done yet

On Thursday, the ECB announced its interest-rate decision and President Christine Lagarde followed with a press conference. The ECB raised rates by 25 bps as expected, from 3.0% to 3.25%, with the Governing Council stating that future decisions will remain “data dependent” (the June meeting will benefit from the latest ECB macroeconomic projections). There was some relief on the announcement, as many were worried the central bank would raise by 50 bps. However, as is often the case, the focus really was on the language around the release, with commentators looking for any hints about future hikes and the size of them. Lagarde duly delivered, as she emphasized the plural in “decisions,” suggesting that two more (25 bp) hikes may be in the pipeline, taking us to a “terminal” (peak) rate of around 3.75%.

The ECB also announced the discontinuation of its Asset Purchase Programme (APP) reinvestments in July. This was something of a surprise, as many had expected this to be announced only at the next meeting in June. It’s worth noting that Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program (PEPP) reinvestments will continue in full.

In the end, the release was somewhat of a compromise, trying to keep both the doves (slowing the pace of rate hikes) and the hawks (hints of multiple rate hikes going forward) happy.

Most importantly, markets—especially the bond markets—seemed happy enough with the release and press conference, and quickly moved beyond the ECB to the economic fallout of the regional bank situation in the United States.

Week in Review

United States

Although the Fed meeting was a key talking point for US equities, the ongoing turmoil surrounding the US regional banks remained a headwind and the S&P 500 Index ended the week slightly lower. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Index saw slight gains on the heels of better-than-expected earnings reports in the sector.

US regional banks were once again in focus. The week started with the news that JPMorgan acquired First Republic Bank, as US regulators sought to avoid a collapse of First Republic. The failure of First Republic is the second largest in US history (Washington Mutual in 2008 is the largest). First Republic had a market cap of US$25 billion in February and shares traded as high as US$144 earlier in the year.

Whilst some hoped that rescue would have calmed the market, attention quickly turned to other banks. Trading in the sector was extremely volatile throughout the week, with the KRE Regional Banks Index declining 10%.

The risk of the US federal government hitting its debt ceiling looms large. Over the weekend, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned there are “no good options” for solving the debt limit stalemate, other than Congress lifting the cap. Many Republicans, including Senator Mitch McConnell, have said they won’t support raising the ceiling without spending cuts.

In terms of macro data, the April US employment report showed headline growth of 253,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, ahead of expectations and stronger month-over-month.  However, there were a combined 149,000 in downward revisions to March and February. The unemployment rate moved down to 3.4% (the lowest since May 1969).

Europe

European market performance was muted last week, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index down 0.3% as fears over the US banking system created a “risk-off” mood amongst investors. As discussed, the ECB was a key talking point, too.

Looking at sector performance, defensive health care stocks outperformed, along with technology stocks. Meanwhile, media stocks declined, likely on fears around the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on some businesses in the space.

In terms of macro news, the Eurozone Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April accelerated to 7.0%, far above the ECB’s 2% target.

Asia

Despite a holiday-interrupted week—China’s market was closed the first three days and Japan the last three—Asian stocks had a better week overall.

Stocks in Hong Kong rebounded after the Labour Day holiday when the Fed signalled an imminent end to rate hikes. Tech heavyweights were in focus.

China’s mainland market also closed higher post the Labour Day holiday. On the macro front, Caixin PMI came in at 49.5, which was below market expectations and back to contractionary territory. The data showed slowing factory activity which raises concerns that China’s post-COVID recovery may be losing momentum. Another key barometer for China’s recovery is domestic tourism over the holiday season. There were approximately 274 million domestic trips taken from Saturday to Wednesday, marking a roughly 71% increase on the previous year. Spending activity over the holidays surged 129% versus the previous year.

Japanese equities rose 1.04% over the first two days of last week, remaining closed for the rest of the week due to the Golden Week holidays. Markets rallied on Monday, largely on a selloff in the Japanese yen, helping the exporters. This followed the Bank of Japan’s decision at its last meeting to maintain its ultra-easy monetary policy stance for the time being.

Week ahead

There is plenty to focus on this week, with some key macro data coming out (US CPI), the US debt ceiling in focus (Biden-Congress talks), and the Bank of England decision (Thursday). In addition, the concerns around the US regional banks will no doubt remain a driver for markets.

Monday 8 May

  • UK bank holiday
  • German Industrial Production
  • ECB Speak: ECB Chief Economist Philip Lane speaks at Forum New Economy conference in Berlin.

Tuesday 9 May

  • ECB Speak: Olli Rehn
  • US debt ceiling: US President Joe Biden scheduled to meet with congressional leaders on the debt limit. Yellen has said the US government risked default as soon as June 1.
  • Fed Speak: New York Fed President John Williams speaks to Economic Club of New York

Wednesday 10 May

  • German CPI
  • US CPI

Thursday 11 May

  • China CPI
  • BoE policy decision: The BoE is expected to lift interest rates to 4.5% from 4.25%.
  • US Producer Price Index

Friday 12 May

  • UK first-quarter gross domestic product
  • Fed Speak: Philip Jefferson and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard

 


Franklin Templeton Key risks & Disclaimers:

What Are the Risks?

All investments involve risks, including the possible loss of principal. The value of investments can go down as well as up, and investors may not get back the full amount invested.  Stock prices fluctuate, sometimes rapidly and dramatically, due to factors affecting individual companies, particular industries or sectors, or general market conditions. Bond prices generally move in the opposite direction of interest rates. Thus, as prices of bonds in an investment portfolio adjust to a rise in interest rates, the value of the portfolio may decline. Investments in foreign securities involve special risks including currency fluctuations, economic instability and political developments. Investments in developing markets involve heightened risks related to the same factors, in addition to those associated with their relatively small size and lesser liquidity.

Any companies and/or case studies referenced herein are used solely for illustrative purposes; any investment may or may not be currently held by any portfolio advised by Franklin Templeton. The information provided is not a recommendation or individual investment advice for any particular security, strategy, or investment product and is not an indication of the trading intent of any Franklin Templeton managed portfolio.

Past performance is not an indicator or guarantee of future performance. There is no assurance that any estimate, forecast or projection will be realised.

This article reflects the analysis and opinions of Franklin Templeton’s European Trading Desk as of 8th May 2023, and may vary from the analysis and opinions of other investment teams, platforms, portfolio managers or strategies at Franklin Templeton. Because market and economic conditions are often subject to rapid change, the analysis and opinions provided may change without notice. An assessment of a particular country, market, region, security, investment or strategy is not intended as an investment recommendation, nor does it constitute investment advice. Statements of fact are from sources considered reliable, but no representation or warranty is made as to their completeness or accuracy. This article does not provide a complete analysis of every material fact regarding any country, region, market, industry or security. Nothing in this document may be relied upon as investment advice or an investment recommendation. The companies named herein are used solely for illustrative purposes; any investment may or may not be currently held by any portfolio advised by Franklin Templeton. Data from third-party sources may have been used in the preparation of this material and Franklin Templeton (“FT”) has not independently verified, validated or audited such data. FT accepts no liability whatsoever for any loss arising from use of this information and reliance upon the comments, opinions and analyses in the material is at the sole discretion of the user. Products, services and information may not be available in all jurisdictions and are offered by FT affiliates and/or their distributors as local laws and regulations permit. Please consult your own professional adviser for further information on availability of products and services in your jurisdiction.

Issued by Franklin Templeton Investment Management Limited (FTIML) Registered office: Cannon Place, 78 Cannon Street, London EC4N 6HL. FTIML is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

 

MeDirect Disclaimers:

This information has been accurately reproduced, as received from Franklin Templeton Investment Management Limited (FTIML). No information has been omitted which would render the reproduced information inaccurate or misleading. This information is being distributed by MeDirect Bank (Malta) plc to its customers. The information contained in this document is for general information purposes only and is not intended to provide legal or other professional advice nor does it commit MeDirect Bank (Malta) plc to any obligation whatsoever. The information available in this document is not intended to be a suggestion, recommendation or solicitation to buy, hold or sell, any securities and is not guaranteed as to accuracy or completeness.

The financial instruments discussed in the document may not be suitable for all investors and investors must make their own informed decisions and seek their own advice regarding the appropriateness of investing in financial instruments or implementing strategies discussed herein.

If you invest in this product you may lose some or all of the money you invest. The value of your investment may go down as well as up. A commission or sales fee may be charged at the time of the initial purchase for an investment. Any income you get from this investment may go down as well as up. This product may be affected by changes in currency exchange rate movements thereby affecting your investment return therefrom. The performance figures quoted refer to the past and past performance is not a guarantee of future performance or a reliable guide to future performance. Any decision to invest in a mutual fund should always be based upon the details contained in the Prospectus and Key Information Document (KID), which may be obtained from MeDirect Bank (Malta) plc.

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We strive to ensure a streamlined account opening process, via a structured and clear set of requirements and personalised assistance during the initial communication stages. If you are interested in opening a corporate account with MeDirect, please complete an Account Opening Information Questionnaire and send it to corporate@medirect.com.mt.

For a comprehensive list of documentation required to open a corporate account please contact us by email at corporate@medirect.com.mt or by phone on (+356) 2557 4444.