PBF unit holders urged to verify holdings

UNIT holders with the Pacific Balance Fund (PBF) have been urged to contact the trustee, Melanesian Trustee Services Ltd (MTSL) to verify their holdings.
Chief executive officer Kennedy Wemin said yesterday that this was to allow the trustee to know how many unit holders there were so they could start with the benefits payments.
They can do this through a verification exercise that would be conducted in May beginning in the highlands region.
Wemin said they had identified 58% of the unit holders from a similar exercise last year.
 “Once we have verified these people, we can open for trading and announce the unit prices,” he said.
“But in the interim, we are now presenting to the government our 2003 to 2008 audits on our annual reports and also look forward to pay dividends to our unit holders.
 “We have our 2009-11 audits underway now and hope to release them by June or July this year.”
The PBF is held in trust by the MTSL, whose assets belong to 60% Papua New Guineans and 40% corporations such as Nasfund and Mineral Resources Development Corporation.
Wemin said as the trustee, they had managed to achieve a lot for the unit holders, among which was a 525% increase in total value.
 “We are accountable to over 40, 000 unit holders whose assets we hold and we need to find ways to work forward for the best interest for everybody,” he said.
“Currently we are facing challenges from our ousted fund manger Pacific Equities and Investment Ltd (PEIL) but we have achieved a lot under these circumstances.”
The PBF was formerly the Investment Corporation Fund of PNG until recently.
Wemin said in 2006, when the unit holders decided to change their fund manager, delays set in to stall the progress of the accounts for better verification of unit holders.
This was coupled with a legal battle in 2008 which led to a current court case between the MTSL and PEIL, with MTSL now acting as fund manager, as well as the trustee.
Wemin called on all unit holders to visit the road show next month to identify themselves so they could benefit from their numerous investments.
He also expressed his appreciation of the government’s stance in stepping in to assist the two companies reach an amicable solution.
This helped to find ways in which to work together to protect the unit holders’ assets while the process was still in court.
Wemin said in the interim, they welcomed the idea for an independent fund manager to help them find a way forward.