New JF set-up simplifies fund investments
JARDINE Fleming Unit Trusts will officially open its new unit trust Investment Centre in Jardine House on Tuesday.
The new centre, covering an area of 2,500 square feet, will be the first of its kind in Asia, offering investors a financial information drop-in facility, and will be headquarters for the company's new range of investment services.
''The centre is just another step in the process of making things easy for investors,'' said Blair Pickerell, general manager for Jardine Fleming Unit Trusts.
''Having easy access to all necessary information, and personal advisers available at the centre, will only further complement our new unit trust investment services.'' Jardine Fleming spent $15 million and more than 40,000 man-hours on setting up a revolutionary new system that removes almost all traditional paperwork, besides offering investors many other unconventional services.
Unlike anything on the market, these new fund services make unit trust investment as easy as operating a bank account.
''It's totally innovative and we're not aware of anyone else who offers such a service. We have relieved investors of almost all paperwork needed for investing in unit trusts,'' said Mr Pickerell.
He said that traditional transactions for unit trusts included a tremendous amount of paperwork, which was not only time-consuming, but often complicated.
In the past, investors had to fill out detailed application forms, or ''certificates'', for every transaction and then mail them to a central accounting office. Accountants then had to send updated account information to Jardine House offices.
Now, investors will have something akin to a simplified cheque book, with which they can accomplish transactions, and the certificate system has been totally eliminated.
In fact, an investor need not even fill in forms because Jardine Fleming's investment advisers are willing to accept trades by phone or fax.
The company will also provide investors with 24-hour access to updated account information, in English or Chinese, by phone or fax.
