Some of the unitholders at yesterdays meeting

APIA: 17 August 2012: The 526 unitholders of the Unit Trust of Samoa have been paid a 7% dividend in a meeting of unit holders yesterday. The dividend was declared by the Minister of Finance, Faumuina Tiatia Faaolatane Liuga. This is equivalent to 7% of one tala invested in UTOS. The dividend is based on the net profit for the financial year ending 30 June 2012.  It is estimated that $300,000 will be paid out to investors.

Any individual, business, family, club, organization or group registered as a Unitholder of UTOS as at the date of the dividend declaration will be receiving their share of the dividend according to the number of units they hold.  For example, if you own 1,000 units, you will get a $70 dividend.

A press statement from UTOs says, “Dividends are tax free so the total dividend will go to the hand of the unitholder. There are no fees charged by the Management Company to process the payment of dividends to each Unitholder.

“This is the most attractive aspect of investing in UTOS. There is no entry or monthly fee charged directly to investors. Investors are only charged a 3% exit fee in the event they sell back their units to UTOS and take their investment out.”

Unitholders who will be entitled to the dividend will be able to take out their dividends commencing from Wednesday, 15 August 2012.  Investors who opt to re-invest their dividends will be automatically issued with additional units equivalent to the amount of their dividend if they have not claimed their dividends by 30 August 2012.  They will be given a unit certificate for this re-investment.

“When the Trust was first established in July 2010, the Government did not expect it to grow rapidly and make a profit within the second year.  I came in as Minister of UTOS in early 2011 and tell the Board that we can accelerate the performance of trust and shortened its formative phase to 18 months instead of 3 years. The latest results show that UTOS has become a reality earlier than originally envisaged,” the Minister explained.

“The Board and Trustees are confident that the Trust is moving in a positive direction.  Plans are in place to continue to grow the value of units in the future. UTOS continues to look at opportunities to build onto its current investment portfolio to grow value. This will directly benefit our unitholders,” says the Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Justina Sau.

The Minister was also able to explain the important role UTOS will play in achieving Government’s goals in the development of the capital market as set out in the Strategy for the Development of Samoa just launched last week.

“The rapid growth in the number of unitholders of UTOS demonstrates that the general public is becoming aware and familiar with the equity investment benefits which are essentially fundamentals to the introduction to the development of a domestic stock exchange,” he stated.

“This new development in the domestic capital market is envisaged to complement the plan by the Government to finalise a detailed blue print to establish a full fledge international stock exchange to take advantage of the unique position and reputation which Samoa has earned as a potentially secure and stable location for a capital markets centre.”

The number of investors in UTOS has grown from 1 unitholder in July 2010 to 526 at the end of July 2012.  Individual and Joint investors make up 96% of investors, followed by groups at 3% and businesses making up only 1%  The majority of investors continue to be locals residing in Upolu while overseas based Samoans make up 5%.

With this dividend payout and appreciation of the unit prices since its inception, UTOS has become a relatively attractive investment opportunity for the general public. This should encourage everyone from business people, public servants, members of Parliament, farmers, fishermen, to corporations and individuals to save and invest and get a good return from their investment.

For more information please contact us on email info@utos.ws