Global fund managers show keen interest in Malaysia’s stock market

KUCHING: Invest Malaysia 2016 London (IM2016 London) received overwhelming demand from global fund managers to meet with the Prime Minister, policy makers, and public listed companies, on the capital market opportunities in Malaysia.

IM2016 London, themed Malaysia: Sustainable at The Core, is organised by Bursa Malaysia Bhd (Bursa Malaysia) and Maybank Kim Eng.

The event engaged UK-based fund managers who represented a total Assets Under Management (AUM) of over US$7 trillion, all with Emerging Markets and/or Asia mandates.

Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan, chief executive officer (CEO) of Bursa Malaysia said, “This Invest Malaysia London is the largest gathering of UK-based fund managers to meet the Prime Minister, which demonstrates keen interest in Malaysia and its growth potential.

“Clearly, the fund managers, who are always looking for investment opportunities, were interested in the growth story of both Malaysia and Asean. Some areas discussed included programmes for productivity and upskilling of talent to support and deliver targeted long-term growth, as well as the need to nurture entrepreneurship and SMEs as a key driver.”

Datuk Feisal Wan Zahir, Group head, Global Banking, Maybank, added that that there has been foreign inflows into the region’s equity markets since early this year and Malaysia has been one of the key beneficiaries.

“Despite the strong headwinds in the markets globally, we have been seeing steady foreign interest returning to Malaysia. From January to end April 2016, there was a total net buy of RM6 billion and the foreign shareholding in the market has gone up to 23 per cent.

“Many of the fund managers are ‘underweight’ Malaysia, therefore we are very encouraged by the conversation with the UK fund managers today; many showed keen interest and we hope this will continue to sustain the inflow into the country.”

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak led an open dialogue with fund managers to put the facts on the table and provide first hand insights on the government’s developmental plans, and the opportunities within Malaysia’s resilient economy and capital market.

The exclusive and private meeting was attended by 28 fund managers representing 25 global fund management firms.

At IM2016 London, more than 50 private meetings also took place between fund managers and eight of Malaysia’s most investable public listed companies (PLCs) including Axis REIT Managers, DiGi.com, Eco World Development Group, Malayan Banking, Malaysia Airports Holdings, SapuraKencana Petroleum, Sime Darby, and Telekom Malaysia.

The sessions facilitated the first hand-sharing and conversations on the investment and growth opportunities of these companies that represent diverse sectors including Financial, Telecommunication Services, Property, Transportation Infrastructure, Energy, and Industrial.

The event also featured a plenary talk by economist Tan Khee Giap, co-director, Asia Competitiveness Institute, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore & chairman, Singapore National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation.

The plenary session was moderated by Sadiq Currimbhoy, Global Investment Strategist and head of Research, Maybank Kim Eng, and attended by about 120 participants from UK-based institutional funds and Malaysian capital market stakeholders.

The IM2016 series had kicked-off in February this year with global capital market stakeholder engagements in Hong Kong, Singapore, London and in San Francisco, in the lead up to IM2016 conference in Kuala Lumpur on April 12-13.

Malaysian policy makers and capital market drivers engaged in robust conversations with some of the world’s largest fund managers to present deeper insights and understanding of the latest developments within the Malaysian economy and capital market.

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