.jpg)
At the 10th Invest Malaysia institutional investor conference organised by Bursa Malaysia Berhad (“Bursa Malaysia” or “the Exchange”), the Exchange unveiled new products and strategies to sustain its unique advantage as ASEAN’s multinational marketplace and drive investment growth.
Dato’ Tajuddin Atan, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia, said, “ The last five years has seen Bursa Malaysia expand by 184%[1] in terms of market capitalisation, diversity and multinational growth. Today, we are capturing the attention of investors as the prime marketplace to buy into ASEAN’s growth opportunities. We intend to stay on this growth path by bringing new tradable opportunities and growing our retail segment, primarily the Gen Y – Malaysia’s ‘baby boomers’, to ensure a sustainable and globally competitive marketplace.”
He announced the new USD denominated Refined Bleached and Deodorised Palm Olein Futures Contract (FPOL), which will commence trading on the 16 June, is the latest addition to the breadth and depth of products on Bursa Malaysia, including over 900 stocks, ETFs, REITs, Stapled Securities, Bonds, ETBS, Business Trusts and Derivatives products, representing over 60 economic sectors.
The new FPOL together with the global benchmark, the Crude Palm Oil Futures Contract (FCPO), will firmly place Bursa Malaysia as the global marketplace for palm oil derivatives. Refiners, palm olein end users and fund managers will now have a complete solution to manage refining margin risk and hedge against unfavourable price movements in the crude palm oil and palm olein markets. Essentially, having the new FPOL on Bursa Malaysia complement the FCPO to provide the futures of palm oil in one marketplace.
Dato’ Tajuddin said that a Bursa Malaysia focused Environmental, Social and Governance Index (ESG) will further strengthen its position as a leading exchange in the region. “Bursa Malaysia will be working in partnership with FTSE to implement a FTSE4Good Index series based on Bursa Malaysia listed companies. The introduction of a Bursa Malaysia focused ESG Index Series will provide the marketplace an enhanced advantage in ASEAN, especially in attracting the USD 3.4 trillion[2] Socially Responsible Investments (SRI) from around the world”, he said.
The Bursa Malaysia focused FTSE4Good Index Series will instill greater confidence in Malaysia’s marketplace through greater transparency and openness for a market of this size and growth. This Bursa Malaysia FTSE4Good Index will be the first in Asia to be part of the globally benchmarked ESG Index Series.
Bursa Malaysia is also investing heavily in the Youth as a key growth market segment. “Malaysia has one of the world’s fastest growing workforces in terms of percentage, from now until 2020. A new retail platform, Bursa Marketplace, was launched recently to provide comprehensive market data and equal access to objective and accurate information about the marketplace, which is paramount for this group”, concluded Dato’ Tajuddin.
Bursa Marketplace brings together the entire market in collaboration to provide broker research reports, market insights, trading ideas and the unique S&P AlphaFactor analytical tool to empower Malaysians to invest and trade confidently.
And f or the first time at Invest Malaysia, a select group of young Malaysian executives were provided with the opportunity to engage with Malaysia’s capital market drivers and to understand how Malaysia’s top leaders interact with the world’s leading fund managers.
To get into the energy and excitement at Bursa Malaysia log on and get into the conversation at www.bursamarketplace.com
[1] Source: RM1.7trillion as at 30 December 2013 - World Federation of Exchanges
[2] Source: Principles for Responsible Investments as at April 2013
