Bursa Malaysia To Malaysians: Grow Value Through Capital Market - Exchange Launches Nationwide Campaign To Encourage Malaysians To Invest

Bursa Malaysia Berhad (“Bursa Malaysia” or “The Exchange”) is launching the “Invest Bursa, Invest in You” campaign this month, to encourage Malaysians to invest in the capital market to grow the value of their savings for their future.

The Exchange said today that data collected from regional central banks and financial authorities show that Malaysia has the highest level of Fixed Deposits (“FD”) among regional peers. Bank Negara reported that as at June 2018, FD accounts in Malaysia amounted to USD 209 billion[1]. This compares to USD 166 billion in Singapore[2], USD 148 billion in Indonesia[3] and USD 156 billion in Thailand[4]. The data implies that most of Malaysians’ savings are locked away in FDs. Interest rates for FDs in Malaysia hovers around 3.35% for 12 months.

“There is an opportunity lost here when Malaysians keep most of their savings in Fixed Deposit accounts. As part of prudent asset allocation, it is advisable to diversify your financial or asset portfolio. The capital market is not only a viable channel to do this, but also provides an opportunity to grow the value of those savings in a regulated environment,” says Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia.

“The capital market provides a broad range of investment opportunities that can match various investment and risk appetites. There are different stock counters and products offering different rates of possible risks and returns, which can translate into good value growth. For instance, the Financial sector, representing the banking stocks, grew 6.9% over the last 8 months,” he added.  

The participation of retail investors, or individual investors in the Malaysian capital market is currently at 22%. As at 31 July 2018, 1.9 million individual Central Depository System (“CDS”) accounts were registered with Bursa Malaysia.

“Relative to the country’s population, particularly considering the growing millennial demography, there is definitely room to grow retail participation in the capital market. A fundamental barrier we need to unlock is the general perception towards share market investing,” said Tajuddin.

Surveys conducted by Bursa Malaysia show that Malaysians tend to associate investing in the share market with being complicated and high-risk as well as needing a high starting capital to begin investing.

“This nationwide campaign augments Bursa Malaysia’s commitment towards enhancing financial literacy among Malaysians. Through a series of programmes, we will focus on dispelling misperceptions towards investing in the capital market, and making it easier for Malaysians to start their investment journey with a view towards building stronger financial independence. Importantly, we also want to keep Malaysians informed about regulated investment avenues to stay away from illegal get-rich-quick schemes,” added Tajuddin.

Bursa Malaysia’s “Invest Bursa, Invest in You” campaign which will run throughout 2019, is targeted at Malaysians from all walks of life. The campaign aims to increase retail participation in the capital market through widespread education and knowledge programmes, as well as initiatives to attract and ease initial entry into the capital market.

The first initiative under this campaign is the Nationwide Share Ownership promotion, where Bursa Malaysia will partner with participating brokers to provide dedicated services to Malaysians who wish to sign up for a CDS account. Throughout the promotion, Malaysians can fill in the lead form available on www.bursamarketplace.com and choose a preferred broker, who will take the initiative to establish a first point of contact within three days before arranging to meet up within a week to facilitate the process.

“Through this initiative, we hope to make the entire process of becoming an investor in the stock market less daunting for Malaysians. Our participating brokers are committed to making this step easier for interested individuals. We are looking forward to announcing more programmes and promotions under the “Invest Bursa, Invest in You”campaign, creating more opportunities for our fellow Malaysians to grow the value of their savings,” said Selvarany Rasiah, Chief Commercial Officer of Bursa Malaysia.

In addition to the new programmes under the “Invest Bursa, Invest in You” campaign, Bursa Malaysia continues existing measures to attract investors, such as the stamp duty waiver on shares of mid and small cap companies traded until 28 February 2018. From 1st September onwards, investors will also enjoy the same lower fees following the zero-rating of the GST, as all Bursa Malaysia fees are not subject to the Sales and Services Tax (“SST”).