Taiwan’s Road To ASEAN Opens Through Malaysia’s Stock Market

Invest Malaysia 2016 | Taiwan (IM 2016 Taiwan) capital market roadshow was host to more than 45 Taipei-based institutional fund managers from 29 organisations who met 1-on-1 with leading companies listed on Bursa Malaysia, about broadening Taiwan’s access to ASEAN.

Hosted by Bursa Malaysia in partnership with RHB Investment Bank Berhad, the inaugural IM 2016 Taiwan, themed “Malaysia: Sustainable at the Core”, engaged Taiwan’s fund managers who represented a total assets under management (AUM) of over USD480 billion with Emerging Markets and ASEAN mandates.

Candid conversations revolved around Malaysia’s sustainable core that is fueling capital market growth, as well as investment opportunities in Malaysia’s diversified equities marketplace on Bursa Malaysia. Malaysia, being the first emerging market to introduce a globally benchmarked ESG Index for listed companies, reinforced its credibility as one of the world’s most respected emerging markets with developed market infrastructure.

248 private meeting requests were completed between fund managers and eight of Malaysia’s most investable public listed companies (PLCs) namely Bursa Malaysia, IJM Corporation, Muhibbah Engineering, QL Resources, RHB Bank, SapuraKencana, Telekom Malaysia and Westports Holdings. The meetings facilitated first-hand sharing on the investment and growth opportunities of these companies that represent diverse sectors including Consumer, Finance, Industrial and Trading Services encompassing energy, telecommunication, and transportation.

Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan, CEO of Bursa Malaysia said, “Having signed our second MOU with the Taiwan Stock Exchange in June of this year, there was high interest from Taiwan fund managers to further understand the growth of the ASEAN marketplace and the access Bursa Malaysia listed companies can provide to ASEAN through their multinational reach beyond Malaysia’s border. Malaysia offers Taiwan investors the growth opportunities of an emerging market with the confidence of a developed market infrastructure and regulatory practices.”

“Quality companies, with strong growth potential are in demand and indeed, that is the attraction of Malaysia’s equities market.  Thirty-eight of the listed companies on Bursa Malaysia, or 45 per cent of our market cap, are FTSE4Good Index constituents and 73 per cent of listed companies on Bursa Malaysia are Shariah compliant. With the recent introduction of Bursa Malaysia-i, the world’s first end-to-end integrated Islamic securities exchange platform, Malaysia has also re-affirmed its global leadership for Shariah-compliant product innovation and investments,’’ Tajuddin said.

Robert Huray, CEO of RHB Investment Bank Berhad said, “We are well-positioned to take advantage of the growth of ASEAN, providing investors with access to the region’s emerging companies as well as a platform for local and regional issuers to raise funding from leading investors in the region. RHB Investment Bank Berhad continues to invest in our franchise so as to remain at the forefront of investment banking. We have strong fundamentals to ensure growth and sustainability in line with our reframed strategy to become the leading multinational financial services group”.

The Invest Malaysia 2016 series kicked-off in February this year with global capital market stakeholder engagements in Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Singapore, and London.

Bursa Malaysia has a well-diversified market that is represented by 60 economic activities. Malaysia is amongst the world's top 25 Most Competitive Nations and amongst the world's top 15 best for Financial Market Development.[1]

Bursa Malaysia continues to create a sustainable marketplace and improve access to capital. In 2014, Bursa Malaysia became the first emerging market Exchange to implement the globally benchmarked FTSE4Good ESG index. Bursa Malaysia then became one of the first emerging markets to be a Partner Exchange Signatory to the Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative in 2015. A year later in 2016, Bursa Malaysia-i was introduced, ushering in the world’s first end-to-end Shariah investment platform.

Malaysia Delegation: Invest Malaysia 2016 | Taiwan
Back Row (Left to Right) : Rais Imran, SapuraKencana; Freddie Yap, QL Resources; Rosidah Baharom Bursa Malaysia; Yap Choi Foong, RHB Bank; Rohaila Basir, Telekom Malaysia; Ong Li Lee, Bursa Malaysia; Shane Guha Thakurta, IJM Corporation.
Seated Row (Left to Right) : Eddie Lee, Westports Holdings; Jerry Jiang, SinoPac Securities; Lena Yong, RHB Investment Bank; Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan, Bursa Malaysia; Robert Huray, RHB Investment Bank; Mei Lan, SinoPac Securities; Lee Chun Fai, IJM Corporation; Shirleen Lee, Muhibbah Engineering.

Hosting Invest Malaysia 2016 | Taiwan for Taiwan Fund Managers
Left to Right: Jerry Jiang, Office of the President & Senior EVP, SinoPac Securities; Lena Yong, Regional Head of Institutional Broking Asia, RHB Investment Bank; Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan, CEO, Bursa Malaysia; Robert Huray, CEO, RHB Investment Bank.