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Global Tier1 fund managers at the Invest Malaysia New York institutional investors dialogue gained an objective overview of Malaysia’s economy, when they were presented the unique opportunities and prospects of Malaysia’s diversified economy by its top decision makers.
Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak led the high-level meeting organised by Bursa Malaysia and Maybank Kim Eng. The dialogue themed: MALAYSIA: SUSTAINABLE AT THE CORE, centered on the developments, challenges and opportunities in Malaysia.
15 US fund managers attended the institutional investors dialogue. Collectively these 15 fund managers represent a total assets under management of over USD 1.75 trillion, and all with Emerging Markets and Asia mandates.
Dato’ Tajuddin Atan, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia, said it was an engaging session for the fund managers who noted the policies and measures made by the Government to boost the resilience and competitiveness of Malaysia’s marketplace.
Dato’ Tajuddin said, “The dialogue with the fund managers led by the Prime Minister was robust and engaging, touching a full breadth and depth of questions and feedback on a range of topics from economics, to social and political. The Invest Malaysia New York program reaffirms the importance for decision makers to continue to interact directly with fund managers, both in good and in more volatile times, amid greater uncertainty in the global economy.
“The equities markets globally are currently facing challenging times, however, our capital market has continued to demonstrate resilience on the back of a well-diversified market represented by 50 economic sectors. Further, over the years, the capital market also enjoys geographic diversification via the growth of regional champions amongst our listed companies. Both the economic and geographic diversification, coupled with strong corporate governance and investor protection, provides the foundation for the continued resilience of the capital market. This is a key value proposition of Malaysia that Invest Malaysia New York hopes to propagate."
Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir, Head of Global Banking for Maybank Group, said, “Our research team conducted a region-wide stress test recently, published in our latest research report, Unmasking Asia, and we discovered that Malaysian corporates performed well and are relatively more resilient than their peers in the region.”
“Most of the Malaysian companies held up well in a stressed condition of a 10% shortfall in revenue, a 10% further depreciation in the Ringgit and a 100 basis point hike in interest rate. This suggests the strength in their business fundamentals and cash flow management, which in turn is supported by the robustness of their balance sheets. The current market volatility provides great opportunities for investors to accumulate investments in these fundamentally strong companies,” he added.
Among the key facts that were shared during the dialogue were on Malaysia’s growth trajectory over a period of five years or since 2009 whereby the highlights were the FBM KLCI growth of 90% supported by an equally impressive market capitalisation growth of 145% and a 75% growth in average daily volume (ADV) trading.
Dato’ Tajuddin said, “The integrity of our market is intact and remains fair and orderly. The financial stability of our market participants and intermediaries are also at healthy levels. I believe that the combination of a diverse marketplace and a resilient marketplace is a compelling one, but this is even more so when you fuse it with sustainability, which is an increasingly important issue for investors.”
Over the last 10 years Bursa Malaysia has put in place the building blocks to create a sustainable marketplace and improve marketplace access to capital. In 2006 Malaysia had implemented CSR Framework and Governance requirements and in December 2014, became the first emerging market to implement an exchange driven, globally benchmarked FTSE4Good ESG index. Bursa Malaysia is also a Partner Exchange Signatory to the Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative.
Invest Malaysia serves as a marketplace for fund managers looking to access the opportunities in Malaysia’s capital market. Invest Malaysia New York 2015 is the fourth annual Invest Malaysia roadshow series to the United States of America.
