NEW YORK: MALAYSIA’S top decision- makers yesterday presented the unique prospects of the country’s diversified economy to Global Tier 1 fund managers, who, together, represented assets under management of more than US$1.75 trillion (RM7.7 trillion).
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak led the high-level dialogue with institutional investors at Invest Malaysia New York, organised by Bursa Malaysia and Maybank Kim Eng.
The dialogue, themed “Malaysia: Sustainable at The Core”, centred on the developments, challenges and opportunities in Malaysia.
Fifteen US fund managers — all with emerging markets and Asia mandates — attended the institutional investors dialogue.
Bursa Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Tajuddin Atan 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.
“The dialogue 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 (issues).
Invest Malaysia New York reaffirms the importance for decision-makers to continue direct interactions with fund managers, both in good and volatile times, amid greater uncertainty in the global economy,” he said in a statement.
Tajuddin said while global equity markets were facing challenging times, Malaysia’s capital market had continued to demonstrate resilience on the back of a well-diversified market represented by 50 economic sectors.
“Over the years, the capital market also enjoys geographic diversification via the growth of regional champions among our listed companies.
Both the economic and geographic diversification, coupled with strong corporate governance and investor protection, provide 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,” he said.
Malayan Banking Bhd Group head of global banking, Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir, meanwhile, said the banking group’s research team conducted a region-wide stress test that was published in the report “Unmasking Asia”, which showed that Malaysian corporates had performed well and were relatively more resilient than their peers in the region.
“Most of the Malaysian companies held up well in a stressed condition of a 10 per cent shortfall in revenue, a 10 per cent further depreciation in the ringgit and a 100 basis point hike in the 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 shared at the dialogue were on Malaysia’s growth trajectory over five years.
Among the highlights were the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI’s 90 per cent growth, supported by a market cap increase of 145 per cent and an average daily volume trading increase of 75 per cent.
“The integrity of our market is intact and remains fair and orderly,” Tajuddin said. Invest Malaysia New York 2015 is the fourth annual Invest Malaysia roadshow series to the United States.
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