KUALA LUMPUR, July 3- Malaysia’s equity market is still a preferred destination for global fund mangers and investors as it is presumed to be a safe haven for their investments, says CIMB-Principal Asset Regional Chief Investment Officer Raymond Tang.
He said there was still a continued inflow of funds into the local bourse as Malaysia was the least volatile among its regional peers.
“If you look at the Malaysian equity market for investments, it is the least volatile, so it will be a pretty strong anchor for any portfolio,” he told a press conference today.
On the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) index, Tang said the market barometer would continue to hover around the 1,700 points level until year-end.
“The market is still at about this level as most of the selling activity was done in the last two or three weeks,” he said.
Meanwhile, on the Asia market, Tang said amid lingering uncertainty about the timing and scale of the US Federal Reserve’s tapering asset purchases, the highly accommodative monetary conditions in Asia remained supportive of consumer spending and investment.
He said global wealth has been tilted in favour of Asia, buoyed by sustained optimism of the region’s growth prospects, decent valuation and attractive yield differentials.
Tang said Asian economies were able to sustain their momentum via domestic demand and government spending.
“As these emerging markets become more productive and wealthy and, as personal incomes grow, massive growth is expected in the number of consumers and their purchasing power.
“Increasing government spending and supportive government policies will also continue to encourage consumption in the region. “While rising inflation can be a risk in Asia, we believe the Asian inflation rates will be contained as the weak demand for commodities will continue to push prices down,” Tang added.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer Munirah Khairuddin encouraged investors to expand their focus and diversify investment palette in the Asian region.
“Anchored by our beliefs that Asia is rich in investment opportunities and investors are shifting their focus to the region, we expect the asset under management for our Asian funds to grow by more than RM300 million in the next three months on strong demand for both individual and institutional investors,” she added.
At the same event, CIMB-Principal was presented the AsianInvestor’s Investment Performance Award 2013 for Asian Fund House of the Year by Hong-Kong based AsianInvestor magazine.
The award was granted to the best overall fund house headquartered in Asia Pacific, recognised for a combination of business strategy, execution, investment performance, asset gathering, innovation and success.
– BERNAMA
