PETALING JAYA, August 26 – Maybank Investment Bank Bhd is still optimistic that the ringgit will continue to strengthen towards the year-end despite the continuous depreciation of the local currency following weaker external demand.
Chief Executive Officer Tengku Zafrul Aziz said fundamentally, Southeast Asia was still growing but money flows outside of the region has abated the situation.
“The house viewed that there will be some form of strengthening towards the year-end. Our view that the ringgit will be at 3.20 level (against a US dollar), which is obviously stronger compared to about 3.32 level today,” he told reporters after launching the investment bank’s fifth branch here today.
He said the entire region, including Malaysia, was affected in reaction to slower external demand in the United States and Europe, resulting in few Asian countries posting less than impressive and below expectation economics numbers.
Zafrul was asked on the pockets of opportunities existing during a volatile market and its impact with the valuation of currency declining.
According to Bank Negara Malaysia, between July 1 and August 20 the ringgit depreciated 3.7 per cent against the US dollar, declined six per cent against the pound sterling, dropped 5.7 per cent against the Euro and eased 4.9 per cent against the Japanese yen.
On potential listings, Zafrul said there were two in the pipeline namely Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd and UMW Oil & Gas Corp Bhd which were expected to be listed this year.
Meanwhile, Maybank Investment Bank Managing Director and Regional Head Equities Ami Moris said there were still pockets of opportunity despite the volatility in the market especially with low retail investors participation.
She said retail investor participation in the local bourse, which currently stood between 15 to 25 per cent, can be further tapped with proper education and client engagement.
“We should be able to reach out to what we call “the new market” of investors aged between 25 and 35 years who may not have invested because of the experience of their parents and families in the Asian financial crisis which has created a lingering perception that the market is very risky,” she said.
The investment bank has been conducting regular investor education sessions across the country from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak to provide retail investors with the opportunity to hear and gain insights from its product specialist, retail analysts and investment mentors.
Maybank Investment Bank is also planning more in the pipeline as it planned to ramp up to over 30 sessions per month across Malaysia.
– BERNAMA
