Maybank Enters Cross-Border Islamic Funds Partnership

Maybank Asset Management Group has entered into a collaboration agreement with Hong Kong-based Bosera Asset Management (International) at the inaugural annual 10th World Islamic Economic Forum (WIFE) to help promote the ASEAN-Greater China Strategic Partnership and build on the two-way trade between both regions.
The bilateral agreement will mean the firms explore business opportunities together to jointly develop funds investing in Shari’ah-compliant equities and/or Shari’ah-compliant equity-related securities with focus within ASEAN and in the Greater China regions (People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan).

While Hong Kong can leverage on Malaysia’s Islamic fund management capabilities, Malaysia at the same time would benefit from Hong Kong’s strength as an international financial centre.
With the recent implementation of the ASEAN Collective Investment Schemes Framework (ASEAN Framework), the growth of Islamic investments is imminent as fund managers now have an efficient route to offer Islamic funds and promote Islamic investments to retail investors in the listed countries under the ASEAN Framework. Furthermore, the Hong Kong government continues to promote Islamic finance with the launch of an Islamic bond later this year.
Chief executive officer of Maybank Asset Management Group , Nor’ Azamin Salleh explains, “The prospects of this partnership with Bosera being the leading asset management in China is enormous and besides, venturing into the Greater China territory is definitely the next best thing for us.

Having built and strengthened our on-the-ground expertise in key ASEAN markets; that is. Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia over the past three years, the time has come for us to tap into the full potential of our Asian-focused investment team and leverage heavily on the ASEAN Framework platform. Given our capabilities in managing Islamic assets, we are confident in delivering world-class Islamic products abiding to the International Shari’a guidelines and standards.”

“Islamic investment products will appeal to a large segment of investors in China given the large Muslim population of 23m and the growing middle class investors where more sophisticated and ethical investments are highly sought after. Moreover, ASEAN investors remain fond of the China growth story. We are of the opinion that China market has indeed stabilised, translating to a steady and sustainable growth. The current valuations remain attractive in China as they are cheapest in the region compared to the price of investments in India and are much lower in comparison to their Asian and western counterparts. In the pipeline, we are working towards a Greater China and Asean Islamic equity fund due to be launched in 1Q15.” adds Nor’ Azamin.

Originally published on www.ftseglobalmarkets.com