BIMB Invest targets RM3b AUM this year
Target achievable on back of strong domestic market growth prospects this year, says CEO
BIMB Investment Management (BIMB Invest) aims to increase assets under management (AUM) to RM3 billion this year compared with RM2.23 billion as of December 31 last year.
Chief executive officer Najmuddin Mohd Lutfi said the target was achievable, based on strong domestic market growth prospects this year.
He said the economy was expected to achieve a better performance this year, with steady growth in gross domestic product, strengthening ringgit, global oil price recovery and inflow of investments into the country.
“In addition, improved investor sentiment since last year will drive more growth to the equity market this year, further boosting the syariah-based financial sector in the country,” he said, here, recently.
Najmuddin said the company would focus on efforts to strengthen its Syariah-ESG (environmental, community and governance transparency) funds, which could help investors to identify companies with sustainable financial performance.
He said BIMB Invest had been focusing on Syariah-ESG equity funds since 2015 as it had generated more than RM300 million in AUM in the last three years.
“This year, we have introduced a new Syariah-ESG fund called BIMB-Arabesque Asia Pacific Syariah-ESG, which uses the Big Data analysis method to identify potential targets to invest,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said BIMB Invest planned to increase its contribution via equity portfolio to 50 per cent over the next three years.
“At the moment, the main portfolio of BIMB Invest assets is contributed by fixed income, representing 70 per cent, while the rest is equity,” said Najmuddin.
He said there were 250 Islamic funds in the country to date and they were seen as sufficient in meeting demand but added they needed to be evaluated in terms of performance, returns and investment risks.
He said most of the funds, including those in conventional form, were still traditionally managed by fund managers whereas it demanded the use of technology to facilitate data processing.
“The use of technology is crucial to enable us to process more data and assist in the management and investment process as well as ensuring that funds can provide the best returns,” said Najmuddin.