UNFAZED BY POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY
Retail investors more focused on companies’ fundamentals, says UOBAM
RETAIL investors will likely remain unfazed by the political uncertainty in the country, according to UOB Asset Management (UOBAM).
Chief marketing officer Edwin Lee Wai Kid said retail investors were also not really concerned about foreign funds exiting Bursa Malaysia.
“Malaysian investors are better than that now. You can see the retail investors rising above politics in Malaysia. They do not really talk about that any more.
“We also do not have to worry about foreign investors as they no longer have a significant impact on the market. You have to worry about the (participation of) local retail investors and local institutional investors,” he said at a webinar on Saturday.
He said Malaysian investors were now focused on companies’ fundamentals.
Since the beginning of the year, retailers had cumulatively been the only net buyers of Bursa Malaysia with RM8.52 billion, according to MIDF Research in its fund flow report for the week ended July 9.
Lee is also optimistic about UOBAM’s United Global Tech Technology Fund, especially in the third quarter of the year.
“First, you have to look at why tech became so volatile in the first two quarters of the year.
“The key reason was the United States 10year Treasury, which spiked from less than one per cent at the end of last year to close to 1.8 per cent in earlier part of this year.
“It was a very sharp spike for the yield. Therefore, it caused volatility in the tech sector. But now it has come down to 1.3 per cent and we do not expect it to go back to 1.8 per cent.
“Therefore, it is a good landscape now for the tech sector in the third quarter, at least.”
Lee said besides, any antimonopoly drive against big tech companies in the US would not take effect immediately.
“It will take years for any litigation or probe into the monopoly (of the tech companies). This means they can still continue to make money and this will benefit the share prices as well,” he added.