Malaysia’s FD market least volatile: Aberdeen

> Condition very conducive for fund managers to construct multi-assets portfolio, says director

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s fixed deposit (FD) market is the least volatile and is very conducive for fund managers to construct multi-assets portfolio, said global investment company, Aberdeen Standard Investments.

Aberdeen Asset Management Asia Ltd investment director Dongyue Zhang said many portfolios described as ‘diversified’ or ‘multi-asset’ were in fact restricted to a traditional mix of bonds, equities and/or real estate.

“Malaysia’s FDs have low volatility and would generate good returns over the long-run,” he told a panel discussion on the sidelines of the Investment Conference 2018 here yesterday.

Zhang said constructing the right portfolio entailed mixing fixed deposits and fixed income on a tactical basis, and “this is something that Aberdeen is looking at now among other multiassets.

“There are multi-asset opportunities as we are trying to get access to the widest range of potential opportunities as possible,” he added.

Zhang also said if a client or investor wants to look at multi-asset investment opportunities, they would want to look at investment opportunities that are more global in nature.

As for Asia, he said investment companies such as Aberdeen Standard Investment were experiencing more demand and opportunities in multiassets basis.

He said the ‘’Belt and Road’’ initiative by China was interesting as it tried to project China’s economic impact along six different routes, one actually extending to Southeast Asia and Malaysia.

“Through that initiative, whether we’re talking about hard or soft infrastructure, consumption upgrade or Industry 4.0, it will project a halo effect on the local FD and bond market,” said Zhang. – Bernama