Inve$t | Market Sentiments | 03 March 2023
AmanahRaya Investment Management Sdn Bhd (ARIM) launched its AmanahRaya Syariah Income Fund (ARSIF), with RM500 million as the target fund size at the end of this year. According to ARIM managing director Mohamad Shafik Badaruddin, the target is high, but reasonable. He said that corporate investors were interested in the ARSIF fund due to its low risk investment, as the returns are higher than fixed deposits and not locked. The investors get to enter and exit freely. The fund is suitable to invest in short-term fixed income which is very liquid.
The group which is a wholly owned subsidiary of AmanahRaya Bhd and a licensed asset management company under Capital Market and Services Act had initially launched the fund on May 5, 2022. As of Jan 31, 2023, its fund size has crossed RM200 million.
According to ARIM group managing director Ahmad Feizal Sulaiman Khan, the group has reached another milestone by launching its seventh unit trust fund and that ARSIF invests in short-term to medium-term Islamic bonds with maturities of less than five years. ARSIF targets investors that seek low to medium risk profiles with exposure in sukuk, Islamic negotiable instruments of deposit and Islamic money market instruments. The fund also aims to provide a regular stream of monthly income — either in units or cash — by investing in Islamic money market instruments and sukuk. Its sector allocations were 12% for Islamic cash and money market, while 88% will be provided for sukuk. The Fund’s top holdings include Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd, Exsim Capital Resources Bhd, UEM Sunrise Bhd, WCT Holdings Bhd and Al Dzahab Assets Bhd.
Malaysia’s economy to grow at moderate pace this year – DOSM
According to Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin, the Malaysian economy is anticipated to grow at a more moderate pace this year following a strong recovery in 2022 as economies around the world continue to struggle to sustain growth. Malaysia’s merchandise trade is predicted to continue growing in 2023, albeit at a slower rate. Based on the Ministry of Finance’s report, total trade, exports and imports were projected to increase by 1.3 per cent, 2.2 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively. This projection was in line with the World Trade Organisation estimates, which expected global trade to grow marginally by 1.0 per cent in 2023
Following slower external demand and diminished low-base effect, the manufacturing sector is foreseen to enter a moderate phase in 2023. The ongoing global uncertainty is also expected to influence economic and social activities as well as the labour market. Malaysia’s Leading Index decreased by 0.6 per cent, equivalent to 0.7 point, to 110.7 points in December 2022 as compared to 111.4 points in December 2021.
Looking at global economic scenario, continuous worldwide inflation has eroded purchasing power and consumers are taking a cautious stance on spending, hence impacting economic performance. Based on the World Economic Outlook Update released by the International Monetary Fund in January 2023, the world economic growth is projected to moderate to 2.9 per cent in 2023 and improve to 3.1 per cent in 2024. Meanwhile, most economies displayed a slower Gross Domestic Product performance in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the third quarter of 2022.
Eye On The Markets
This week, on Thursday (2Mar), the Ringgit closed at 4.4700 against the USD from 4.4545 on Monday (27Feb). Meanwhile, the Ringgit was 3.3286 to the Sing Dollar on Thursday (2Mar). On Monday (27Feb), the FBM KLCI opened at 1456.04. As at Friday (3Mar) 10:00am, the FBM KLCI is down 0.07 points for the week at 1455.97. Over in US, the overnight Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 341.73 points (+1.05%) to 33,003.57 whilst the NASDAQ gained 83.50 points (+0.73%) to 11,462.98.
