Malaysia among Asian nations with high confidence level

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is one of the most optimistic countries in
Asean after Indonesia, an investment confidence survey has found.
Manulife’s
first “Investor Sentiment Index Asia” revealed that Malaysia and
Indonesia had markedly higher confidence levels than most other Asian
countries, including China, Singapore and Japan. Hong Kong and Taiwan
were the most pessimistic.
Higher levels of confidence were
recorded in emerging Asian markets, similar to several mature economies
in the West such as Canada and the United States.
Investors in
Indonesia and Malaysia favoured cash and property, with little appetite
for stock and equities, according to Manulife. The reverse, however, was
true for Hong Kong and Japan.
“From an investment point of view,
there’s no more exciting place than Asia right now. There are so many
opportunities across the region for people to invest to achieve their
life goals,” president and chief executive officer of Manulife Asia
Robert A. Cook said in a statement.
Manulife’s report said the
financial priority of most Malaysian investors was to “save for a rainy
day”, in contrast to their regional counterparts who aimed to “save for
retirement”.
A majority of investors, or 70%, felt that now was a “good time” to invest in real estate, particularly in their own homes.
Some
62% of Malaysian investors also believe they will be better off
financially in two years, while 41% feel they are already better off
today than two years earlier. This compares to 7% of investors who say
they are worse off now than two years ago.
However, the study
noted that Malaysian investors tended to have a preference for cash, as
opposed to riskier assets like stocks and equities.
They also think it is a “good time” to hold fixed income investment, as the market is seen to be giving out positive signals.
“They
believe it would give them higher returns as compared to other types of
investments. Yet, there exists the concern that Malaysian investors who
have a high affinity towards holding cash and fixed income may see the
value of their savings erode, and this may result in low purchasing
power in years to come in view of inflation,” Manulife said.
About
79% of those who feel that now is a “bad time” to invest in stocks and
equities cited “market volatility” as the main reason.
In terms of demographics, the 25-29 age group was found to be more upbeat than other age groups in the country.
“Malaysian
investors have a penchant for insurance products that provide a steady
stream of income, in addition to investments in their own home and
holding cash.
“However, being cash-rich means they do have the
means to invest, but they need to tap into other investment
opportunities that the Malaysian market has to offer,” the firm
explained