Survey: Malaysian investors positive on stock market

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian investors continue to be positive on the
local stock market, with 59% of local respondents of an international
survey conducted by Franklin Templeton Investments believing it would do
better in 2013.
This was despite 63% of local respondents adopting a more conservative asset investing strategy.
“Locally,
this shows the continued faith in the stock market on the back of good
fundamentals and growth in Malaysia and it is no surprise to us that
investors are positive on the outcome of the stock market,” Franklin
Templeton Investment's Malaysian country head Sandeep Singh said in an
interview.
The “Franklin Templeton Global Investor Sentiment
Survey” was conducted by ORC International from Jan 14-25, 2013, and
surveyed 9,518 individuals in 19 countries, including Malaysia.
The
fund manager manages about RM10.68bil for Malaysian investors in total,
with investments in equity and fixed income comprising about 10% of
this amount.
Sandeep also noted that Malaysians now strongly
believed that Asia offered the best opportunities' for this year and the
next 10 years in the areas of equity and fixed income investments.
“Malaysian investors are at the top-end in their expectations of returns over the next 10 years.
“They (investors) are expecting higher returns on their portfolio in 2013 compared to 2012, at 11.5% versus 8.5%.
“While over the next 10 years, they are anticipating a return of 19.5%, which is among the highest in Asia along with India.
“Generally,
this is in line with the trend across many other countries, where
expectations this year are higher than in 2012, which is a sign of
increased optimism in the market,” Sandeep added.
The survey also
specifically noted that men in Malaysia were more likely than women to
think the stock market would do better in 2013.
However, in the next 10 years, the survey showed that women expected higher returns than men.
The
findings also showed that less-affluent investors with less than
RM50,000 in household income were the most likely' to believe the market
would go up this year.
Sandeep said equity valuations compared
to historical averages had “a lot of potential to grow” in Malaysia and
other international markets.
“There is enough steam left for people to look at equity as an investment class.
“As Sir John Templeton had said before, it is not timing the market but time in the market.
“You can make money trading once or twice but you cannot use that as a long-term strategy.
“There is some run-up but there are still opportunities,” Sandeep said.
He also said 63% of local respondents opted for a more conservative approach to asset investing.
This is due to the volatile economic conditions worldwide.
“They want to ensure they didn't lose their shirt.
“They want to see whether their downside protection was there, while ensuring they built their portfolio.
“People like a slow and steady approach now without dramatic changes in asset allocation,” he said.