Friday, April 26, 2013

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.

By http://biz.thestar.com.my