Bursa Malaysia to Bolster Exchange Traded Offerings - to Host ETF Conference

Malaysia plans to enhance its role as a financial hub for listed financial instruments, the country's main cash and derivatives exchange, Bursa Malaysia, will be host to the first Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) focused conference. The move aims to position the Southeast Asian nation as a pioneer among emerging markets.

The multi-asset trading venue has been strengthening its product portfolio to meet the needs of Malaysia’s evolving investor base. ETFs allow investors to gain exposure to a basket of instruments. The one day conference will take place in the country's capital on the tenth of September, 2014.

Bursa Malaysia's Chief Executive Officer, Dato’ Tajuddin Atan, pictured, commented about the forthcoming event, he said: “Bursa Malaysia is working to bring the platform/experts here to shed light on what’s happening globally in the more developed markets, what’s popular, what’s the best performing product (ETF) and how SBL is used to improve market Liquidity ."

The Southeast Asian bourse is looking beyond the domestic market,

with economic developments across the Far East, it anticipates overseas listings of ETFs. Malaysia first opened its borders to overseas investments in 2006, since then a number of Chinese origin companies have listed on the bourse.

“We want to be a listing and investment destination for ETFs. We would like to encourage the participation of issuers both local and foreign and possibly look for ways to partner or collaborate in the development of quality and diverse products. This could also encourage foreign partners to work with local investment banks and brokers to market their products in Malaysia,” added Mr. Atan.

Bursa Malaysia offers five ETFs, four equity-based ETFs and one fixed income ETF, the instruments track various financial products including Malaysian stock indices, Chinese markets, Islamic markets and the ASEAN index.

Investors can trade on Malaysian listed ETFs through member brokers. Leading domestic banking institute, CIMB, offers electronic trading through its iTrade platform.

Although Asia is one of the fastest growing regions for ETF investments, traders still prefer products traded on developed exchanges in the UK and US. ETFs on the London Stock Exchange or the New York Stock Exchange are more liquid and investors have opportunities to trade on diverse products.