LUMPUR: The total asset under management (AUM) of licensed fund management companies (FMCs) in Malaysia decreased by 4.69 per cent to RM906.46 billion compared to RM951.05 billion in 2021, said the Securities Commission (SC) yesterday.

In 2022, the top five FMCs contributed 55.42 per cent of total AUM compared to 54.81 per cent in 2021.

The SC said sources of funds under management were largely from unit trust funds (UTFs), the EPF, corporate bodies, and wholesale funds.

“The funds were allocated in various asset classes and locations, of which, investment inside Malaysia by FMCs amounted to RM624.87 billion, representing 68.94 per cent of the total AUM as at end of 2022,” it said in its Annual Report 2022 released yesterday.

The SC said the bulk of investment was allocated to equities with 47.59 per cent at the end of 2022, compared to 49.20 per cent in 2021 and a similar trend was observed in asset allocation inside and outside Malaysia.

Unit trust funds continued to be the largest component of the Malaysian collective investment schemes (CIS) industry with a total net asset value (NAV) of RM487.94 billion recorded as of Dec 31, 2022, lower than RM526.90 billion recorded in 2021.

The percentage of the total NAV of the unit trust fund industry against Bursa Malaysia market capitalisation was 28.10 per cent from 29.45 per cent in 2021.

“In 2022, a total of 39 unit trust funds were launched while 11 funds were terminated and nine funds matured, which brought the total number of unit trust funds offered by 38 locally incorporated unit trust management companies to 759 funds as of Dec 31, 2022,” said the SC.

As of Dec 31, 2022, there were 58 funds offered to investors which have been qualified as sustainable and responsible investing (SRI) funds under the Guidelines on Sustainable and Responsible Investment Funds, higher than the 34 funds in 2021.

The SC said the 58 funds comprised 31 unit trust funds and 27 wholesale funds with a total NAV as of Dec 31, 2022, of RM7.05 billion against RM5.07 billion in 2021.

In 2022, the SC considered a total of 436 applications relating to CIS and private retirement schemes (PRS), comprising applications to establish new funds, register prospectuses/ disclosure documents, register deeds, and other ancillary matters.

Meanwhile, there were seven eligible issuers of structured warrants in 2022, including Affin Hwang Investment Bank Bhd which is a new eligible structured warrants issuer.

The SC received and registered seven base prospectuses and 22 supplementary prospectuses from these issuers in 2022.

In 2022, a total of nine issuers lodged 22 new structured product programmes with the SC under the Guidelines on Unlisted Capital Market Products under the Lodge and Launch Framework (LOLA Guidelines) and had an aggregate size of RM110 billion with each programme having a size limit of up to RM5 billion.

High-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) continued to form the majority of investors, accounting for 91.6 per cent of investors in structured products.

The SC said 2022 saw a significant increase of 38 per cent in the offering of structured products to HNWIs from 2021.

In 2022, there were two contracts for different (CFD) providers offering CFD in Malaysia based on shares and indices. — Bernama