Affin Hwang Capital begins operations

PETALING JAYA: The merger of Affin Investment Bank and HwangDBS Investment Bank has completed and the official commencement of operations for the newly formed Affin Hwang Capital begins today.

Affin Hwang Capital, which is based in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, had a total workforce of 1,900 including remisiers across Malaysia, the company said in a statement.

Its three core business lines are investment banking (including treasury and markets), retail and institutional securities (including research), and asset management.

“It is our goal to become Malaysia’s leading independent bank-backed investment bank and today, we take an important step in that direction,” said Affin Hwang Capital group managing director Maimoonah Hussain in the statement.

The securities business is the largest in the Malaysian market by traded value. The retail securities business has over 700 remisiers and a national footprint of 26 locations.

On a combined basis, institutional securities business covers 90% of local clients, from both government and private sectors.

By combining the asset management businesses of Affin Fund and Hwang Investment Management, Affin Hwang Capital becomes one of the five largest asset management companies in Malaysia.

The business serves over 20,000 individual, corporate and institutional clients, and manages about RM30bil in assets.