Regulators in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand have also placed Financial.org on alert lists of unauthorised firms with whom investors should exercise caution.
KUALA LUMPUR: Affin Hwang Asset Management Bhd (Affin Hwang AM) aims to grow its assets under administration (AUA) to RM52 billion this year from RM47.8 billion registered last year, said Managing Director Teng Chee Wei.
He said the asset management firm was cautiously optimistic about the market outlook this year, which is mainly be weighed by the anticipation of improved external factors rather than local corporate earnings, and would focus on investing in the technology sector in the next three years.
"We see changes in policy by the central bank (US Federal Reserve) and positive progress on the (US-China) trade talks that give us optimism, despite not having much of (corporate) earnings growth in 2019.
"We are on track for a reasonable growth and barring any unforeseen circumstances, hopefully we can finally surpass the RM50 billion mark that we have set some time ago," he told media briefing here today.
Affin Hwang AM's AUA grew by RM400 million last year from RM47.4 billion recorded in 2017.
As at Jan 31, 2019, the AUA stood at RM49.13 billion, comprising money market (RM13.88 billion), equity (RM13.76 billion), fixed income (RM8.25 billion), mixed assets (RM7.54 billion) , closed ended fund (RM1.84 billion), feeder fund (RM2.37 billion), non-discretionary (RM1.16 billion), structured (RM0.1 billion) and alternative (RM0.06 billion).
Teng said Affin Hwang AM intended to increase its sales target to about RM3 billion this year from RM2 billion achieved last year.
Meanwhile, AIIMAN Asset Management Sdn Bhd, the Islamic arm of Affin Hwang AM, has ventured into the retail market following the launch of its maiden fund, namely Aiiman Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) Dividend Fund today.
This followed the regulatory approval and granting of the Unit Trust Management Company licence to AIIMAN which subsequently allows the company to produce, market and distribute its own unit trust funds.
AIIMAN Managing Director Akmal Hassan said the new fund would give investors the opportunity to tap into the fast growing Asia market, which is expected to record an annual growth rate of 6.4 per cent for the next five years.
The company was targeting a fund size of RM100 million in the next 12 months, he added. - Bernama
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