(from left): Maybank Islamic Bhd group chief executive officer (CEO) Mohamad Yasin Abdullah, Syed Ahmad Taufik, Muhammad Hishamudin, Maybank Group and Maybank Asset Management Group director Shirley Goh, British High Commissioner to Malaysia Ajay Sharma and Schroders plc head of client group Asia Gopi Mirchandani at the launch of the fund.
PETALING JAYA: Malayan Banking Bhd
(Maybank) is extending its chief investment office-led (CIO) investment approach into syariah-compliant investing, as its group wealth management business surpassed RM565.21bil in total financial assets, supported by strong momentum in Islamic wealth management.
Maybank community financial services group chief executive officer (CEO) Syed Ahmad Taufik Albar said investment-related fees in the Islamic segment rose 23.5% year-on-year, driven by a 32.8% expansion in investment assets under management.
Building on the traction from its conventional CIO-led fund, which has raised more than RM1.4bil across Malaysia and Singapore since mid-2024, Syed Ahmad Taufik said Maybank is now applying the same framework to syariah investing.
“We have seen strong regional validation of the CIO-led investment model,” he said during the group’s launch of the syariah-compliant CIO-led fund yesterday.
The fund, dubbed MAMG Growth and Income i-Fund, is a collaboration between Maybank Asset Management Group (MAMG), Schroders and Maybank Group Wealth Management Singapore.
It is structured as a feeder into the Schroder Maybank Growth and Income i-Fund, based in Singapore.
The target fund focuses on Islamic multi-asset investing, including equities, sukuk, gold and cash.
Maybank Asset Management Sdn Bhd CEO Muhammad Hishamudin Hamzah, whose firm manages the fund, said the fund reflects Maybank’s strategy of complementing its in-house capabilities with global partnerships.
“Today, the future of investing is no longer about choosing between local strength or global reach,” he said.
“Our open-architecture approach ensures that when clients invest in MAMG funds, they gain access not only to our internal expertise, but also to carefully selected global partners, providing true manager and asset class stratification within a single platform.”
He noted that MAMG had “very good” inflows over the past year and said the outlook is promising, particularly with innovative products like this.
Schroders South Asia and global official institutions head of client group Katherine Goh said investor conversations across the region are increasingly focused on portfolio construction rather than chasing returns.
“Across this region, the conversation with investors has a similar theme,” she added.
“The question is no longer simply, where can I find returns? It’s how do I build portfolios that can capture global growth, deliver dependable income, and remain robust through very different market cycles.”
She added that Schroders has spent more than 200 years helping investors navigate market cycles and transitions.
“One of the ways we do that is through multi-asset investing.
“It’s about building a coherent, forward-looking framework that draws on multiple sources of return to meet specific growth and income objectives over time.”
“By combining Maybank Group Wealth Management’s CIO-driven house view with Schroders’ global multi-asset expertise, this fund provides institutional-level oversight and diversified global exposure guided by syariah-compliant principles.”
Goh added that the fund marks the fourth collaboration between Schroders and Maybank since 2018, with Malaysia remaining strategically important to the group.
Looking ahead, Maybank Group Wealth Management chief investment officer Eddy Loh said the bank continues to focus on differentiated solutions amid a volatile environment.
“From our perspective, we are always looking to offer a best-of-class, differentiated solution to our clients,” he added.
“We recognise that competition is intense, so we need to offer something special.”
While Maybank maintains a constructive market outlook, geopolitical risks and volatility remain.
“There will be volatility, and therefore, having a multi-asset approach will help investors better navigate it.”
Maybank Group Wealth Management head of product and investment Ramesh Manimekalanandan said the syariah fund is designed with income in mind.
“This is a syariah-compliant fund, designed with a monthly payout in mind, with a target monthly return of 6.5%, in addition to the total return target for the fund.”
He said the objective is to offer Islamic investors a solution comparable to conventional income funds.
