PETALING JAYA : Bursa Malaysia Bhd
has implemented a significant reclassification of its investor categories, marking the first major update to its reporting structure since 2008.
The move is designed to provide a more accurate and granular reflection of the local trading landscape, particularly given the rapid evolution of digital brokerage and nominee structures
The reclassification primarily addresses two areas: the segmentation of local nominee accounts and the status of foreign-owned, locally incorporated institutions. Previously, all “local nominee” accounts were grouped under the institutional segment.
The exchange has now utilised improved technology and broker reporting to “retax” these accounts to their ultimate beneficiary owners (UBOs).
Consequently, nominee accounts held by individuals are now correctly identified as retail participation, while those held by entities remain institutional.
Secondly, the exchange is reclassifying foreign-owned but locally incorporated institutions – such as Aberdeen Malaysia or Principal Malaysia – from “foreign” to “local”. This change is based on the source of funds: because these entities primarily manage local money, such as from the Employees Provident Fund, their activity more accurately represents domestic investment rather than foreign capital.
Additionally, foreign retail participation, which accounts for less than 2% of total trade, has been folded into the general “Retail” category for high-level daily statistics to maintain simplicity.
The primary catalyst for this overhaul is a dramatic shift in the market landscape. Between 2024 and 2025, Bursa Malaysia observed a fivefold increase in new nominee account openings compared with the 2021-2023 averages, reaching figures between 340,000 and 400,000..
This surge is largely driven by the emergence of digital brokers like Moomoo and Rakuten Trade, which account for over 80% of new nominee accounts since 2024.
Because these brokers utilise nominee structures by default, the previous classification system inadvertently masked a large amount of retail activity by labelling it as institutional.
The update ensures that the “structural shift” toward intermediated retail participation is visible to the market.
The update ensures that the “structural shift” toward intermediated retail participation is visible to the market.
Following the reclassification, Bursa Malaysia’s daily trade statistics will now feature three clear categories: Foreign Institutional, Local Institutional, and Retail.
While the underlying market activity and settlement processes remain unchanged, the reported data will look significantly different.
To ensure comparability, Bursa Malaysia will restate data from 2024 onwards so that analysts can perform like-for-like comparisons.
These changes are expected provide the “market intelligence” necessary to reflect the true source of investment flows in Malaysia’s maturing capital market.
