Affin Hwang Investment Bank Berhad, in collaboration with Bursa Malaysia Berhad launched its Securities Borrowing and Lending (SBL) for retail investors.,

The launch enables retail investors to potentially gain more returns on their current investments.

The Retail SBL enables investors to lend assets which they already own but do not intend to sell immediately, to Affin Hwang Investment Bank, as the borrower.

This enables the retail investors to earn interest income for lending their assets, thus potentially gaining more returns over and above the dividends they would normally receive.

The launch not only embodies Bursa Malaysia’s mission in offering investors and traders in the capital market with diverse and innovative products, but also projects Affin Hwang Investment Bank and Bursa Malaysia’s efforts in boosting retail interest in the market.

Affin Hwang Investment Bank’s comprehensive SBL system, together with a greater need for more product offerings in the marketplace have enabled them to expand their SBL business further to retail investors.

“Affin Hwang Investment Bank is committed to be a leader in the securities industry in Malaysia and our provision of excellence to clients through innovative products has always been our aim.

“The launch of this Retail SBL clearly demonstrates this commitment,” said Affin Hwang Capital group managing director, Datuk Maimoonah Hussain.

“Retail investors continue to play a significant role in the domestic capital market.

“Therefore, Affin Hwang Investment Bank, in collaboration with Bursa Malaysia, are excited to offer this new product to the retail investors to potentially enhance their idle assets’ performance,” she added.

“As of December 2018, there were 1.87 million Retail accounts in our marketplace holding a portfolio worth RM137.3 billion.

“Premised on this, investors can generate additional income through lending out their idle securities holdings in SBL transactions, and potentially increase the overall return from their investments,” said Bursa Malaysia chief executive officer, Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan.

“I would like to commend Affin Hwang Investment Bank for taking the initiative to venture into the retail SBL segment with the launch, which will encourage retail investors to join the institutional players in making use of this facility to enhance their returns from idle assets,” he added.

Affin Hwang Investment Bank had initially rolled out Retail SBL through only three branches to its commissioned and salaried Dealer Representatives in Q3 2018, and have successfully loaned out RM8.5 million of retail clients’ shares in less than two months in spite of the relatively slow market performance in Q4 2018.

Affin Hwang Investment Bank targets to achieve RM50 million in securities lending book size in 2019.

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