KUALA LUMPUR, 09 2022 – Kenanga Investors Berhad (Kenanga Investors) swept six awards at the 2022 Best of the Best Awards by Hong Kong-based Asia Asset Management. It was recognised under the following categories; Malaysia Best Equity Manager (4th consecutive win), Malaysia Best Impact Investing Manager, Best Application of ESG (ASEAN) and Malaysia Best House for Alternatives. Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Ismitz Matthew De Alwis won Malaysia CEO of the Year for the third time while Chief Investment Officer Lee Sook Yee was named Malaysia CIO of the Year (sixth win within this category).
A first-time winner within the Malaysia Best Impact Investing Manager and Best Application of ESG (ASEAN) categories, the firm’s steady growth as an SRI-driven asset management institution within Malaysia began in 2017 when it became a signatory to the Malaysian Code for Institutional Investors (“Code”). In adhering to its obligation, it developed practices to support the Code and to internalise the principles throughout the entire investment value chain.
“We are honoured to be recognised for our efforts in supporting the Malaysian and ASEAN ESG landscape. Currently, we believe that the local and regional environments face challenges in capacity building to effectively address sustainability issues in areas such as competencies, skills and technical awareness on ways to adopt a sustainability-driven top-down model. We foresee that our focus in integrating ESG considerations into three major aspects; firm-wide, product and stock-level, will generate measurable value for all stakeholders”, says De Alwis.
Despite experiencing a volatile environment in 2021, the firm’s performance resulted in a fourth consecutive Malaysia Best Equity Manager title.
“Our team delivered outperforming results against a backdrop of reduced trading activities and continued market upheaval due to a degree of political instability in 2021. As bottom-up stock pickers, we believe our competitive advantage is the depth and discipline of our investment research and our focus on long-term performance, specifically 3, 5, and 10-year periods. Our focus on research ensures all stocks included in our portfolios have been subjected to our rigorous approach to stock selection and investment thesis verification. We purposely seek to exclude "hot stocks" which may carry unacceptable downside risk”, says Lee on the firm’s outperformance.
This year also marks the third year that the firm has been awarded Malaysia Best House for Alternatives. De Alwis explains that the firm’s overarching investment philosophy dictates that differing investment objectives require tailored solutions that cater to the unique needs of each investor.
“As the alternative investments pioneer within the Malaysian market, our alternative instruments are an additional source of uncorrelated returns, in line with one’s investment objectives. Our goal of bridging the gap between retail investors and more sophisticated forms of products which were previously only available to institutional or accredited investors have resulted in the acceleration of market growth through multiple product launches within the last three years” he says in reference to the Kenanga Global Unicorn Series, the first KLCI-based leveraged and inverse ETF with OneETF by Kenanga and more recently, the Kenanga Sustainability Series: Frontier Fund.
The Malaysia Best Impact Investing Manager award recognises a firm’s success in deploying impact investing strategies in either public or private markets to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside sustainable financial returns.
The Best Application of ESG (ASEAN) award is based on a firm’s achievements in integrating and executing ESG policies within the region.
The Malaysia Best Equity Manager award is in recognition of the success of the fund house’s equity products within Malaysia’s domestic market given the challenging trading conditions and its abilities in capturing potential growth opportunities.
The Malaysia CEO of the Year award is in recognition of the CEO’s overall achievements, performance of funds, increase of assets under management and their demonstration of leadership in the market.
The Malaysia CIO of the Year award is based on the CIO’s achievements at the country level and the strategies employed to capture growth whilst navigating risks associated with the pandemic.
The Malaysia Best House for Alternatives award recognises the firm’s achievements in growing the alternatives market, its performance record and its growth in client base.
AAM is the world’s longest-running publication focused on Asia’s institutional asset management and pension fund industry. Its Best of The Best Awards recognises the finest performers in Asia from financial services companies and institutional investors to service providers whose influence and excellence expands beyond borders.
For more information about Kenanga Investors, please visit www.kenangainvestors.com.my
