Geopolitical tensions and climate change call for sustainable, equitable and inclusive growth in ASEAN
ASEAN companies that pursue sustainability are expected to be more compelling investments. Research by Maybank Investment Banking Group (Maybank IBG) shows that companies with higher ESG ratings in ASEAN-6 countries (Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam) had outperformed the MSCI All Country ASEAN Index.
8 June 2022 - Maybank is hosting its annual pre-eminent conference, Invest ASEAN 2022, on 8-9 June 2022 in ASEAN-6 cities (Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila and Ho Chi Minh City), with the theme “ASEAN | Framing A Future”.
Group President & CEO of Maybank, Dato' Khairussaleh Ramli says, “It is important for us to work together to shape a sustainable and prosperous ASEAN. Home to the fastest growing population in the world and expected to be the fourth largest economy by 2030, ASEAN is an extremely attractive destination for businesses and investors. ASEAN’s growth this year is expected to be higher than China’s for the first time in the last 30 years.”
“Having said that, investors remain cautious of headwinds from tightening of global monetary policies, a US and China slowdown and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Adding to these concerns include the debate on climate change and the need for tangible plans to start reducing its medium- to longer-term impact within ASEAN economies. Therefore, it is key for us to find a sustainable approach that fosters shared prosperity and unlocks productivity across segments of the population.”
“At Maybank, we aim to become part of our clients’ journey of sustainability, whether it is to invest or to raise funds. Of the commitment of mobilising RM50 billion in capital towards sustainable financing across ASEAN by 2025, the bank has already achieved over RM13.6 billion in the financial year ended 2021. We have also disbursed RM11.4 billion in financing to support SMEs across ASEAN while over 500,000 households have benefited from our community programmes in 2021.”
ASEAN companies that are driving towards sustainability ambitions are expected to be more compelling investments. Maybank IBG backtested about 190 companies under its research coverage across ASEAN-6 markets, and found that those with higher ESG ratings, as measured by Sustainalytics, generated excess returns over the MSCI All Country ASEAN Index by 8.4% year-on-year, and averagely 3.9% per annum for three years to 31st March 2022 respectively.
Dato’ Ami Moris, CEO of Maybank IBG says, “At Maybank, we are leading and framing the conversations about the ASEAN and ESG Opportunity.”
“The region has many old-world economy companies that are catching up and transforming to become more green, diverse and inclusive, or risk being sidelined by customers and investors. Decarbonisation and transitioning to renewable energy will likely require significant capital injection and radical changes in business models, notably for companies in the hard-to-abate sectors.”
“For investors, this transformation potentially translates to alpha. Tomorrow’s winners are what Maybank seeks to identify at Invest ASEAN.”
Mr. Arapat Sangkharat, Chief Executive Officer, Maybank Securities (Thailand) PCL, stated that we at Maybank Securities (Thailand) are moving forward our comprehensive and diversified investment services by providing customers financial services with sincerity, accessible to everyone, along with giving back to society. This is in line with Maybank Investment Banking Group (Maybank IBG)’s business direction that keeps moving forward to sustainability in order to achieve the Group’s mission that truly focuses on ESG. In addition, the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) also has a policy to promote the Sustainable Finance and is ready to be a capital market mechanism that encourages Thai companies to operate their business by considering the economy, society and environment. With this in mind, we at Maybank Securities (Thailand) have always given importance to this idea. For example, we present our research paper and promote those SET-listed companies that operate business under the ESG guidelines. We also organize the Global CSR Day activity, which is a programme that Maybank IBG started to organize CSR activities to give back to society in various forms. These annual CSR activities were continuously organized by companies under the umbrella of Maybank Group. Meanwhile, the Invest ASEAN 2022 event is considered an excellent opportunity for investors to learn more about the direction and trend of investment in ASEAN from the genuine experts. And this year, we organize it bigger on the topic “ASEAN | Framing A Future” which we believe will be really useful for the investors as we will summarize all the key issues to present to them in the next opportunity.
About Invest ASEAN
Held over two days in ASEAN-6 cities (Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila and Ho Chi Minh City), on 8-9 June 2022, Invest ASEAN’s “ASEAN | Framing A Future” by Maybank features conversations with leading experts on the opportunities and risks arising from today’s most pressing issues affecting the region: global economic and geopolitical trends, the business case for ESG and diversity, equity and inclusion, institutional crypto trading, and the major shifts in banking, as well as Street Beats on topics of interest for each ASEAN-6 markets.
About Maybank Investment Banking Group (Maybank IBG)
Maybank Investment Banking Group (formerly known as Maybank Kim Eng Group) is ASEAN’s leading homegrown investment bank with deep capabilities in investment banking and advisory services, retail and institutional securities broking, research, derivatives and prime
brokerage, and with full-fledged operations and research teams in six ASEAN markets Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam—and is also present in Hong Kong, India, UK and US. It has won over 1,000 awards since its formation for retail and institutional brokerage, research, investment banking, custodian services, sustainability-linked transactions, and Islamic financing. It seeks to be the force for equitable prosperity by Humanising Financial Services, and to become ASEAN’s leading Sustainability-First investment bank.