According to Bursa, this development reflects the growing global demand for Shariah-compliant investing and reinforces its commitment to making Malaysia’s Islamic capital market more accessible to both international and domestic investors seeking ethical and Shariah-compliant investment opportunities.
Islamic stockbroking provides investors with access to Shariah-compliant securities trading, conducted either through a dedicated Islamic window or a full-fledged Islamic brokerage. This ensures clear segregation between Islamic and conventional dealings across both trading and post-trading activities.
Dato’ Fad’l Mohamed, Bursa's CEO, calls UBS Securities’ onboarding a milestone in its efforts to grow and diversify Malaysia’s Islamic capital market.
"This aligns with our strategic focus to enhance market vibrancy and inclusivity, while reinforcing Malaysia’s position as a preferred destination for Shariah-compliant investing."
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With Shariah-compliant equities forming the majority of Bursa's offerings, the exchange remains committed to broadening access, deepening liquidity, and advancing Malaysia’s role as a global gateway for Islamic capital market solutions.
According to Busrsa, Shariah-compliant securities market capitalisation has expanded 14.3% year-on-year, increasing from RM1.17 trillion in 2023 to RM1.34 trillion as at the end 2024.
May Lee, country head of UBS Securities, is "delighted" to be the first foreign financial institution to offer Islamic stockbroking window.
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"Today, UBS Securities maintains its top foreign broker and overall top three broker positions in Malaysia with a market share of 10%.
"We continue to see investment opportunities in Malaysia and are currently overweight Malaysian equities. This latest initiative is part of our ongoing efforts to provide global access to Malaysia’s capital markets while expanding our comprehensive suite of investment products for our clients," says Lee.
Nicole Goh, head of global research Malaysia at UBS Securities Malaysia, describes Malaysia as having one of the most stable macro environments in Asean.
"With new fiscal reforms, we expect an uplift in foreign investments. Bolstered by its strong domestic economy and foreign investments, we continue to have a positive outlook on Malaysia and are overweight Malaysian equities.
"Malaysian market valuations are attractive, and we see opportunities especially in the technology components, construction and logistics sectors. We see upside to the Malaysian equity markets driven by the strong domestic economy as well as supportive valuations," says Goh.
She points out that Malaysia's strong domestic economy is driven by good growth in private consumption as well as investment growth.
"With the government’s recently announced 13th Malaysia Plan, as well as measures to support cost-of-living, we believe that this lays out the roadmap for development expenditure and could be beneficial to the infrastructure, property as well as consumer sectors. We remain positive on Malaysia’s manufacturing sector,” says Goh.
