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During a speech at The Edge-Lipper Awards 2011 yesterday, Chairman of Securities Commission (SC) Malaysia highlighted that Federation of Investment Managers Malaysia (FIMM) as a Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO). "I am pleased to note that the Minister of Finance approved the SC's recommendation to recognize FIMM as an SRO, through a notice that was gazetted on 20 January 2011. I have full confidence that FIMM will be able to discharge its role as an SRO effectively in self-regulating its members for the benefit of the industry as well as investors" said SC's chairman. Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar, Chairman of Securities Commission Malaysia What is the role of SRO? Through SROs, industry players can expand beyond the confines of their own interests and align their interests with that of the public. This will result in the values of ethical behavior and integrity being ingrained into corporate and market cultures. According to Investopedia, SRO meaning that a non-government...

All are going very well for Malaysia construction sector last year in line with the recovery of economy until it hit the first " hard bump " last week. We all know that construction sector is very volatile, influenced by the health of global economy, government's pump-priming projects, and of course the huge overhead costs such as labor and building materials costs. Somehow, unrest at Middle East are hogging the bright future of Malaysia's construction counters. First, surging oil prices put pressure on the bottom-line of the companies. Second, projects from that oil-rich nations will dampened the outlook with a slew of Malaysian companies venturing successfully into that region. The Game still going on? According to CIMB Research , the selling pressure on construction stocks is overdone as jobs in the Middle East account for 3 - 41% of the order books of WCT, IJM Corp, Gamuda and Muhibbah Engineering and the projects are mostly at the tail end with no payment is...

Noticed food prices lately? Or perhaps the price of gas at the pump has caught your attention. You probably didn't know that raw cotton is up 180 percent since a year ago. Guess where that will take clothing prices. Think deflation is our problem, think again. Inflation is here. US monetary policy and US debt policy hinge on the assumption of deflation. So much for those policies. Be prepared for major increases in treasury rates which means a dramatic and unanticipated increased in annual federal fiscal deficits. Things are going to get a lot worse quickly. Bernanke and Obama are going to reap the results that their policies have sowed. A return to the Carter days -- stagflation is back. The stock and bond markets will struggle from here.

Last year, Malaysia Automobile Association (MAA) reported a record number of cars sold. Are you one of them? If you're not in that statistic yet and planning to own a new car now, please read this post which could scare you away. In fact, petrol prices are heading up again since 2008 with prices of RON97 reviewing monthly. Without failed, the price of RON97 is going up consecutively for the past few months. Anyway, are you driving fuel-efficiency car like me? Despite that I am pumping RON95 petrol and driving the so called "fuel-efficiency" car, I still feel the pain of pumping money. Source: Malaysia Automobile Association What to do? If you don't eat, your car still have to " drink " ma. Uncertainties in Middle East is already spiking up oil prices globally. You think this is the worst for motorists like us? By "pouring oil on fire" (to make things even worse), government plans to gradually increase motor insurance premiums from 2012 onwards unde...

Today (Feb 24), FBM KLCI down more than 20 points as it continue it's free-fall after breaking down the crucial psychological 1,500 level . Thanks Libya, thanks Qadaffi for causing uncertainties and panic selling of global markets. In between, Finance Malaysia found a very interesting statistic. Yes. KLCI beat regional markets for " falling the most " today. Below is the performance of regional markets: KLCI fell 1.41% (Champion of the day) Hong Kong fell 1.34% Japan fell 1.19% Singapore fell 0.96% South Korea fell 0.60% KLCI to continue it's downtrend tomorrow? How about KNM? Scare so... Based on the chart shown, technically KLCI is heading for its 3rd wave of downtrend since hitting historical high last month. In fact,  Normally, 3rd wave is steeper or faster. Furthermore, it still not yet reach the over-sold position by looking at stochastic. Very soon, KLCI may touch near 1,450 level. Hopefully, it will stop there. Or else, bye bye bye. Bargain hunting for KNM? ...

In Madison, thousands of high income folks are busy demonstrating in the hopes that lower and middle income taxpayers will pay higher taxes to keep these rich folks riding high. The average teacher in Wisconsin makes between two and three times the all-in compensation of the average Wisconsin taxpayer, so, by all means, lets raise taxes and make the gap even higher. To show their concern for their students, the Wisconsin teachers have taken to calling in sick while they are demonstrating in the state capital for even more money. Meanwhile, the state faces an immediate $ 3.6 billion shortfall and will be forced to begin laying off teachers next week. Why don't the demonstrating teachers care about the pending layoffs? Because the ones demonstrating will not be the ones laid off. The ones laid off will be the most recently hired teachers with the least seniority and these teachers aren't paid as well or have as much seniority as the ones wreaking havoc in Madison. The rich ...

For the financial year ended 31 December 2010, Employees Provident Fund (EPF) announced a 5.8% dividend rate. This translates into RM21.61 billion, which is the highest dividend payout amount ever to members, an increase of 11.55% over the 2009 dividend payout of RM19.37 billion. For the year 2009, the dividend rate is 5.65%. "The remarkable investment income achieved in 2010 was especially driven by the performance of equity investments. The improved financial and economic conditions provided the market with sufficient liquidity, allowing profit taking activities throughout the year", said EPF chairman in statement issued. Who is the main contributor? Buoyed by a good year for the equities market, equities were the largest contributor to the EPF's gross investment income in 2010, representing 45.45% of EPF's total gross investment income. ( See Table 1 ) Source: EPF website During the year under review, EPF total investment assets also continued to register healt...

Even before the much awaited general election, our universities under-graduates are up for the upcoming campus elections. Candidates are going all out, day and night, to campaign for votes for the past few days. Election will be held from Feb 21 to Feb 24. News excerpt from The Star newspaper (17 Feb 2011) Successfully, every year, campus election which initially meant for universities only, got the attention of public and full coverage from major dailies. Malaysian is like watching European Cup (campus election), prior to the more important FIFA World Cup (general election). Meanwhile, politician tends to monitor the progress of the campus elections for various reasons: Read the minds of undergraduates Identify the potential future politicians Predicting the youth trends on politics Penggerak Mahasiswa or Pro-Mahasiswa? Not surprisingly, campus elections are heated up once again this year. As a graduate from one of Malaysia's public university, it reminded me on campus election. t...

What would be your benchmark to measure whether a sector is good or bad? Anyway, I believe most of us use " salary " as the main or only benchmark. Obviously, salary or income is one of the main factor for fresh graduates nowadays to consider whether to take the job or not. Yesterday, I attended a forum on Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) organized by Malaysia Financial Planning Council (MFPC). Of course, no one is more suitable to answer those questions other than the CEO of PEMANDU, which is the main backbone to the success of ETP. Excerpt from TheStar newspaper So, are you regretted of what you are practicing now? The statement cannot just simply applied to every Malaysians, as that was just an average benchmark. In fact, there are many engineers who earns big-bucks out there. As long as you are determine and posses the right attitude and behavior, you could be a high income individual. The interpretation should be: "Along with the growing Malaysia economy, ...

Ben Bernanke is likely the worst Fed Chairman in US history and that's saying something. We have had some really bad ones, but none like this guy. He has now purchased nearly $ 400 billion of his $ 900 billion QE2 buying spree. If he doesn't buy, who will? That's a question that is getting asked a lot lately. Now Ben has opined on the Dodd-Frank bill, probably the second worst piece of legislation in American history (Obamacare is the winner of the gold). Ben likes the Dodd-Frank bill, otherwise known as FinReg. FinReg is one of the key contributors to our high unemployment rates. So, I guess it is having an impact. It is certainly not irrelevant. The mountain of new rules, regulations and prohibitions have done their job. They have stifled credit creation and muzzled the financial system. Ben and Obama have a lot in common. Their policies are both significant contributors to our current stagnation and high unemployment.

State and local government employees face signficant layoffs and dramatic reductions in their benefit packages. Why? The unions claim that the reason is the stingy taxpayer, who, in most states, makes less average compensation than the employees that the taxpayer is funding. The real problem is excessive promises by the union leadership, encoded into law by governors, state legislatures and local governments. There has never been any realistic chance that these benefits could be paid for...never. This grand plan only worked as a ponzi scheme, providing benefits to the early recipients until the cold hard facts of demographics revealed the fraudulent nature of the promises. The great tragedy is that all of this fooled the employees. They assumed that they would be provided abundant retirement income and medical benefits. Thus, there was no need to save. They could spend with abandon and they did. Now, the day of reckoning has arrived and there is no money to pay the promises of...

Apparently the Obama Administration has forgotten the results of the November election. The new Obama budget proposal unveiled this week brings back all of the same, tired, big government plans that the President has been pushing since the day he took office. It no longer matters to the President that the recovery is producing no jobs. He has grown used to that fact, apparently. Now, the President plans new spending initiatives to expand on policies that have few supporters even in his own party. The President is becoming more and more irrelevant. Perhaps that is the plan. Meanwhile major budget cuts are being pushed by the President's opponents in the House of Representatives and even entitlement cuts are under consideration. While there may be zero presidential leadership, there are some good signs that the House of Representatives is not asleep and may supply the leadership that the White House seems incapable of providing. The President seems bent on using today's f...

In Part 1, we have discussed the importance of nomination in insurance. But, what happens if it is someone else, like an uncle, niece or even a friend was named as nominee(s)? www.financemalaysia.blogspot.com   When a nominee is not automatically a beneficiary Under a non-Muslim's policy, the nominee in such a case is not entitled to the policy monies as a beneficiary. He or she only receives them as an executor , and must pass it on to the deceased's estate to be distributed according to the will . If there is a will, but the nominee in this case is not named as a beneficiary under the will, he or she will not get a single sen. If there is no will, then the property will be distributed according to the existing laws of distribution. What if I named my siblings (brother or sister) as a nominee? Well, it will form as a trust policy , and your siblings will act as an executor instead. So, please take note. Anyway, you can change your nomination, but must sought the consent from ...

Well, one of the most important objective of having an insurance policy is to ensure that our loved ones are always financially well-prepared. However, that objective will failed if we did not make the necessary nomination in our policy. By naming our loved ones as nominees, you can ensure that they will receive the monies from your policy fast and easy . This is where an insurance policy will be the most useful to them. Think about our loved ones !!! What if I did not make a nomination? Failure to do so means that the insurance company would not be able to make payment until a court has given your loved ones a Grant of Probate (where there is a will) or Letters of Administratio n (where there is no will). In other words, WAIT for months if not years. What if I did make a nomination? Good. If you are a non-Muslim and you have nominated your spouse, child or parent (where there is no surviving spouse or child), they are entitled to the policy monies without having to wait for the ti...

Now that Mubarak has left, the media is trumpeting that Egypt is now "free." That's not a likely result. The military, who has ousted Mubarek and assumed control, owns a huge share of Egyptian business and industry -- estimates range from one-third to to one-half of the entire Egyptian economy is directly owned by the group that now has power in Egypt. Will they give up that power? Not likely. What this means is that economic freedom will remain in short supply in Egypt. New politicians will appear and there will be elections, but the things that can make a difference to the lives of ordinary Egyptians will not be on the ballot. Egyptians need economic development. They need the freedom to start new businesses, educate their children and live in an economy that produces jobs. The fundamental need in Arab countries is economic freedom, not the right to vote themselves into an Iranian-like theocracy or a Venezuelan-like monocracy. This does not mean that Mubarak is...

Being one of the most successful new listing this year, Benalec is consistently closing higher than its IPO price of RM1.00. Listed on the main board of Bursa Malaysia, Benalec was categorized as a construction counter with more than RM1 billion market capitalization. Company Info Incorporated since 1978 Principally involved in the provision of marine construction services mainly in the area of land reclamation and dredging, rock revetment works, shore protection works, beach nourishment, marine piling, and construction of marine structures. Providing vessel chartering on time and voyage charters as well as tow-age services to third parties. Owning a full-service shipyard to carry out any ship repair, ship maintenance, shipbuilding or fabrication works. Owning a large and diversified fleet of 91 vessels Expertise? Benalec strength lies in their ability to operate a 1-stop centre offering Total Service and Complete In-House expertise , ranging from marine construction, marine transp...

After much speculation on the reason of suspension since yesterday 2.30pm, Multi-Purpose Holdings Bhd ( MPHB ) finally unveil its answer. An memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed with two parties (as elaborate further below) seeking to take over its associate Magnum Holdings Bhd. This would cost MPHB around RM1.65 billion to complete the exercise. MOU with CVC Capital Partners Asia Pacific group To acquire the remaining 49% stake in Magnum To acquire RM674.65 mil nominal value RCULS-C Total costing RM1.627 billion Acquisitions via 343.82 mil new MPHB shares at RM2.30 each and RM 809.20 mil cash MOU with Management of Magnum To acquire 2 mil magnum shares or 2% equity interest To acquire RM4.86 mil nominal value of RCULS-C together with all accrued interest remaining unpaid Total purchase costing RM37.20 mil Acquisitions via 16.17 mil new MPHB shares at RM2.30 each What is the rationale behind? MPHB said the proposed acquisition will enable MPHB to have 100% ownership in Magnum ...

Just before CNY, Latexx surprisingly announcing that the company had accepted a non-binding takeover offer by two private equity funds. However, the deal looks unattractive with limited upside given the offer price of RM3.10 only. For your information, it is only 10.7% above the last trading price of RM2.80 only. About the offer: The offer values Latexx at 8.2x P/E only versus sector's average of 11.7x The takeover offer needs to secure a 75% shareholders' approval as lay out by the new rules With RM3.10 per share, the offer was valued as RM 852.03 million (inclusive of 55.03 million warrants) Would the deal materialize? Finance Malaysia doubt the deal will go through, given the unattractive valuations attached. Please take note that Latexx was one of the largest medical examinations gloves producers globally. By taking over at a mere 8.2x P/E, it would be a very good buy, but not a good sell at all. Another issue which sparks our interest was that the background of the tw...

In his speech today before the US Chamber of Commerce, Obama lectured his audience that gains must be shared with the middle class. He points to the eroding take-home income of middle class Americans. But, there is nothing business can do about the plight of the middle class. That is pretty much determined by Congressionally imposed mandates on businesses. Imagine that you pay an employee $ 40,000 per year and that productivity improves enough to pay that employee $ 50,000 per year. Why wouldn't you do it? Because, in the meantime, Congress has passed a law permitting that employee to sue you for millions of dollars if another employee makes an off-color comment to another employee at the water fountain (or for that matter, off company premises and after hours....it doesn't matter under the law). Now the employee isn't worth $ 50,000 to you. Business has to factor in the potential cost of litigation (and, of course, they do). In fact, the litigation threat may be so ...

President Obama, speaking before the US Chamber of Commerce today, said that he would "knock down" barriers that hamper economic growth. Well, for starters, how about repealing all of the enacted legislation from the 2009-2010 Congress. That would be a good beginning. In the process, away would go FinReg, Credit Card Reform, and Obamacare among other things. If the president is serious, then the road is clear. All he needs to do is a complete about face. Anything else is just politics as usual.

The economic recovery in the US is stillborn. All the various "initiatives" enacted by the Congress since September of 2008 have virtually guaranteed that the economy cannot have a robust recovery, the kind of recovery that, from previous recessions brought the economy back to full strength. Instead, the new credit rules, the new financial regulations, the new health care mandates, the new tax gimmicks, and the business-demonizing atmosphere of the Obama Administration all serve to slow down economic recovery and to create long term stagnation in employment and economic growth. The Administration seems truly puzzled by all of this. The lame duck session, extending the Bush tax cuts for two years, simply avoided disaster. The tax cut extension, since it is a temporary two year extension, cannot possibly stimulate the economy in any meaningful way. Changing the rhetoric in the White House is certainly an improvement but is totally inadequate given the enactment of legislati...