Malaysia’s Kenanga Investors is acquiring state-backed asset and exchange-traded fund manager i-VCAP Management for an undisclosed sum after getting the green light from Securities Commission Malaysia, a deal that will turn it into the second largest ETF manager in the country.
Kenanga Investment Bank, which owns Kenanga Investors, made the announcement in a statement on February 2, confirming a January 13 report in
Asia Asset Management (
The bank didn’t provide details but people familiar with the matter tell
AAM that it’s an all-cash deal and is expected to be completed by the end of March.
i-VCAP is wholly-owned by Valuecap Group, a three-way joint venture between sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional, Permodalan Nasional, Malaysia’s largest fund manager, and civil service pension fund Kumpulan Wang Persaraan.
Malaysia’s Kenanga Investors is in an advanced stage of negotiations to acquire i-VCAP Management, a state-backed asset and exchange-traded fund manager, according to people familiar with the matter.
“The deal, if sealed, would position Kenanga Investors as the second largest ETF provider in Malaysia, and it would also allow i-VCAP’s ultimate shareholders to exit the business as announced over a year ago,” one of these people tells
Asia Asset Management.
Affin Hwang Asset Management is currently the market leader with nine of the 19 ETFs listed on the local stock exchange. i-VCAP manages four ETFs and Kenanga Investors has two.
Hitting reset button
IT was a year full of surprises and of many unprecedented events. Who knew a virus outbreak could shut down global economies, force countries to close their borders and ground airlines?
The market crash in March was a pandemic-induced one rather than a market failure like what happened during the Global Financial Crisis, Asian Financial Crisis and the dotcom bubble.
But the recovery in the stock market was surprisingly quick and investors are now looking at further pricing in an economic recovery, on the back of the hope that the Covid-19 vaccine becomes widely available.
Three fund managers spoke to StarBizWeek on their take on the outlook and challenges for 2021.