Maybank Asset Management Expands Its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Offerings with Its First Global Sustainable Technology Fund

KUALA LUMPUR, 18 January 2021 – Maybank Asset Management Sdn Bhd (“Maybank Asset Management”) expands its ESG product offerings with the launch of the Maybank Global Sustainable Technology Fund (“the Fund”), a qualified Sustainable & Responsible Investment (SRI) fund under the guidelines on Sustainable and Responsible Investment Funds.

As Maybank Asset Management’s first sustainable technology fund, its main aim will be to achieve capital appreciation by investing primarily in a portfolio of global technology-related equities with Wellington Management Singapore Pte Ltd as its Fund Investment Adviser.

To achieve its investment objective, the Fund will invest a minimum of 80% of the Fund’s net asset value (NAV) into global equities and equity-related securities and a maximum of 20% of the Fund’s NAV into collective investment schemes and/or liquid assets.

The Fund will invest directly or indirectly through collective investment schemes such as exchange-traded funds in equities and equity-related securities including but not limited to warrants, American Depositary Receipts and Global Depositary Receipts of technology-related companies worldwide.

ESG considerations will play a key role in how Maybank Asset Management and the Investment Adviser will evaluate the Fund’s investments. As the Fund is a qualified SRI fund, the investments will be subject to ESG integration methodologies. Hence, the Fund will adopt a unique investment approach that integrates active management and ESG considerations in a complementary manner.

Ahmad Najib Nazlan, Chief Executive Officer of Maybank Asset Management, said, “Technology has always been the key driver of new innovations and experiences in our evolution.

The pandemic impacted business and society and at the same time accelerated fresh thinking and ideas, and demand for new technology solutions. These breakthroughs will transform society and sectors such as businesses, manufacturing and production, science, medicine through automation, engineering, IoT, AI machine learning and much more.”

“It is a very exciting period in the tech sector, and our new fund offers savvy investors the platform to mine opportunities by investing in a suite of sustainable tech companies.” Ahmad Najib said.

Leveraging on Wellington Management’s capabilities, our Fund Managers are able to cover a diverse investment portfolio within the tech segments of Information Technology Services and Payment Processors, Tech Hardware and Equipment, Semiconductors and Semiconductors Equipment, Internet and Gaming, and Software.

Tech sector is expected to grow faster versus the global economy to drive growth in the next few years. Despite challenging global markets in 2020, the technology sector outperformed market expectations. As at 30 November 2020, the MSCI World Information Technology Index year-to-date (YTD) returns at 41.6% easily surpassing the MSCI World and MSCI All Country World Index YTD returns at 14.5% and 15% respectively*.

The Fund is suitable for Investors who have a long-term investment horizon, seek capital growth and are willing to tolerate the risks associated with investing in a portfolio of global equities in the technology sector. The Base Currency of the Fund is in USD. The Fund is offered in three (3) currency classes, namely USD Class, MYR Class and MYR-Hedged Class. The minimum investment amount is RM1,000 for MYR and MYR-Hedged Class and USD1,000 for USD Class.

Investors are advised to read and understand the Fund’s Product Highlights Sheet and Prospectus' contents dated 18 January 2021 before investing. Investors interested in learning more about the Fund can visit www.maybank-am.com.my and invest through Maybank Asset Management’s authorised distributors, Maybank branches, and Maybank2u.

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*Source: Wellington Management, 30 November 2020.

About Wellington Management

Tracing its history to 1928, Wellington Management is one of the largest independent investment management firms in the world. It is a private firm whose sole business is investment management, and serves as investment adviser for institutional clients in more than 60 countries. Wellington Management’s most distinctive strength is its commitment to rigorous, proprietary research — the foundation upon which its investment approaches are built. Wellington Management’s commitment to investment excellence is evidenced by its significant presence and long-term track records in nearly all sectors of the global securities markets.

Wellington Management is one of the world’s largest investment subadvisors. Banks, insurance companies, and asset management firms rely on it for its investment expertise and experience in this area. Its assignments range from the management of one “sleeve” of a multi-manager portfolio to broad responsibility for an entire asset class throughout a sponsor's product line.

Wellington Management offers a broad range of equity, fixed income, alternative, and multi-asset investment approaches, approximately half of which are global or regional in their focus. This extensive array of capabilities allows it to meet the varied and evolving needs of its client base.

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