Maybank Asset Management is gearing up to launch Malaysia’s first mutual fund that invests in an inverse exchange traded fund amid persistent gloomy market outlooks that have kept investors largely on the sidelines since last year.
But the firm, which will target sophisticated investors due to regulation on the sale of complex products, is wondering about how to promote the new strategy, given the potential for mixed signals to investors — essentially that the manager is forecasting even choppier markets.
However, Ahmed Muzni Mohamed, Malaysia chief executive at Maybank AM, said that during last year’s market turmoil, the group realised that “when the market was going down, we had nothing to offer clients”.