Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – More than 600 participants are expected to attend the Maybank Kim Eng inaugural 2012 Retail Strategy Series half day event entitled, Invest ASEAN on 14 January 2012. It will be held at the Securities Commission, Bukit Kiara and led by the Retail Equities team of Maybank Kim Eng for Malaysian retail investors. The event includes regional participation of stock exchanges and research analysts from countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Hong Kong. The Invest ASEAN event will see a panel discussion with Maybank Kim Eng’s regional Heads of Research that includes a regional stock pick session.

Maybank Kim Eng will also be organising other events such as Invest ETFs, Invest Bonds and Invest Derivatives as a part of its year-long campaign across ASEAN aimed at equipping investors with the knowledge and tools to capitalise on regional investment opportunities.

The ASEAN Exchanges made their presence felt at the 2012 Retail Strategy Series showcasing the ASEAN Stars, the 180 most investable companies in ASEAN. Dato’ Tajuddin Atan, CEO of Bursa Malaysia provided details on the ASEAN Exchanges and its benefits to investors. The event, with its focus on ASEAN and its multitude of investment opportunities, highlighted the advent of the ASEAN Exchanges; a collaboration of seven exchanges from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The ASEAN Exchanges collaboration is focused on promoting and fostering the growth of the ASEAN capital market and is focused on driving cross-border collaborations, creating greater liquidity amongst member exchanges and ultimately, the creation of a platform for ASEAN-centric products.

Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Group CEO of AirAsia will delivered the keynote address, sharing his story on how Air Asia has grown, from its initial stages of a start-up airline with two ageing aircraft to the successful regional low-cost airline it is today. He will also offer insights on how he and his team worked to leverage on the opportunities the ASEAN region had to offer and how the company has enabled millions to fly.

Tengku Dato’ Zafrul, CEO of Maybank Investment Bank states, “Invest ASEAN is the first regional investment forum that we have held for investors since the completion of Maybank’s acquisition of Kim Eng last year. Through the acquisition, we now have strong regional capabilities and Invest ASEAN is just the first of many examples of the direct and immediate benefits that our clients will get from this merger.”

“Maybank Kim Eng can help retail investors take advantage of the region’s opportunities and resources as we know ASEAN inside out. With our strong stockbroking operations in 8 countries across the region, we have strong local-country relationships and market know-how. Our in-depth ASEAN focus enhances our ability to be the top in the region, and coupled with our cutting-edge technology and team of experts, we can assist investors in making the right investment choices,” added Tengku Dato’ Zafrul.

Negative sentiments riding on the European and US debt crisis have resulted in a flight of capital from these regions and has influenced investors to transfer their wealth to growth regions such as ASEAN. ASEAN’s projected GDP growth rate of 6% from 2011 to 2015 makes it the ideal destination for investments. Despite the global economic slowdown, the ASEAN region remains one of the highest growth economies with a market cap of just under USD2 trillion and collective government spending amounting to approximately USD 635 billion.

Dato’ Tajudin Atan states, “The 2012 Retail Strategy Series is a great opportunity for investors to understand the ASEAN economic landscape and how they can reap its benefits. The ASEAN Exchanges focus is clear, which is to bring more ASEAN investment opportunities to more people. Since our launch in April 2011, our teams have been diligently working to ensure that there are ASEAN centric products for ASEAN retail investor, that cross-border collaboration is pervasive and access is streamlined between our markets.”

Tengku Dato’ Zafrul provided an analogy of Maybank Kim Eng’s objectives of simplifying trading for the retail investor, “Trading online can be likened to something as simple as learning how to use a coffee machine. A coffee machine may seem complicated but with the help of an expert barista, one can learn how to produce a great cup of coffee in just a few minutes. Trading online is just as simple, and we will be able to show you the ropes using our trading applications. It only takes 10 minutes to learn how to use the online and mobile trading applications, and access the world of trading from their devices. We would like the retail investor to think of us as their baristas.”

Maybank Kim Eng has just rolled-out its enhanced global online and mobile trading platforms. Through Power Broking, investors are able to trade online on international markets, with features such as technical analysis tools and detailed stock activities of the global markets. The mobile trading application, which can be downloaded and activated at no cost, allows the investor to conduct transactions anytime, any place.

The introduction of the new trading platforms, coupled with the events organised regionally, are a part of Maybank Kim Eng’s aim of increasing its foothold across the region. The integration of Maybank Kim Eng provides customers with better access to financial markets as a part of its expansion plans across the region. Maybank Kim Eng aims to be a regional financial powerhouse by 2015, and to become the top broker in terms of market share in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines and Vietnam markets by 2015.

The Maybank Group is Malaysia’s regional financial services leader with an international network of over 2,100 offices in 17 countries namely Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China, Bahrain, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia, Great Britain and the United States of America. The Group offers an extensive range of products and services, which includes commercial banking, investment banking, Islamic banking, stock broking, insurance and takaful and asset management. It has over 42,000 employees serving more than 21 million customers worldwide.

Maybank Kim Eng is a leading investment broking and securities group in Asia. It has an international presence, with an extensive network of offices in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, London and New York. Through its various subsidiaries, Maybank Kim Eng offers a host of financial services such as corporate finance, investment banking, debt markets, equity capital markets, derivatives, venture capital and private equity, retail and institutional securities broking, research, and asset management services.

A leader in many of the Asian markets that it operates in, Maybank Kim Eng has won numerous prestigious awards in each of the markets that it serves.

For more information, please contact Maybank Corporate Affairs

Eliza : +603-20721416 / +6012-3497424

Prakash +603-20747783 / +6019-2787625

Mazlan: +603-20708833 ex 2465 / +6019 2787714

Email: publicaffairs@maybank.com.my

The directors of Mayban IB Holdings and Maybank (including any who may have delegated detailed supervision of this Press Release) have taken all reasonable care to ensure that the facts stated and all opinions expressed in this Press Release are fair and accurate and that no material facts have been omitted from this Press Release, and they jointly and severally accept responsibility accordingly. Where any information has been extracted or reproduced from published or otherwise publicly available sources (including, without limitation, in relation to Kim Eng), the sole responsibility of the directors of Mayban IB Holdings and Maybank has been to ensure through reasonable enquires that such information has been accurately and correctly extracted from such sources or, as the case may be, reflected or reproduced in this Press Release.