KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — The reopening of borders and the onset of the economic recovery are setting a conducive environment for capital raising with plenty of liquidity looking for assets to invest in the country.
Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) chief executive officer Datuk Fad’l Mohamed said the improving backdrop is paving the way for companies to build up their sustainability agenda and to position their own “net zero” objectives.
“This is where our dedicated team comes in, in support of structuring and advisory (services), looking at sustainable type (of) issuances or financials.
“Another aspect is companies looking at (making a) transition, and we work with them to look at sustainability-linked type of instruments.
“So it is a very attractive proposition for our clients to go out and raise capital with clear targets (in mind) towards sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives,” he said at a press conference at the Invest Asean 2022 conference here today.
Fad’l further said that investors’ appetite for sustainable investments are very strong globally, particularly in emerging markets with relatively weak supply, as seen by the small share of green, social and sustainability bonds which is less than five per cent of the entire Asean bond market.
In Malaysia, he said sustainability-linked issuances made up 7.6 per cent of 2021’s total issuances.
“As a capital market intermediary with strong regional distribution networks, we are well positioned to help clients in their sustainable finance journey.
“In addition, we set the pace to drive the development of sustainable finance in markets where we operate, through engagements with regulators and stakeholders,” he added.
For the second half of 2022, Fad’l expects to see deals of about RM3 billion in value on the equity capital markets coming through in sectors like consumer, retail, general industrial, technology, media and telecom (TMT) as well as transport logistics.
On debt capital market, he sees a potential pipeline worth RM6.8 billion for the same period, with those linked to ESG to potentially hit RM6 billion.
“We have completed 33 issuances totaling RM6.3 billion recently; one of which was TNB’s sukuk Wakalah programme while sustainability-linked issuances amounted to RM2.1 billion,” he said.
For 2022 bond sukuk market, Maybank IB is looking at issuances worth RM110 billion, he said.
