Malaysia is expected to remain an attractive investment destination for the equity market in the second half of this year due to low market volatility and amid a global economic uncertainty.

Eastspring Investments Bhd chief sales and marketing officer Yap Siok Hoon asserted that Malaysia is a suitable investment destination for investors looking for medium and long-term investments with low risk.

Our market is much more stable compared to those of Hong Kong or South Korea.

“The investments coming into Malaysia could be long-term pension funds and pension funds. Some of them (investors) are not withdrawing their money just because of short-term volatility.

“In investment perspective, I wouldn’t say that they (investors) do not have confident in Malaysia overall, it's just for a short-term period,” she told reporters after the presentation of the Eastspring’ Unit Trust Investor Behaviour Study in Kuala Lumpur today.

She said the study showed that almost two-third of the respondents, who were made up of local investors, decided to maintain their investments here, and this demonstrated their confident in the market.

Although most of the 401 Malaysian respondents of the study opted to stay within Malaysia, some outflows into various markets like Japan and the Asia Pacific were expected in the next six months.

This reflects the investors’ confidence in Malaysia's equity market, he said, adding that, “They are confident, but at the same time they are looking for other opportunities to diversify.”

On retirement preparedness, the study pointed out that respondents would like to maintain their monthly income at an average rate of 58 percent of what they were currently earning.

Yap said the study showed a heavy reliance on the Employees Provident Fund and personal savings to meet retirement expenses.

- Bernama