RETAIL INVESTORS MOVE OFFSHORE TO GROW INVESTMENT OPTIONS, SAYS CEO

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 (Bernama) -- Retail investors are moving towards
investing offshore as part of their strategies to grow investment options, CIMB
Group Holdings Bhd group chief executive, Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, said today.

He said for the past 18 months, retail investors had been investing offshore
through many networks, including CIMB.

"That's a growth area. It may not make Bursa Malaysia terribly happy but at
the end, retail investors are growing their investment options.

"The United States and Asean had been the top offshore destinations," he
told reporters after delivering the keynote address at the CIMB Private Banking
Second Annual Investment Conference here today.

Nazir was commenting on the lack of participation by retail investors in the
local bourse.

A recent Bursa Malaysia's report, "Rethink Retail", showed that 61 per cent
of the potential retail investors did not know how to invest in equity markets.

Furthermore, 48 per cent of non-investors cited high risks as the main
reason for their non-participation in the stock market.

Nazir said through the revival of CIMB Securities brand, the group was
growing the number of remisiers to 1,000 across the region as part of its
strategy to encourage more retail investor participation in the local bourse.

On the private banking potential, he said, the group, which currently has
RM7 billion worth of asset under management (AUM), would grow it to RM10 billion
within five years.

"The group is currently in the process of integrating its private banking
capabilities across the region," he said.

At the same event, Nazir also announced that CIMB Group's automated teller
machine (ATM) users could withdraw cash via its ATMs in Malaysia, Indonesia,
Singapore and Thailand for free immediately.
-- BERNAMA