KUALA LUMPUR: Starting from ground zero ten years ago, HwangDBS Investment Management Bhd (HwangDBS IM) has staked its claim as the largest independent asset manager in the country currently.
According to HwangDBS IM chief executive officer (CEO) and executive director Teng Chee Wai in a recent exclusive interview with The Borneo Post, “The challenge now is not to sit back and relax, this is a marathon race and there is no finishing line in this business. The markets are open everyday the question is: are you there for the market?”
“We take the view that this is not a 100-metre sprint business, it is a long term business that you just need to be patient to build the building blocks to sustain and last. We need scale and size in this business because for every ringgit that is managed for a client, the margin will not improve further, the management fees are pretty standard.
“Thus, to maintain our top talents they have probably seen their salaries double every five years. Thus we have more than double the assets every five years also in order to stay competitive. The challenge would be to grow to RM20 billion in the next ten years, how fast can we get there and what are the measures we need to put into place. We need new ideas to bring us to the next mark of RM20 billion,” Teng revealed.
The CEO is actively involved in investments and provides critical leadership through regular participation in reviewing and assessing its investment portfolios armed with an investment management experience spanning over 19 years.
Prior to his current position, he was the assistant general manager (investment) of Overseas Assurance Corporation (OAC) and managed a total fund size of S$2.5 billion. The equity portfolio that he managed out-performed the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) consistently.
A science degree graduate from the National University of Singapore, Teng also has a post-graduate diploma in Acturial Studies from City University in London. The father of one observed pragmatically, “Some of the ideas going forward are already with us now while other ideas will come along the way. Our primary focus to day is that we are building up our Islamic asset management business with the licence given by the Securities Commission (SC) that’s coming up nicely.
“Later, as we develop our skills set in sukuk and manage it in Malaysia, we would like to market it in Middle East, Indonesia and the region. We are doing it in Brunei at the moment.
“We would also like to develop Islamic products in some of the more exotic markets where you can’t get direct access. For example, we have our China Asia Islamic Fund – again, the first of its kind – and the performance has been strong since we launched it last year. We want to do more maybe an Islamic Indian Fund,” he revealed.
“We also want to develop our skill sets to manage global fixed income and Asian fixed income funds that will enable us to grow our assets faster. Partly also to respond to the government where the Employers Provident Fund (EPF) will outsource more money thus we want to prepare ourselves to get a chance to pitch for those mandates,” Teng noted.
HwangDBS IM had also taken on the strategy to hire foreign talents and bring them into Malaysia, it was a reverse to what was happening currently and in its case, it had taken in two senior portfolio managers from Singapore.
“We believe in the longer term, Malaysia can be a centre to manage some regional global money thus our youths can learn the skill sets of regional and global fund managers, we are investing in the future,” he enthused.
“My personal philosophy in life is to leave a sustainable business that all of us are proud to be associated with. My dream is that we have an asset management company where we can call ourselves all partners, we are just not employees but we are partners to the business and the next batch will ensure the continuity, the culture and also the vision that we have set in place for them, we are the pioneers.
“You may call it a big dream, but in fact I always dream that we can buy a bungalow somewhere and that we all can come to the office in jeans and T shirts and work in a relaxed environment. I believe that everyone should be given a chance – no one should be doubted until proven otherwise. I empower my staff and I believe everyone has a calling to do good things in them,” said Teng, who is an avid autobiography reader.
Other initiatives taken by the company included the setting up of a Wealth Advisory business targeted at individuals with the wealth who were unsure on what to do, and wanted to participate together in the decision making process.
After tested it over the last year, the company concluded that it was an interesting business with a lot of money in the sector and that people liked to participate towards their revenue and the interactive part was the key to their enjoyment.
With the stage set for another decade of defying market forces, Teng said he looked forward to the challenges and his other great commitment was to educate children, not only to save but to invest wisely.
“They need to grow their wealth to meet the rising inflation levels and it has to be done early to protect their future. This is something I am passionate about and am doing whatever I can in this direction,” he concluded.