Masidi (front row, ninth from right) and Lim (front row, eighth from right) giving their thumbs up to the new centre.
KOTA KINABALU (Oct 14): PhillipCapital launched its Phillip Investor Centre here on Friday, which is their third branch in East Malaysia.
PhillipCapital, which started in Singapore in 1975, is an integrated Asian financial house with presence in 15 countries managing assets worth USD35 billion.
In Malaysia, Kota Kinabalu is their third branch in East Malaysia together with two branches in Sarawak, namely in Kuching and Sibu, as well as eight branches in West Malaysia.
Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun, who is also Finance Minister II, said that he felt pleased to see global and established players in the financial sector investing and having a foothold in Sabah.
“I understand PhillipCapital’s Kota Kinabalu branch has grown in the past few years, which led to the expansion of today’s new and bigger premises. As a fellow Sabahan, I am pleased to see corporates establishing their presence in Sabah and flourishing together with the local community,” he said in his speech at the grand opening of PhillipCapital’s Phillip Investor Centre Kota Kinabalu.
He added that this was in line with Sabah’s five-year development plan, the Sabah Maju Jaya roadmap, which is to improve aspects of Sabah’s human capital.
He also said that PhillipCapital, as a financial house, offers locals employment opportunities when they join them as intermediaries or agents distributing their vast range of investment products.
He added that he also believes PhillipCapital could contribute in promoting financial literacy and increasing awareness to Sabahans on money management skills.
Masidi also said that Sabah is rich in resources and one of the major contributors to Sabah’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the oil palm industry.
He said that in 2020, Malaysia produced five million tonnes of palm oil, an equivalent of six percent of the global output.
He added that Sabah is also the second largest palm oil state in Malaysia.
“The total size of Sabah’s palm oil plantations is around 1.5 million hectares. From an economic standpoint, palm oil has managed to change many Sabahans’ lives,” he said.
Masidi said that the palm oil industry has created job and investment opportunities.
PhillipCapital Malaysia Group Managing Director Andy Lim said that investors and would-be-investors will be able to open account, meet face-to-face with their financial planners for a personal financial health check or coaching sessions, get updates on market conditions and attend their various investors education programme initiatives that will be carried out at the centre regularly.
“The concept of a one-stop financial service centre set up within proximity to the clients’ homes and workplaces has been a successful business model in Singapore and we believe it will also bring benefits to our valued Malaysian clients,” he said in his speech.
He added that PhillipCapital Group first set foot in Malaysia 32 years ago and in 1990, with the establishment of Phillip Commodities which became a member of the Kuala Lumpur Commodity Exchange (KLSE).
“Phillip Commodities evolved to become Phillip Futures and its offering expanded from the broking of commodities futures to financial futures, options and Contract for Difference (CFDs)
He also said that with Phillip Futures’ latest acquisition of the stockbroking business from Alliance Investment Bank in July 2022, their Malaysian broking arm, have started to offer stocks and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) broking services and had since been renamed to Phillip Capital Sdn Bhd.
PhillipCapital Malaysia other than the broking division, operates a wealth management division comprising Phillip Capital management, the fund management arm, Phillip Weather Planners, the largest financial planning firms in Malaysia by number of licensed representatives and Phillip Mutual Bhd that operates one of the biggest independent unit trust fund platforms in Malaysia in terms of funds available with over 500 unit trust and private retirement funds accessible from the platform.
He also said that Phillip Mutual is well supported by over 30 fund houses and Phillip Capital Malaysia has under advisory, custody and management over RM7 billion of clients’ assets.
Lim also said that they believe their presence in Kota Kinabalu would largely benefit not just the investing community but the various plantations and palm oil refineries, as they are offering East Malaysia Palm Oil (FEPO) contracts that allow transactions of physical deliveries through one of the ports in Sandakan.