About Us

Nomura Asset Management Malaysia

Nomura Asset Management Malaysia obtained its fund management license in December 2006 from the Securities Commission Malaysia. The establishment of a local presence was part of our continued commitment to our clients in Malaysia, some of which, we have been servicing since 1990s from outside of Malaysia.

Nomura Asset Management Malaysia is a full-fledged asset manager with front-, middle- and back-office operations housed locally. We have grown from a 3-member team in 2006 to a combined staff strength of 48 (including Nomura Islamic Asset Management) as of 31 December 2023.

Our capabilities range from Domestic Equity, Domestic Fixed Income and Sukuk, Global Sukuk and Developed Markets Equities. Alongside Nomura Islamic Asset Management, we are signatories of the Malaysian Code for Institutional Investors. More of our efforts in Responsible Investing are published here.

As of 31 December 2023, the combined total assets under management of Nomura Asset Management in Malaysia stood at MYR 32.9 billion.

As of 31 December 2023, we have 11 funds with total AUM of MYR1.41 billion

Key Financial Highlights

Financial Year Ended MYR
Date 31.03.2024 31.03.2023 31.03.2022
Paid-up share capital 5,000,000 5,000,000 5,000,000
Shareholders’ funds 81,145,262 65,646,870 53,665,212
Revenue 70,464,405 59,937,569 59,287,418
Profit/Loss before taxation 29,209,071 21,411,219 22,162,435
Profit/Loss after taxation 22,498,392 16,981,658 17,685,164

Meet Our Key People

Leslie Yap

Managing Director / Country Head

Leslie Yap, CFA, is the Managing Director for Nomura Asset Management Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., and the Country Head for NAM’s business in Malaysia, since 1 November 2021. Prior to his appointment as Managing Director, he was the Head of Investments in Malaysia (a role he held since Apr 2015) where he oversees the global equities, Malaysian equities and Malaysian Fixed Income & Global Sukuk portfolio management teams in Kuala Lumpur.

Leslie has over 24 years of industry experience in funds management and research coverage. Together with the Global Equities team in Kuala Lumpur, he is responsible for the investment management of global developed market equities of over MYR 7 billion (Sept 2021), on behalf of Malaysia and overseas-based institutional investors.

Leslie is one of the contributing member of the Global Equity Strategy Committee and the Global Stock Selection Committee in Nomura Asset Management. He is also the Investment Committee member at Nomura Islamic Asset Management

Leslie holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Nottingham, U.K. He is also a CFA charter holder.

 

 


Swee Fung Teoh

Head of Malaysian Equities

Swee Fung Teoh joined NAMM as portfolio manager in Nov 2006 and currently heads and oversees the Malaysian Equities portfolio management team, with over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. Swee Fung is one of the contributing member of the Pacific Basin ex Japan Investment Strategy and Stock Selection committees.


Chooi Su May

Chief Administrative Officer

Chooi Su May is the Chief Administrative Officer of Nomura Asset Management Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. and oversees the Corporate Administration, Fund Administration and Trading departments. She joined the Company in 2008 and prior to assuming her current role, she was the Head of Compliance, Risk and Legal in the Company.

Su May has over 20 years of working experience in the areas of compliance, legal, operational risks, audit and tax from various local and international companies across audit & tax advisory, insurance and capital markets industries.


Eric Yeo

Head of Compliance, Risk and Legal

Eric is the Head of Compliance, Risk and Legal department at Nomura Asset Management Malaysia. He joined NAMM in 2015 and prior to that, Eric was Head of Trust and Agency Services, Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Berhad and Compliance Officer at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (Malaysia) Berhad


Investment Committee

The Investment Committee members’ convene at least 4 times a year to review on investment offerings managed by Nomura Asset Management Malaysia. During the meetings, the members’ would review investment decisions undertaken on behalf of the funds’ managed by Nomura Asset Management Malaysia, evaluate on the investment performance of the funds’ against their respective investment objectives; as well as, deliberate on product development ideas.

Non-independent member

Hiew Teck Kong

Hiew heads the Malaysia Fixed Income & Global Sukuk team, with more than 23 years’ experience in the industry. Hiew Teck Kong is one of the contributing member of the Emerging Bond Investment Meetings in Nomura Asset Management and actively participated in marketing roadshows showcasing Nomura Islamic Asset Management and Global Sukuk capabilities locally and in the Middle Eastern region, amongst others.

Independent member

Julia Binti Hashim

Ms Julia joined the firm as an independent director on 27 August 2020 and brings with her over 30 years of working experience in the financial industry, since 1989. Ms Julia was previously at Principal Asset Management Berhad as the Chief Operating Officer, Asean region, overlooking operational divisions such as Finance, HR, Strategy, Legal, Risk, IT, Operations and Product Development across Principal Asset Management’s Southeast Asian entities. Before joining Principal Asset Management, Ms Julia was with CIMB Investment Bank Berhad for 23 years where her last position held was Head of Equities Malaysia and Head of Institutional Sales, ASEAN. Prior to that, Ms Julia was a fund manager at Arab Malaysia Investment Bank Berhad for 5 years. Ms Julia holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Economics and Politics from University of London, School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS).

Independent member

Dato’ Mona Suraya binti Kamaruddin

Dato’ Mona joined the firm as an independent director on 1 November 2023 and brings with her 31 years of experience in the capital markets, specialising in Malaysian equities, which includes close to 9 years in Equity Research and 20 years in Equity Sales. Dato’ Mona is currently the Investment Panel Member at Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera and prior to that she was the Chief Executive Officer at Affin Hwang Investment Bank Berhad. Prior to joining Affin Hwang Investment Bank Berhad, Dato’ Mona was the Country Head and Managing Director at Nomura Securities Malaysia. Dato’ Mona and her team at Nomura were instrumental in establishing and growing the firm’s Malaysian equities franchise from the ground up over the past 11 years. Before joining Nomura, she was Vice President of Institutional Sales at JPMorgan Securities Malaysia. Dato’ Mona began her career in the capital markets in 1991 as an investment analyst in various financial institutions which include Arab Malaysian Securities, Standard Chartered Securities Malaysia and Crosby Securities Malaysia. She also served as Head of Research at MGI Securities Malaysia. Dato’ Mona holds a BSc (Econs) in Accounting from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth


Board of Directors

Managing Director / Country Head

Leslie Yap

Leslie Yap, CFA, is the Managing Director for Nomura Asset Management Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., and the Country Head for NAM’s business in Malaysia, since 1 November 2021. Prior to his appointment as Managing Director, he was the Head of Investments in Malaysia (a role he held since Apr 2015) where he oversees the global equities, Malaysian equities and Malaysian Fixed Income & Global Sukuk portfolio management teams in Kuala Lumpur.

Leslie has over 24 years of industry experience in funds management and research coverage. Together with the Global Equities team in Kuala Lumpur, he is responsible for the investment management of global developed market equities of over MYR 7 billion (Sept 2021), on behalf of Malaysia and overseas-based institutional investors.

Leslie is one of the contributing member of the Global Equity Strategy Committee and the Global Stock Selection Committee in Nomura Asset Management. He is also the Investment Committee member at Nomura Islamic Asset Management.

Leslie holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Nottingham, U.K. He is also a CFA charter holder.

Director

Atsushi Ichii

Atsushi Ichii was appointed as the Managing Director of Nomura Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd on 4 December 2020. He has over 25 years of experience in the financial and capital markets industry, from both the sell-side and buy-side. He began his career at Nomura Securities in 1991 and since then, he has undertaken various business development roles in Nomura Group and other Japanese financial institutions. Throughout his career, he has worked in various countries such as Japan, Hong Kong, Switzerland, and countries in the Middle East, such as Bahrain and U.A.E

Independent director

Julia Binti Hashim

Ms Julia joined the firm as an independent director on 27 August 2020 and brings with her over 30 years of working experience in the financial industry, since 1989. Ms Julia was previously at Principal Asset Management Berhad as the Chief Operating Officer, Asean region, overlooking operational divisions such as Finance, HR, Strategy, Legal, Risk, IT, Operations and Product Development across Principal Asset Management’s Southeast Asian entities. Before joining Principal Asset Management, Ms Julia was with CIMB Investment Bank Berhad for 23 years where her last position held was Head of Equities Malaysia and Head of Institutional Sales, ASEAN. Prior to that, Ms Julia was a fund manager at Arab Malaysia Investment Bank Berhad for 5 years. Ms Julia holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Economics and Politics from University of London, School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS).

Independent member

Dato’ Mona Suraya binti Kamaruddin

Dato’ Mona joined the firm as an independent director on 1 November 2023 and brings with her 31 years of experience in the capital markets, specialising in Malaysian equities, which includes close to 9 years in Equity Research and 20 years in Equity Sales. Dato’ Mona is currently the Investment Panel Member at Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera and prior to that she was the Chief Executive Officer at Affin Hwang Investment Bank Berhad. Prior to joining Affin Hwang Investment Bank Berhad, Dato’ Mona was the Country Head and Managing Director at Nomura Securities Malaysia. Dato’ Mona and her team at Nomura were instrumental in establishing and growing the firm’s Malaysian equities franchise from the ground up over the past 11 years. Before joining Nomura, she was Vice President of Institutional Sales at JPMorgan Securities Malaysia. Dato’ Mona began her career in the capital markets in 1991 as an investment analyst in various financial institutions which include Arab Malaysian Securities, Standard Chartered Securities Malaysia and Crosby Securities Malaysia. She also served as Head of Research at MGI Securities Malaysia. Dato’ Mona holds a BSc (Econs) in Accounting from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth

Chief Administrative Officer / Director

Chooi Su May

Chooi Su May is the Chief Administrative Officer of Nomura Asset Management Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. and oversees the Corporate Administration, Fund Administration and Trading departments. She joined the Company in 2008 and prior to assuming her current role, she was the Head of Compliance, Risk and Legal in the Company. She was appointed as director in June 2022.

Su May has over 20 years of working experience in the areas of compliance, legal, operational risks, audit and tax from various local and international companies across audit & tax advisory, insurance and capital markets industries.

Director

Suzuki Kenichi

Suzuki Kenichi  is the Senior Managing Director and Head of the Global Business Unit at Nomura Asset Management, with over 30 years of experience in asset management and financial services. He has held numerous leadership roles across Nomura’s global offices, including in Japan, Luxembourg, Taiwan, and the UK. Most recently, as CEO of Nomura Asset Management UK, he manages 70 staff, drives business expansion, and implements key corporate strategies. His expertise spans trading, fund management, corporate communications, human resource, and business development, reflecting his deep knowledge of the financial industry and commitment to driving business growth and operational excellence. Suzuki Kenichi holds Bachelor of Science from the Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan.

Career

Description:

  • Plan and execute sales and marketing strategies
  • Generate and achieve sales target from existing and new funds
  • Provide on-going training and enhance skills and knowledge of company products and manage relationship with product distributors (IUTAs)
  • Ensure information to IUTAs is consistently updated and relevant information is disseminated to the staffs
  • Attend to distributors enquiries and requests. Where necessary, able to work closely with other internal stakeholders (e.g. investment professionals) to address and/or make recommendations to resolve clients’ queries
  • Build rapport with distributors and involve in client servicing and retention management with other team members
  • Conduct and provide market research feedback on unit trust investment.
  • Involve in ad-hoc projects from time to time.

Requirements:

  • Degree in related field
  • Working experience in the area of Unit Trust or related financial products would have an added advantage.
  • Self-driven, independent, results-oriented
  • Possess effective organizational, presentation, spoken and written skills.

Email your application to: [email protected]

The candidate is responsible for performing registrar function. Candidate currently or previously working in IUTA or CUTA Operations / Transfer Agency / Fund Services would be highly desirable.

Responsibilities:

  • To ensure timely operational handling, execution and processing of customer transactional activities (subscription/redemption/switching) and update register records.
  • Review subscription/redemption/switching documentation for completeness and accuracy.
  • Ensure that all processing records are filed in an organized manner to facilitate easy retrieval when necessary.
  • Monitor fund receipts and arrange redemption payments.
  • Coordinate income distribution.
  • Responsible for a series of unit trust processing, dealer commission and trailer fees, front and back end load and fee structures and relevant regulatory requirements.
  • Process portfolio settlements by ensuring accurate and timely processing of settlement of transactions and follow up on problem transactions.
  • Reconcile and monitor cash and position on a daily basis, and work closely with banks, IUTA or CUTA, Transfer Agency and Trustee.
  • To participate in ad hoc project assigned by supervisor.

 

Requirements:

  • Degree holder with minimum of 2-5 years experiences in investor operations in the asset management or financial institution industry is required.
  • Direct experience with registrar and transfer agency services would be added advantage.
  • Possess excellent PC skills (especially Microsoft Excel and VBA), Swift and/or project management would be highly desirable.
  • Must be meticulous and accurate with good attention to detail.
  • Able to work independently, under tight deadline with minimum supervision as well as in a team environment.
  • Excellent time management, organizational and prioritization skills plus good communication skills, both verbal and written.

Responsibilities:

  • Implement compliance programme and monitor control systems
  • Responsible for portfolio investment compliance
  • Responsible for all regulatory applications and notifications for NAMM
  • Act as Compliance Officer and AMLO for NAMM
  • Act as liaison with regulators on compliance issues
  • Act as liaison for internal and external auditors
  • Check to ensure all regulatory filings are filed accurately and timely
  • Manage class actions involving NAMM and NIAM’s clients
  • Manage and monitor NAMM and NIAM’s licensing requirements
  • Conduct compliance testing to assess efficiency of control systems and processes
  • Conduct employee compliance training

 

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s Degree in Law, Accounting, Finance or related field. Holders of relevant professional certifications preferred.
  • Minimum 5 years’ experience in compliance or legal, preferably in the asset management or financial services industry.
  • Must possess in-depth knowledge of the Malaysian regulatory requirements, that are applicable to the asset management industry.
  • Must be proficient in Microsoft Office.
  • Must be meticulous and have good attention to detail.
  • Must be able to work independently, under tight deadline with minimum supervision as well as in a team environment.
  • Must have excellent stakeholder management, communication skill and interpersonal skills.

Responsibilities:

  • Conduct compliance reviews
  • Prepare periodic regulatory filings and submissions
  • Assist in preparing compliance reports
  • Conduct compliance testing to assess efficiency of control systems and processes
  • Conduct daily and monthly post-trade compliance monitoring
  • Develop and implement Excel tools to automate processes

 

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s Degree in a related field.
  • Must be proficient in Microsoft Office. Experience in automating tasks with macros and VBA preferred.
  • Must be meticulous and have good attention to detail.
  • Must be able to work independently, under tight deadline with minimum supervision as well as in a team environment.

Responsibilities:

  • Conduct compliance reviews
  • Prepare periodic regulatory filings and submissions
  • Assist in preparing compliance reports
  • Conduct compliance testing to assess efficiency of control systems and processes
  • Conduct daily and monthly post-trade compliance monitoring
  • Develop and implement Excel tools to automate processes

 

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s Degree in a related field.
  • Must be proficient in Microsoft Office. Experience in automating tasks with macros and VBA preferred.
  • Must be meticulous and have good attention to detail.
  • Must be able to work independently, under tight deadline with minimum supervision as well as in a team environment.

Responsibilities:

  • Provide legal and compliance advice to various stakeholders
  • Monitor company’s compliance with laws and industry standards
  • Review contracts and other legal documents
  • Act as liaison with external counsel and internal stakeholders on legal issues
  • Assist in corporate secretarial matters
  • Manage claims, disputes, litigation and class actions
  • Assist in application and renewal of regulatory license and registrations

 

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s Degree in Law. Holders of relevant professional certifications preferred.
  • Minimum 3 years’ post-qualifying work experience in legal positions, preferably in asset management or the financial services industry.
  • Must possess in-depth knowledge of the Malaysian regulatory requirements, that are applicable to the asset management industry.
  • Must be proficient in Microsoft Office.
  • Must be meticulous and have good attention to detail.
  • Must be able to work independently, under tight deadline with minimum supervision as well as in a team environment.
  • Must have excellent stakeholder management, communication skill and interpersonal skills.