2021 External Fund Managers Awards by the Employees Provident Fund (Malaysia) Nomura Asset Management in Malaysia Wins Five Awards
November 22, 2021
Nomura Asset Management Malaysia Appoints Leslie Yap as Head
November 8, 2021
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 46 (including Nomura Islamic Asset Management) as of 31 December 2021.
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 2021, the total assets under management of Nomura Asset Management Malaysia stood at MYR 30.19 billion.
Key Financial Highlights
| Financial Year Ended | MYR | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 31.03.2021 | 31.03.2020 | 31.03.2019 |
| Paid-up share capital | 5,000,000 | 2,000,000 | 2,000,000 |
| Shareholders’ funds | 38,980,048 | 28,883,890 | 26,815,294 |
| Revenue | 50,290,351 | 44,382,354 | 41,499,027 |
| Profit/Loss before taxation | 12,573,974 | 7,768,271 | 6,934,895 |
| Profit/Loss after taxation | 10,096,158 | 5,068,596 | 5,319,518 |
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
Johari bin Abdul Muid
Johari joined NAMM as an independent director in 2014. With over 30 years working experience in the financial industry, he started out his career as a money market dealer at CIMB Investment Bank before joining CIMB Securities to work in institutional sales. After 20 years with the CIMB Group, Mr Johari worked with several prominent financial firms in Malaysia. This includes ValueCap Sdn Bhd as Chief Investment Officer, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) as Chief Investment Officer Equity and thereafter Deputy CEO, and RHB Bank Berhad as Managing Director. Mr Johari is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in the United Kingdom.
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).
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
Johari bin Abdul Muid
Johari joined NAMM as an independent director in 2014. With over 30 years working experience in the financial industry, he started out his career as a money market dealer at CIMB Investment Bank before joining CIMB Securities to work in institutional sales. After 20 years with the CIMB Group, Mr Johari worked with several prominent financial firms in Malaysia. This includes ValueCap Sdn Bhd as Chief Investment Officer, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) as Chief Investment Officer Equity and thereafter Deputy CEO, and RHB Bank Berhad as Managing Director. Mr Johari is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in the United Kingdom.
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).
Career
The job function involves carrying out compliance responsibilities for the Company and managing the compliance monitoring functions including Shariah compliance to ensure that the Company is complying effectively with internal guidelines and policies as well as external laws and regulations in any jurisdiction where the Company may conduct business. The job responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
- Manage and ensure that all regulatory and client compliance requirements are met in a timely manner
- Monitor the Company’s internal and external compliance requirements and report the results to the Head of Department, HQ (Tokyo) and Board of Directors on a regular basis
- Assist to develop, document and maintain the Company’s compliance manuals and policies, inclusive of all operational and administrative manuals
- Communicate the Company’s policies and assess the impact of new / changes of local regulatory laws and guidelines to the business activities, products or services of the Company
- Manage, monitor and ensure the successful annual licensing recertification reporting for both the Company and licensed personnel of the Company
- Work closely with HQ, global compliance and the Company to provide necessary information and data gathering prior to implementing any compliance initiatives or roll-out of new policies
The successful candidate will be supporting the Global Equity investment team, whose primary responsibility includes research and investment management to institutional and corporate clients.
The incumbent will be physically positioned in the Malaysian office with a direct reporting line to the Portfolio Manager.
Key Accountabilities:
The candidate will be given the opportunity to build a career in investment management through exposure across different departments within the company over a period of time.
At the same time, the candidate will also be supporting portfolio managers in the following tasks:
– maintaining information database relating to investment/research
– preparing presentation and reporting materials for internal and external use
– monitoring market developments
– research on investment ideas
– undertaking required responsibilities and providing the necessary support to assigned departments during the training period.
Education & Experience
- Degree in Economics/Finance/Banking/Commerce or equivalent; Other degrees may be considered
- Fresh graduates or those with 1-2 years working experience
Personal Attributes
- Strong command of English; Effective communicator (written and verbal)
- Proficient in Microsoft Powerpoint, Excel, Word etc.
- Mathematically inclined
- Strong interpersonal skills, friendly and trustworthy, with a high level of integrity and work ethics
- Ability to learn, retain and apply considerable amounts of information
- Ability to complete simultaneous tasks while under significant time pressure
- Well-organized, disciplined, impeccable attention to detail
- A team player
Part of the Nomura Group, Nomura Asset Management in Malaysia is a global asset management company with over 60 years of establishment. Continuing our growth trajectory in Malaysia, the Business Development and Client Servicing team is expanding to better serve Malaysian and overseas (in selected markets) investors. Including but not limited to, the successful candidate will be expected to manage the relationship of key clients as well as acquire new clients / investors, on behalf of Nomura Asset Management in Malaysia.
- Active involvement in the planning and development of business initiatives for the Company
- Keep abreast of the investment landscape locally as well as selected markets in order to contribute relevant investment themes and solutions to the Company’s investors and prospective investors
- Equipped and develops a good understanding of the investment capabilities and resources within the Nomura Asset Management group to identify potential investment solutions that can address client’s investment requirements
- Relationship management of Company’s key institutional clients
Required Skills
- Experience as a client relationship manager in the financial services industry (preferably from fund management)
- Strong interpersonal skills; team player and enjoy regular engagements with internal and external stakeholders
- Motivated and has strong sense of ownership on job responsibilities assigned
- Good time management and able to multi-task to work towards deadlines