Growth in Sarawak investment portfolios tops expectations: CIMB

By Sulok TawiePublished: 2009/08/08

CIMB Private Banking said it sees Sarawak as an interesting market, but the phenomenal growth in the investment portfolios of high-net-worth individuals in Sibu was beyond its expectation.

"We saw an annual growth rate of 25 to 30 per cent in Sarawak, above our annual national average of 20 per cent," CIMB Private Banking co-head Carolyn Leng told a media briefing in Kuching yesterday.

"We recorded an annual growth rate of 100 per cent in Sibu alone. We have more portfolios in Sibu than what we have in the whole of Kuala Lumpur," she added.

CIMB Private Banking opened its satellite office in Sibu last year, and the volume of portfolios from high-net-worth individuals in the town had been rising.

"One reason for the high amount of portfolios is that Sibu has a lot of people with huge savings," Leng said.

She said CIMB Private Banking, since its opening in Kuching in 2005, has been offering a complete range of tailored private banking services, extending from investments to securities to trust services.

Leng said cross border equities is one of the new investment services available to the Sarawak clients.

"This is one of our efforts to regionalise our clients' portfolios and provide them foreign exposure to other bourses in Singapore, Hong Kong and the UK," she said.

On the company's commitment to Sarawak, Leng said the state is an important market for CIMB Private Banking and that its operations have thrived since its introduction to the local market four years ago.

"Sarawak is a high growth area for CIMB Private Banking as it is home to many of the country's successful professionals and entrepreneurs.

"This, coupled with the state's healthy rate of economic growth rate, (mean that) we are here to stay. In fact, we are working towards strengthening our presence," she said.

Leng also advised potential investors to be cautious when buying shares as regional markets as a whole are "not that good".

"You have to wait until September when companies release their next third-quarter results. Even then, you have to wait some months for signs when to put your money," she said.

Leng forecast that regional markets will recover by the second half of next year.