Malaysian exchange courts younger traders

Bursa Malaysia, the country's stock exchange operator, plans to raise the investment awareness of young Malaysians with a view to encouraging investment in the domestic stock market and mitigating market volatility.

The move is seen as an important step for the healthy development of the market as both the size of the state-run pension fund, Employees Provident Fund (EPF), and life expectancy rise.

"I would love to have more retail [investment], an area that I want to focus and grow as the head of the exchange," Tajuddin Atan, the chief executive of Bursa Malaysia, said during a recent visit to Hong Kong.

The goal of changing the current market dynamic from one dominated by "big boys" was "not an easy task", he said.

The Malaysian stock market is dominated by a handful of domestic pension funds and foreign institutions, which represent more than 70 per cent of the overall buying in equity trading.

In an effort to even out the state-controlled investor base, the country launched a voluntary private-retirement savings scheme last year, issuing eight licences to foreign players including insurance giant American International Group, ING Funds and Manulife Unit Trust.