Maybank IB to boost retail participation with EzyInvest

KUALA LUMPUR: Maybank Investment Bank Bhd aims to increase retail participation among investors in the stock market via its newly-launched EzyInvest, designed to help investors save by using equities as part of their investment portfolio.
EzyInvest is an investment product that makes investing in the stock market simpler and more convenient for those keen on investing.
"We want to help Maybank clients and the Malaysian retail stock market in general and this is one way we can increase retail participation. When they open an account with us, these accounts will never go dormant. Every month, they're just buying one lot (100 shares) minimum," Its head of retail equities for Malaysia Lim Chee Kiong told a press conference after the launch of EzyInvest here yesterday.
He said historically over 50% of clients who sign up for central depository system (CDS) accounts in the marketplace go dormant.
EzyInvest features a list of pre-selected stocks with solid track records and consistent performance. Investors will be set up with an automated buying instruction where they decide on the quantity to be purchased either on a monthly or quarterly basis.
"This is a low entry cost product. We want it (retail participation) to be increased by leaps and bounds for the market in general. The stocks are never meant to be sexy, but it is meant to be stable," Lim said.
For a start, it features 10 stocks, consisting of Perisai Petroleum Teknologi Bhd at the lowest range of RM1.56 per share and Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd at the highest range at RM9.74 per share. The minimum lot size is 100 shares per lot, which means investors buying these stocks have to set aside RM156 a month for Perisai, or RM974 a month for Cahya Mata.
"Subsequently we have plans to introduce more stocks to the EzyInvest stable of companies," said Lim.
MaybankIB is expecting "thousands" of subscribers to sign up for EzyInvest this year and thinks market take-up rate will be encouraging.
The brokerage charges are 0.6% for transaction below RM100,000 and 0.3% for transaction over RM100,000.