Do you know how big is Malaysian Banks in terms of their assets size, loans size or market capitalization? Which banks biggest & which one is the smallest? With the recent news that Hong Leong Bank going to acquire EON Bank, it is interesting to see the ranking of Malaysian Banks.
The table below shows Malaysian Banks ranking based on their assets size, loan size & market capitalization as at the end of 2009. International banks and non-public listed are excluded from the lists.
Recently, we looked at the possibility to withdraw part of EPF money for personal investment. EPF makes it clear that we can only invest through external fund managers appointed by the Ministry of Finance and we are not allowed to invest the money directly in Stock Market.
However, recently I received an email from my stock broker, Jupiter Securities in partneship with Amara, offering me to directly invest in stock market with EPF money. A quick check, I find out that Amara is one of the approved external fund manager. I am not sure this is legal or otherwise.
Employees Provident Fund (EPF) allows qualified members to make their own investment using a portion of their EPF savings for potentially higher returns. However, bear in mind that the risks for such investments are higher. Members are to bear these risks and EPF is not going to compensate if members suffer losses from the investment made.
Before you make any decision in investing your EPF money, please remember that EPF is oblige to give 2.5% return per annum. Make a comparison on the fund choosen past performance against EPF dividend prior to investing. View “Historical EPF Dividend Rates” for comparison purpose.
If you already made up you mind to invest then you have to follow the following guidelines,
Bank Negara Malaysia recently warned the public not to participate in illegal investment or training programme on forex or foreign currency trading. All such programmes that offered by individuals or companies both domestic and foreign are included.
Members of the public are usually enticed to attend such investment or training programmes which promises a quick and good returns.
The modus operandi of such programmes includes offering free training, seminars or workshops to lure investors. During the session, investors asked to set-up an online foreign currency trading account with their parent company which they claim having a valid licence to trade foreign currency overseas.
Baltic Dry Index (BDI) or also known as the “Dry Bulk Index” is a shipping and trade index created by the Baltic Exchange which is based in London. BDI is a daily average of prices to transport raw materials such as cements, fuels, grains and metals across the sea.
The Baltic Exchange, global marketplace for brokering shipping contracts, will directly contacts the shipping brokers to assess the price levels for a given route, product to transport and time to delivery (speed). The index is quoted every working day at 1300hr London time.