Kenanga Investors Berhad ("Kenanga Investors") received five awards at the Refinitiv Lipper Fund Awards 2023 ("Awards"). The firm was recognized for its exceptional performance and was awarded best Mixed Assets - Malaysia Pension Funds Group for the fourth consecutive time

Accompanying this were individual fund wins for:
Kenanga Malaysian Inc Fund ("KMIF") for best Equity Malaysia Diversified – Malaysia Provident Funds over 10 Years
Kenanga Managed Growth Fund ("KMGF") for best Mixed Asset MYR Flexible - Malaysia Provident Funds over 3 Years
Kenanga Managed Growth Fund ("KMGF") for best Mixed Asset MYR Flexible – Malaysia Provident Funds over 5 Years
Kenanga Managed Growth Fund ("KMGF") for best Mixed Asset MYR Flexible - Malaysia Provident Funds over 10 Years

"These awards demonstrate the firm's capabilities despite the backdrop of reduced trading activities and prolonged turmoil due to a degree of volatility over the last two years.

We attribute this success to the application of our stock picking strategy over the long term; it involves a comprehensive research process from understanding industry dynamics to individual company business models and drivers of return on equity. Some of the key areas include management quality, the sustainability of the business model, industry dynamics and balance sheet strength. By consistently applying this strategy, our funds have outperformed throughout the last 3, 5 and 10 years", says Datuk Wira Ismitz Matthew De Alwis, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer.

KMGF pulled ahead to pick up its first major award since its inception in 2004. As at 31 December 2022, the Fund has returned 232.38% since inception, thus achieving its investment objective of achieving long-term capital growth through diversified investments in equities and bonds. "On the equity front, the fund increased its exposure into large capitalisation stocks such as financials as well as quality small capitalisation stocks and reopening names. On fixed income, the fund remained overweight on corporate bond as yields are attractive relative to Government and quasi-Government bonds", he explains.

A return winner, KMIF swept its third title at the awards by delivering returns of 116.13% (10 years), 22.52% (5 years) and 23.38% (3 years) as at 31 December 2022. KMIF aims to provide consistent annual returns and medium to long-term capital appreciation by investing in Malaysian securities with a global reach

On the firm's ESG roadmap thus far, he shares "Following the integration of ESG screening assessments into our investment process in 2021, we expanded upon our ESG framework to cover the fixed income asset class. where an in-house ESG assessment and scoring was developed to perform positive screening for bonds/sukuk. On the equity front meanwhile, we established a more comprehensive sector/industry focused assessments for sectors with high ESG risks such as palm oil, oil & gas, banking & finance, power and mining. We also added to our suite of Kenanga Sustainability Series products with the launch of Kenanga Sustainability Series: High Yield Bond Fund, Kenanga Sustainability Series: World Quality ESG Fund and the Kenanga Sustainability Series: Emergency Waqf Musa'adah Fund".

Moving forward Datuk Wira De Alwis says that the firm will adopt a more balanced strategy to continue delivering outperformance. "The team will focus on selecting companies with strong fundamentals and cash flow generation abilities. Sector wise, we prefer domestic demand beneficiaries such as consumer and financials. For structural growth themes such as technology, we are buyers on market weakness for its longer-term growth potential".

For more information about Kenanga Investors, please visit www.kenangainvestors.com.my

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