MAYBANK yesterday launched an Islamic structured deposit - the Prestige Structured Deposit - giving investors access to an index option comprising 30 Syariah-compliant global equities. Investors get exposure to two sectors: oil & gas, and basic materials.
"With this structured deposit, we are again opening up an avenue for retail investors to access sectors that are experiencing growth trends," said Rosli Mohd Yusof, Maybank Singapore's head of Islamic Banking.
The deposit is the second Islamic structured deposit launched by Maybank in the region. It features a 100 per cent principal guarantee only if it is held to maturity of three years. There is a minimum investment of $10,000.
The index option - SGAM Al Baraka Commodity Index - is managed by Societe Generale Asset Management (SGAM), and the underlying index will be managed and rebalanced along the way.
According to SGAM (Hong Kong) Ltd's structured product sales vice-president, Ronnie Ho, there are several factors contributing to the upswing in these sectors, including an increasing demand for basic materials from the huge growth in construction and infrastructure projects in China and other emerging economies.
"If we look at the commodities sector, there is a market cycle of usually 7-10 years," Mr Ho said. "What we have identified here is that we are in the middle of that cycle, which means there is still a potential growth for the next 3-5 years."
The structured deposit will be distributed at Maybank's 22 Singapore branches.
Maybank Singapore launched the region's first Islamic structured deposit in February last year, which targets investors interested in the commodities market. The Premier Structured Deposit, which has a tenure of 12 months, offers investors exposure to commodities such as the base metal sector of copper, nickel, aluminium and zinc.
Maybank started its Islamic banking operations in Malaysia in March 1993, followed by Singapore in November 2005. The bank has expanded its Islamic banking to Bahrain, Labuan and London.
The group, which is Malaysia's largest bank, holds more than US$6.9 billion in Islamic banking assets and is the largest Islamic banking service provider in the Asia-Pacific.
