Macquarie Capital Securities (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. has launched its first range of structured warrants on Bursa Malaysia. Macquarie's first issuance will be over AirAsia X, Berjaya Corp, DRB-Hicom, Hong Leong Industries, Inari Amertron, KNM Group, and MY E.G.
Macquarie claims to be the only issuer with an active presence in more than two warrant markets and has one of the region's most advanced trading systems providing tight and liquid markets for investors to easily enter and exit their trades. Macquarie is an active issuer of structured warrants in Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand.
"Macquarie has a long history of participation in the warrant markets and was the first issuer to launch a structured warrant in the Asia-Pacific in 1991," said Barnaby Matthews, head of derivatives for Macquarie in South East Asia. "Malaysia has a large and growing base of retail investors that are well suited to warrants. We believe that Macquarie can make a positive contribution towards the growth of the warrant market in Malaysia, and will be working closely with the Bursa and the local brokerages to develop the market."
As part of its warrants offering, Macquarie will introduce a new "live price matrix" tool to the Malaysian market via its website, a tool is directly linked to the trading system which will show investors exactly how the warrant price moves in line with the stock throughout the day, a first for Malaysia, said Macquarie.
Buy/sell flows
Macquarie will also publish for the first time its buy and sell flows in warrants on their website each week, enabling investors to see what others are buying and selling.
Macquarie is the first independent issuer in Malaysia not affiliated with a local retail brokerage house and will be listing a total of 32 warrants in the two weeks after launch with plans to launch more in the coming months. Macquarie also plans to develop index warrants, which are still comparatively undeveloped in Malaysia, said the firm. Typically index warrants contribute more than 50% of the daily warrant turnover in a warrant market.
"Macquarie takes a leading role in educating retail investors about how to invest in warrants," added Eric Tan, head of warrant sales at Macquarie Securities Malaysia. "We will be conducting regular educational seminars and have launched a state-of-the-art website, malaysiawarrants.com.my, with the latest tools and information, which is free for warrant investors in Malaysia."
"Bursa Malaysia is pleased that Macquarie is expanding its Malaysian franchise to include the equity derivatives business," said Dato' Tajuddin Atan, chief executive at Bursa Malaysia. "We are also encouraged by Macquarie's commitment to investor education and hope that the presence of Macquarie as a warrant issuer in Malaysia will contribute to the vibrancy of our capital market."
Dato' Tajuddin also said that building depth and diversity as well as elevating the quality of products is key to the success of any Exchange.
"However, if Malaysian investors can access other markets, indexes and assets without the risks of going offshore, that would certainly add to the appeal of the local marketplace," he said. "And this is where equity derivatives, specifically structured warrants, can play a part."