Affin Hwang Capital is a relative newcomer in the Malaysian investment banking market. It was founded in 2014 as a boutique investment bank offering capital markets advisory and execution services, institutional and retail securities as well as asset management. But it swiftly became a strong competitor to established local peers, and has shown that its securities trading arm has clout.
Its ability to maintain that secondary market prowess, while improving its primary market business, makes Affin Hwang Asiamoney’s best securities house in Malaysia for 2021.
Malaysia’s economy was hit hard by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the government quickly ordered a lockdown. But Affin Hwang’s credentials were undiminished.
The firm was top of the league table for secondary trading volumes and value for 11 of the 12 months from July 2020 through June this year. For the first half of 2021, it captured 19% of total trading on Bursa Malaysia by volume and 15% by value, compared to 21% and 15%, respectively, for the whole of 2020.
Affin Hwang stayed ahead of its larger Malaysian competitors, as well as international names.