Morning Brief

Typically small cap investing is not without its risk as these companies tend to have less publicly available information with lower trading volumes. But  Lee Meng Horng, Head of Small Cap Research at RHB Investment Bank helps us navigate this on the back of their recently published  Top 20 Small Cap Jewels book. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...

Australia tabled its Budget with a second consecutive surplus of A$9.3 billion, quickly followed by a projected deficit of A$28.3 billion in 2024-25. James McIntyre, Economist at Bloomberg Intelligence helps us makes sense of the numbers and also new policies like the "Future Made in Australia" program and the Energy bill relief package. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener f...

With the planned privatization of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) by a consortium formed by EPF, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, state investment arm of Abu Dhabi, and New York-based investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners; Khair Mirza, Head of Airport Investor Resource at Modalis Infrastructure Partners shares with us what this possible equity restructuring entails and whether it could ben...

Recent weeks we have been seeing a series of attacks on Malaysian football players. One of which was the National right winger Faisal Halim that landed in the intensive care unit with fourth-degree burns after being splashed with acid. Dr Hazwan Khair, Head of Sports Medicine, Selangor FC shares with us updates on how Faisal is doing, and what is being done to protect the players. Image Credit: Se...

The state of Johor is seeing a range of economic opportunities and catalysts the proposed Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, as well as ongoing works on the Forest City Special Financial Zone. We discuss with Nordin Abdullah, Vice Chairman, Malaysia Australian Business Council (MABC) about the right package of incentives to appeal to investors. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com...

At a staggering pace of approximately 1000 departures per week, New Zealanders are leaving their country. Statistics indicate that a figure of 52,500 citizens migrated in the year, with Australia being a prominent destination. We discuss the factors driving this trend and its implications for the nation with Independent Political Analyst Grant Duncan. Image Credit: David_Peterson https://pixabay.c...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed economist Andrey Belousov as the new defence minister to replace Sergei Shoigu who was at the post since 2012. Shoigu is now head of the country's security council. Dr Alexey Muraviev, Associate Professor at the National Security and Strategic Studies of Curtin University, helps analyse these latest developments. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omn...

The 2024 Presidential elections are shaping up to be a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, but neither are facing a smooth runway to November. We discuss the headwinds for both camps with pollster John Zogby. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the May holidays in China, tourists made a total of 295 million trips within the country during that 5 day long holiday, 28% more than in 2019. Is this a harbinger of better economic times ahead for China? Gary Ng, APAC Economist, Natixis gives us his perspective and what do the recent PBOC, CPI and PPI numbers tell us. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

It has been 55 years since racial tensions boiled over marking one of the darkest moments in Malaysia's history. May 13th, 1969 saw hundreds of people killed, with exact figures still unknown to this day. Eddin Khoo, a historian and writer, shares his insights with us and how we, as Malaysians, can learn from this tragic event to ensure it is never repeated. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omny...

A recent UNICEF report that studied the impact of the pandemic on women and children in low-income families in KL, has revealed that 80% of households are grappling with inadequate income levels to sustainably cover essential expenses. This is alarmingly higher than the 70% reported during the peak of Covid-19. Dr Amjad Rabi, a visiting expert at the Social Wellbeing Research Centre, Universiti Ma...

The Companies (amendment) Act 2024 came into force on 1st April this year. With that all entities have until 30th June to submit information on their beneficial owner to the Companies Commission of Malaysia. The Act also improves on previous regulations regarding the definition and also reporting framework of beneficiaries. Ranjit Singh, senior litigation partner of Ranjit Singh & Yeoh explain...

We speak to Dr. James Dorsey, Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies to get some insights on the potential for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza and how the recent attacks in Rafah complicate matters. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 1MDB chapter in the US court system came to a close this week, but Goldman Sachs still has unfinished business with the Malaysian government. We get a refresher with independent business writer P. Gunasegaram on where the 1MDB accountability process stands and the loose threads that need to be tied up by the 1MDB Taskforce. Image Credit: EPA-EFE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

Electoral reform advocacy group Bersih has called out the Madani government for appointing two members of the Electoral Commission without an open and transparent process as promised in previous election manifestos. We speak to Ooi Kok Hin, Executive Director of Bersih on how the selection process should be reformed especially in light of the EC Chair becoming vacant today. Image Credit: Gwoe...

A delegation of US Department of Treasury officials are in town this week to discuss concerns that counter-terrorism funding is being channelled through Malaysia's financial system. We discuss the potential implications and ways to improve our counter-terrorism financing response with Raymon Ram of Graymatter Forensic Advisory. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener f...

This week President Xi Jinping is embarking on his first European tour since 2019, under vastly different circumstances. His visit to France, Serbia and Hungary comes at a time when tensions with the EU are at a high over Beijing’s support to Russia and contentions over trade practices. Will this visit succeed in reframing the narrative? We discuss the visit with political analyst Dr. Frederick Kl...

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index has been rallying and so far it has chalked up a tenth successive session, registering its longest winning streak since 2018, thanks to improving market sentiment. Peter Lewis, the founder and director of Peter Lewis Consulting (China) Limited helps us analyse what's been going on and if this upswing has more legs to it. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com...

Malaysia recorded a dismal performance, plummeting 34 spots to 107th place in the rankings with our overall score also falling by 10 points to 52, Gayathry Venkiteswaran, Assistant Professor, University of Nottingham Malaysia tells us the reasons for this decline and what the government should focus on to improve those rankings. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privac...

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is reportedly planning to issue arrest warrants for Israeli political and military figures, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over allegations of war crimes in the state of Palestine. We discuss the legal proceedings at play with Dr. Juliette McIntyre of the University of South Australia. Image Credit: oliverdelahaye / Shutterstock.com See omnystudi...

Last week, the Japanese yen plunged to a 34-year low before strengthening to 157, sparking speculation about intervention by Japanese authorities. We discuss the implications of the yen's weakness and what this means for the Bank of Japan with William Pesek, columnist at Nikkei Asia. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing has urged tourism players to comply with the ASEAN Tourism Standards. Nigel Wong, President, Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents shares with us what are the guidelines in these set of standards as well as his review on the recently unveiled strategic direction towards Visit Malaysia Year 2026. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com...

In light of World Press Freedom Day, we discuss the current media landscape in Malaysia as well as assess the Madani government’s commitment to press freedom. Is their rhetoric backed by action? Dr. Benjamin Loh of Taylor’s University weighs in. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Anwar Ibrahim-administration launched the country's inaugural National Human Resource Policy Framework on Labour Day. It aims to address pressing issues like fair wages, job welfare, labour union movements, job mismatches and foreign labour. Adrian Pereira, Executive Director of the North South Initiative breaks down what was unveiled. Image Credit: Shutterstock See omnystudio.com/listener for...

An MOU was signed between Malaysia and Singapore to create a Johor- Singapore Special economic zone (SEZ). Details are still pending but both economies and multiple sectors will likely benefit. Thilan Wickramasinghe , Head of Research, Singapore, Maybank Investment Bank tells us what are the ingredients for a success SEZ and which companies stand to do well from this. See omnystudio.com/listener f...