Pheim Asset Management bullish on tech, semiconductor sectors

KUALA LUMPUR: Pheim Asset Management Sdn Bhd is bullish on the technology and semiconductor sectors, citing them as “the future” of the market.

Founder and chief strategist Dr Tan Chong Koay (pix) said the future is about the internet, cloud, mobile phones, 5G, among others and that there is demand for these technologies and advancements.

Guided by Pheim’s own investment philosophy of “never fully invest at all times”, Pheim seeks to trim its equity exposure when it is believed that the market is near its peak in order to preserve capital. Conversely, Pheim seeks to increase its equity exposure when it is believed that the market is near its bottom.

“We follow value investing, especially never fully invest at all times. You sell the shares before it crashes. If you don’t do that, your shares go down and it will take one or two years to go back. The key is to sell when the market is high,” Tan told a press conference in conjunction with Pheim Asset Management’s 25th anniversary celebration today, which was graced by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Tan also believed in investing in companies with low gearing, rising profit and good management.

He is a strong believer that crisis is an opportunity. Crisis can be created from external forces as shown during last year where external events such as US-China trade war had caused market to correct towards the end of the year.

Looking ahead, he said Pheim favours the Asia ex-Japan region, particularly the Asean region as it is one of the fastest growing regions in the world.

Meanwhile, Pheim is aiming to deliver 8-12% returns for its funds over the next five years. It is also targeting to grow its asset under management by 10-15% this year from RM1 billion currently.

Among the past and present prominent clients of Pheim are the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), the Government of Singapore Investment Corp, the Norwegian Government Pension Fund, Sumitomo Life of Japan, Aizawa Securities of Japan, New Private Bank of Switzerland and many high net-worth individuals and institutions.

Pheim was among the earliest to be appointed to serve as one of EPF’s external fund managers in 1997 and has continued to serve in this capacity for over 21 consecutive years.

Source : TheSunDaily