This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on April 29, 2019 - May 5, 2019

PRIOR to being appointed as the CEO of Maybank Kim Eng group of companies six months ago, Ami Moris served as its chief operating officer from 2015, overseeing the functions of the CEO’s office. Her role today is to drive Maybank Kim Eng’s business strategy and management of a 10-country operating platform, covering Asean-6, Hong Kong, India, the UK and the US.

Before joining Maybank Investment Bank, Ami was with Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd, which she had joined in 2001, and quickly made a name for herself by being in the thick of the mergers and acquisition (M&A) action in town.

“She had her finger on the pulse of the market, knew everything that was going on, and what everyone was doing in terms of corporate exercises,” a former COO of a merchant banking outfit says of Ami.

In an interview with The Edge, Ami shares her plans for Maybank Kim Eng and gives her opinion of the market as well as what to expect in the current uncertain operating environment.

The Edge: The Malaysian market has been hit quite badly. What’s your reading of it?

Ami Moris: To me, it’s a short-term shift in the perception of the operating landscape. It must always be seen through the lens of the long-term growth potential of Malaysia within the context of Asean and emerging markets.

These are short-term adjustments that need to take place and we’ve seen them before.

I’ve lived through the Asian financial crisis, the dotcom bust, the global financial crisis … sometimes it can be fairly significant blips … but the long-term growth potential is far superior to that of more mature markets. When you are growing at 4% plus, that’s very significant.

What about the deal pipeline? That has dried up quite a bit ...

Last year was definitely very tough. So, there was a lot of deferment to this year. Thankfully, we are seeing a lot more positive appetite. Malaysian valuations could be a lot better but I think the appetite is there. We will be able to see more positive convergence this year — a couple of initial public offerings (IPOs) and placements … definitely a more energised year.

With the ECRL announcement, what is clear is that everybody is acting in concert to bring back growth drivers to the market. It’s like back to business in as forceful a manner as possible. It will take time. The finance minister said at Invest Malaysia that it could take up to three years … so I guess step by step.

Given that you are quite positive about this year, do you see your earnings to be better this year compared with last year then? Last year, net operating income dropped a bit ...

Like I said, last year was challenging. We do hope for a much better year. Our footprint is regional, so there are always markets that are more positive than others with regard to opportunities, including M&A.

Once there is political resolution in Thailand, mid-terms out of the Philippines and with the recent elections in Indonesia … once these things get settled, hopefully, there will be more activity in the market.

People will have a bigger risk appetite to take on corporate exercises; people have been bulking up their balance sheets looking for targets, rationalising, restructuring, to get more focus and more competitive in their sector strength. Hopefully, there will be more opportunities for corporate exercises for us.

A lot of things have been priced in and I think the more dovish stance of the US Federal Reserve will naturally give more impetus to some of the local currencies.

What is weighing down the market right now is the uncertainty ...

Well, in Malaysia, the fog is slowly clearing. The tale of two halves has a lot to do with the macro factors.

Unfortunately, we had the announcement of the FTSE Russell World Bond Index where Malaysia could potentially be affected based on the new criteria of accessibility. I don’t think it will be catastrophic and based on our own house view, we would have preferred for this not to happen now but we believe it will be manageable.

This year will be tough but part of the strategy is to be focused on what we want to grow in. It is not a peanut-butter strategy like taking bets on everything. We make sure that we know why we are in a particular sector and activity or business line based on how we can compete. So, it’s very specific in that sense.

From your observation, how long has the sentiment been like this?

(Laughs) I looked at a book that we wrote in 2006 and it was exactly the same [as today]. If I change the cover from whatever year it was, it’s the same thing … because people talk about uncertainty all the time.

Look, the reality is that uncertainty is what drives the market. If there is no uncertainty, what is there to price in? To me, the reality is that there are many sources of uncertainty and we just have to be discerning — which can flip to the upside, which are structural and may take a longer time. Uncertainty as a word unto itself creates challenges as to how to understand the market but that is the job of an investment banker.

Investment banking is an army of people figuring things out — people with the brains. We want to make sure we have the right people.

You have been in the business for a long time and ridden out many cycles. What is the future of investment banking?

Investment banking encompasses a broad scope of advisory work and giving specific advice. It’s like being a doctor. We are the doctor for capital markets. People go to doctors and they want the best and fastest solutions. There will always be a need for investment bankers. The thing is, the pie for funding solutions and advice, that could be something that could be a challenge.

In reality, advisory services have to be controlled, regulated and licensed ... the process of price discovery is regulated for a reason. The beauty is that there will always be people with capital and there will always be people who want capital. Our job as a capital market intermediary is to make sure we create the largest playing ground with the best people, products and services.

Investments will always be there but how we deliver the solutions and what kind of solutions and data we bring to the table will change. Stockbroking is a good example. We no longer talk about ourselves as stockbrokers. We have now established an investment management pillar to bundle our investment-related solutions to our customers.

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