KUALA LUMPUR (May 13): Affin Hwang Investment Bank Bhd vice president and head of retail research Datuk Nazri Khan said 2015 is a good year to invest, following several upcoming events that could catalyse the local market.

“2015 is a good time to invest. Firstly, due to the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) — the last economic blueprint which will be unveiled on May 21. We are estimating contract packages worth RM320 billion from the blueprint,” said Nazri, who is also the president of the Malaysian Association of Technical Analysts.

Besides that, he cited other catalysts such as the ASEAN Economic Community which will take off in October, and also a list of major initial public offerings (IPOs) that could stimulate trading activity in the market.

Among these IPOs are the listing of Malakoff Corp Bhd this coming Friday (May 15), followed by Weststar Aviation Services Bhd, Sunway Construction Bhd, Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Bhd and Sime Darby Auto.

On the current dampened local market, Nazri said the KLCI is undergoing a correction, mainly due to the expected hike in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve, the weakened ringgit, the decline in oil prices and the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST).

“We are expecting a slight decline in economic growth this year, but it will pick up either in the second half of the year or in 2016, when oil prices recover and the ringgit rebounds,” he said.

Nazri was speaking at the launch of the #ArifLabur programme by Pelaburan MARA Bhd (PMB) today, which aims to create awareness on investing through roadshows to be held across Malaysia.

Phase 1 of the roadshows will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Kedah, Selangor, Pulau Pinang, and Putrajaya from May 16 to June 7. Phase 2 will be held in Perak, Kelantan, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak, starting in August up to September.

Under the programme, PMB will be promoting its top four funds, namely the PMB Shariah Aggressive Fund, PMB Shariah Dividend Fund, PMB Shariah Premier Fund, and the PMB Shariah Growth Fund, which are managed by its Islamic fund management subsidiary, PMB Investment Bhd.

“We are targeting for an increase of RM30 million in our fund size, through the programme,” said PMB Investment group chief executive officer Ameer Ali Mohamed.

As at Nov 30, 2014, PMB Investment’s fund size stood at RM1.09 billion.