KUALA LUMPUR: The country needs a coordinated "Whole of Nation" effort to revive Bursa Malaysia and restore foreign investor confidence, amid what has effectively become a lost decade for the domestic equity market, says Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB).
PNB president and group chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad said the FBM KLCI has struggled to regain momentum since hitting its record high in 2014, remaining trapped in a prolonged sideways trend and unable to sustainably reclaim the 1,800-point level.
He said the market's weak performance has been exacerbated by persistent foreign fund outflows, underscoring the need for closer collaboration among policymakers, regulators, corporates and investors to reinvigorate market depth, valuations and appeal.
According to Abdul Rahman, corporate performance has also been weak in terms of return on equity (ROE), earnings growth and the ability to create value for shareholders.
This situation places pressure on PNB given that its investment portfolio is heavily concentrated in the domestic equity market, with returns to its unit trust holders highly dependent on the performance of this asset class.
"This is not an issue of one year or five years. Technically, we have gone through a decade of underperformance. Our market peaked in 2014 and 2015, and has lagged behind since then," he said at a media editors' briefing here late last week.
Abdul Rahman said collaboration with market regulators such as Bursa Malaysia and the Securities Commission is important in formulating comprehensive measures to make the market more appealing to international investors.
As an example, he pointed to Singapore's initiatives to enhance the value of listed companies, which have revitalised its stock market, recording nearly 20 per cent growth in 2025.
"Coordinated actions by the government and regulators in Singapore have delivered results. This is something we can learn from and scale up," he said.
For corporate companies, Abdul Rahman urged them to improve their performance by enhancing ROE, earnings growth, and their ability to create value for shareholders.
He suggested several measures that could be implemented, including more attractive dividend payouts, more efficient capital utilisation, share buybacks, and strategic mergers and acquisitions.
He noted that Malaysia's stock market lacks large-cap and high-quality companies, particularly in the electrical and electronics sector, which is a strong draw for foreign investors.
"We have very strong industry segments, but they are not in the public market. The question is how we can convince more quality companies to list.
"We also need larger companies because foreign investors generally cannot invest in small companies. They require bigger companies with sufficient liquidity," he said.
