Talk by UOBAM on investment opportunities

A group photo marking the successful conclusion of the talk

On 11 September 2024, the Centre for Entrepreneurial Sustainability (CENTS), together with the Faculty of Accountancy and Management (FAM) Department of Finance and the Financial and Technology Society, jointly organised a talk titled Investment Thought Process: Case Study on How AI/ Data Centre Drives Investment Opportunities in Malaysia at UTAR Sungai Long Campus.

The talk featured Mr Chan Wai Loon, Portfolio Manager of UOB Asset Management (Malaysia) Berhad. An engineer-turned-investment professional, Mr Chan is currently actively involved in managing ASEAN portfolios at UOB Asset Management (UOBAM). The talk aimed to raise awareness of the transformative influence of AI in driving new investment opportunities. It also aimed to share an industry expert’s view and analysis of Malaysia and other ASEAN markets and identify some sustainable investment opportunities with unit trusts.

Mr Chan Wai Loon

In his talk, Mr Chan provided a comprehensive overview of the general investment approach, emphasising the growing demand for data centres in the ASEAN region. He mentioned that power availability, land availability, and domestic market size are the most critical factors for data centre site selection, according to the Cushman & Wakefield, due to their impact on operational efficiency, reliability, and scalability. “Singapore and Malaysia stand out as the best locations for data centre construction in Southeast Asia due to their robust power and telecom infrastructure,” said Mr Chan as he explained why Malaysia is compelling for data centres.

Mr Chan sharing the stocks picking process

Mr Chan also highlighted the sectors benefiting from data centre investment and detailed the stock-picking processes used to identify promising opportunities in this evolving market.

He concluded, “Investment is very dynamic. There is no fixed method but appropriate methods. We need to use logical thinking to make sense of an investment. In the case of data centre investments in Malaysia, driven by global demand, especially from the US for large language models (LLM), we will see an increase in AI spending. This spending will spill over into Malaysia, and as investments grow, it will benefit related local players.”

The talk ended with an interactive Q&A session and a group photo session.

FAM Department of Finance Head Dr Lim Boon Keong (left) presenting a token of appreciation to Mr Chan

Students listening attentively to Mr Chan

A student posing a question during the Q&A session