The latest news about investment offerings, new financial products and services in the Asia-Pacific region.

Maybank Asset Management has launched a retirement planning offering which it claims is groundbreaking in that it offers choices between two Shariah-compliant funds.

The Malaysian firm has launched Maybank Flexible Retirement Solution. Investors can choose between two funds that heed Islamic law and hold mixed assets: Maybank Global Wealth Moderate-I Fund and Maybank Global Wealth Growth-I Fund. The funds aim to achieve capital growth over the medium to long term, with a target return of between 6 per cent and 8 per cent per annum. It incorporates dynamic asset allocation and downside risk management, which is primary in assuring stability for investors who are saving for retirement in the medium to long term. 

“Against the backdrop of higher inflation, market volatility and longer life expectancy, the Maybank Flexible Retirement Solution provides investors with a first-in-market Shariah-compliant flexible retirement-focused solution to supplement and diversify their retirement planning,” Maybank said. “With the Maybank Flexible Retirement Solution, investors would have the flexibility to choose and switch between two different funds and share classes to cater for their changing lifestyle and retirement needs.”

Schroder Investment Management (Singapore), which is the investment advisor for the solution, is one of the largest offshore providers of Shariah solutions in Malaysia, managing RM2.2 billion ($530 million) worth of assets.

“The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has thrust retirement planning into the spotlight. Our 2021 Global Investor Study found that 80 per cent of non-retired Malaysians would like to save more for their retirement because of the pandemic, and half of the respondents have not changed their expected retirement age,” Lily Choh, CEO of Singapore, Schroders, said.