05/02/2026

BIZ & FINANCE THURSDAY | FEB 5, 2026

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Nomura AM rolls out global multi-theme equity fund

MISC to supply liquefied carbon dioxide carrier to Northern Lights CCS project PETALING JAYA: MISC Bhd, in partnership with Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd, (K Line), has secured a long-term Time Charter Party from Northern Lights JV DA on Jan 29, 2026 to provide a dedicated Liquefied Carbon Dioxide LCO ĸ carrier for the next phase of Europe’s first open access carbon capture and storage transport and storage project. A second Time Charter Party for a second newbuild LCO ĸ carrier is expected to be awarded in April 2026. The award announced on Jan 29, 2026 marks MISC’s inaugural entry into the LCO ĸ shipping segment, representing an early move to build specialised carriers that support large-scale CCS deployment. The vessel will be owned via a joint venture company between MISC and K LINE, reflecting a partnership-based approach to asset ownership. The purpose-built vessel is a 12,000 cubic metre LCO ĸ carrier, designed to support the safe, reliable and efficient cross-border transportation of liquefied CO ĸ from industrial capture sites to permanent offshore storage in Norway. The vessel will complement Northern Lights’ existing fleet and support the project’s planned capacity expansion to serve additional commercial customers across Europe. MISC president and Group CEO, Zahid Osman said: “This award reflects MISC’s deliberate and early entry into a specialised segment that will be increasingly important as the energy transition advances.” Praveen Rajan assumes role as CEO of PayNet KUALA LUMPUR: Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) announced that Praveen Rajan has assumed the role of CEO, effective Feb 1. Praveen’s appointment follows a structured leadership transition designed to ensure continuity across PayNet’s mandate as Malaysia’s national payments infrastructure. The transition was announced in September 2025, after which Praveen joined PayNet as CEO-designate on Dec 1, 2025. “The board welcomes Praveen’s appointment as CEO, following the leadership transition announced last year,” PayNet chairman, Datuk Izzaddin Idris said. “The early announcement and CEO-designate period have enabled a smooth handover, allowing PayNet to move forward with stability and continuity as we execute our mandate.” On his appointment, Praveen said: “PayNet plays a critical role in the daily lives of Malaysians and in the country’s financial system. “Over the past two months, I have worked closely with a strong and committed team, and I am stepping into this role with deep respect for the work already underway.”

KUALA LUMPUR: Nomura Asset Management Malaysia Sdn Bhd has launched the Nomura Global Multi-Theme Equity Fund, positioning it as a way for Malaysian investors to navigate a global investment environment increasingly shaped by higher interest rates, fiscal dominance and rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI). The fund provides exposure to the Nomura Funds Ireland – Global Multi-Theme Equity Fund, which invests in global equities through a multi-thematic strategy targeting long-term structural growth trends rather than single-theme bets. Speaking at the launch, Nomura Asset Management Malaysia director Ű BY DEEPALASKSHMI MANICKAM sunbiz@thesundaily.com o Higher interest rates as well as fiscal and AI shifts reshape investing landscape

growth on identifying companies with strong growth characteristics while managing downside risks. “In an upside market, the upside capture ratio is 106%, while the downside capture ratio is 89%. “Combining high-growth and stable-growth themes gives us protection through diversification.” The event also featured a macroeconomic outlook presentation by Dr Asyraf Abdul Halim, senior lecturer at Universiti Malaya’s Faculty of Business and Economics. He warned that the next decade would look markedly different from the past 15 years of monetary exceptionalism. “We are settling into an entirely new structural regime,” he said. “The era of free money is over. Fiscal policy, not central banks, will be the primary driver of markets in the coming decade.” Asyraf argued that rising defence spending, energy security and supply-chain reshoring would create a structural inflation floor, pushing the risk-free rate higher and making passive investing less effective. mandate focuses

Atsushi Ichii said the strategy reflects a shift away from the post-global financial crisis era of easy monetary conditions towards a more complex regime driven by sovereign spending, supply-chain security and technological disruption. “Our specialists identify themes from three perspectives, breakthrough technologies, emerging market opportunities and structural changes in society,” he said, adding that by investing across several themes, investors can achieve a more balanced approach to long-term growth compared with single-theme strategies. Nomura Asset Management Co Ltd senior portfolio manager Rika Naito said the firm reviews its core themes every three to five years, with updates made more frequently in response to fast-changing market conditions. “Our themes have been updated three times since 2024,” she said. “This ensures flexibility while maintaining diversification across both high-growth and more stable growth themes.” According to Naito, the fund’s

company a Guinness World Records title for “Most Gold ATM Deployments,” announced during the gala dinner held in conjunction with the Malaysia Gold Conference (MGC) 2026 on Feb 3, 2026, by Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Minister Steven Sim. Leveraging the Gold ATM fintech infrastructure, MAH Gold will enhance accessibility and efficiency across its wholesale, retail and institutional markets in regions where it has long-established operations. In November 2025, Public Gold unveiled its first gold ATM in Dubai through its Dubai arm in partnership with Emirates Gold DMCC. “In a world where the risk-free rate could be 3% to 4.5%, simply tracking indices may no longer deliver sufficient returns,” he said, adding that market-cap weighted indices are increasingly vulnerable to higher discount rates due to their reliance on distant future cash flows. He said the investment environment from 2026 to 2036 would be defined by dispersion, the widening gap between companies that can price in higher costs of capital and those that cannot, making active stock selection and thematic strategies more critical. On AI, Asyraf said, the technology had moved beyond the hype phase into large-scale implementation, with “agentic AI” emerging as a key driver of productivity gains. “Agent AI is not just a reactive assistant. It is an autonomous digital worker capable of executing end-to-end workflows,” he said, citing examples in banking and logistics where AI adoption has reduced approval times and operating costs. He added that AI could be the only lever capable of offsetting structurally higher interest rates by boosting returns on invested capital through productivity improvements. Asyraf also highlighted Malaysia’s potential “neutrality premium” in an increasingly fragmented global economy, describing the country as a neutral platform where Western and Eastern capital can coexist. “Malaysia is not hiding,” he said. “Fiscal discipline and the National Semiconductor Strategy make the country strategically important to both the US and China, allowing neutrality to be maintained for as long as possible.” Naito echoed the long-term AI theme, saying the firm does not view the AI rally as a bubble. “We are still in the early stages, particularly in upstream areas such as semiconductors,” she said, adding that downstream beneficiaries across software, industrials and services would emerge over the next three to five years.

Naito and Ichii at the launch of the Nomura Global Multi-Theme Equity Fund.

Public Gold to deploy ATMs across Middle East, Europe

Ű BY HAYATUN RAZAK sunbiz@thesundaily.com

executive chairman Datuk Seri Louis Ng said the partnerships marked a key step towards transforming gold accessibility and investment opportunities in the region. “Dubai is similar to Malaysia in that gold is freely traded, with no sales tax or VAT and minimal trade restrictions, making it an ideal market for the initial deployment of Gold ATMs,” he said at a press conference after the partnership signing ceremony yesterday. The partnership agreements were signed at Menara Public Gold here, with Ng present to formalise the signings with MAH Gold and Jewellery LLC chief marketing officer Hussein Osman and ComTech Gold founder and CEO Jignesh Ved.

Operating 24/7, Ng said, the fintech-powered Gold ATM integrates physical gold, digital finance and advanced technology into a single platform. “Users can purchase gold via e-wallets or credit cards, collect online orders, withdraw gold from gold accounts, convert cryptocurrency into gold and redeem digital gold securely from vaults, offering enhanced liquidity while mitigating counterparty, insolvency and digital fraud risks.” Established in 2023, Public Gold ATM has deployed 155 fintech-powered Gold ATMs across Malaysia, Indonesia and parts of Dubai to date. The milestone has earned the

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia-based Public Gold Group through business unit Public Gold ATM is set to deploy its smart Gold ATMs across Dubai, the Middle East and Europe. Through partnerships with MAH Gold and Jewellery LLC and ComTech Gold, both based in Dubai, the rollout of the fintech-powered gold ATMs in these markets is expected to begin this year, subject to regulatory approval. The initial phase will see the installation of five units in 2026, with plans to expand the network to 50 units the following year. Public Gold Group founder and