Kenanga Group Managing Director recognised at the Malaysia Management Excellence Award

Under the helm of Datuk Chay, bank full-year net profit quadruples.

As the world of business continues to be impacted by unstable global events, and shifting perspectives and behaviours, business leaders and organisations must face the challenges head-on to uplift employees, respond to stakeholders’ expectations, whilst propelling company growth. 

Being in the market for around 45 years, Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad has extensive experience in equity broking, investment banking, treasury, Islamic banking, listed derivatives, investment management, wealth management, structured lending and trade financing. It has since then provided its clients with exciting products and new features to further enhance client experience.

In recognition of successful business projects and innovations in these challenging times, Singapore Business Review has announced that Datuk Chay Wai Leong, Group Managing Director of Kenanga Investment Bank, is amongst the winners of this year’s Malaysia Management Excellence Awards. 

The award acknowledges trailblazing executives and teams who brought tangible business gains to their company. 

Datuk Chay was honoured Executive of the Year - Financial Services award for his accomplishments in growing the bank’s profits and for his commitment to pursuing its digital strategy amid adversities in 2021.

Under Datuk Chay’s leadership, Kenanga Investment Bank nearly quadrupled its 2020 net profit from its previous year, marking it as one of its best performing years since inception, and continues to chart impressive results in 2021 against the backdrop of continued disruptions from the pandemic. 

The strong profits were driven by its core business in stockbroking, investment banking, and asset management. 

As part of the bank’s digital strategy, technology investments made in recent years helped the company shift to online trading with the sudden onslaught of the pandemic. The bank entered into a joint venture with Rakuten Trade, a fully online stockbroking platform, that received over 250,000 trading accounts since the partnership began. The bank intends to roll out new products and features on the platform.

Meanwhile, a comprehensive digital ecosystem is also being built to encompass robo-advisory, margin financing, e-wallet, and digital asset exchange services, amongst others. The bank aims to prioritise digital-led growth to further boost growth.

Furthermore, Kenanga completed the acquisition of i-VCAP Management Sdn Bhd (i-VCAP), a Shariah-compliant investment management services provider, on 2 February 2021. This propelled the Group to be the top issuer of Shariah-compliant ETF in the country in terms of the number of ETF issues.

“It is an honour to receive this accolade,” said Datuk Chay Wai Leong. “This award serves as a validation of all the hard work demonstrated by our employees amidst the pandemic, as we remain committed to deliver long-term shareholder value with a business model propelled by digitalisation.