PETALING JAYA: Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd’s (MIDF) wholly owned subsidiary MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd today launched its online stock trading and investment platform MIDF Invest to give Malaysians direct and secure access to stocks and exchange traded funds (ETFs) listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq at competitive rates.
MIDF Invest provides tutorials and research for the novice, charting and other powerful trading tools for the advanced user, and simplifies fund transfers to and from the investor’s Malaysian bank account. Users can open an Islamic account and invest in the large universe of syariah-compliant shares (such as Apple, Alphabet, Facebook and Tesla) and ETFs listed on the NYSE and Nasdaq.
MIDF group managing director Datuk Charon Wardini Mokhzani said there is growing interest in investing in other markets, particularly US stocks.
“Malaysian investors – both fund managers and individuals – have become more sophisticated and knowledgeable in recent years. This is driven by the need to diversify one’s portfolio as well as the attractions of high returns of the US markets, driven in part by the performance of technology companies. We have created this app because we believe that investing overseas should be made available and affordable for all,“ he told reporters at the virtual media launch today.
MIDF senior vice-president and head of digitalisation Khairi Shahrin Arif Baki said MIDF Invest’s investors could use Islamic account to trade in the US stock market, which is a rare feature in electronic trading platforms worldwide.
He added that it is risky to use unregulated trading platforms as opposed to those approved and regulated by the Securities Commission Malaysia and Bank Negara Malaysia.
“It takes 10 minutes to register an account while approval will be evaluated individually. It differs from 10 minutes to 24 hours for MIDF to process and approve a user account according to the Know Your Customer process.
“We have Happiness Agents, our customers service manned by humans (not chatbot) 24/7 to reply customers enquiries within seconds.
“The power to make money work for you is in your hands via MIDF Invest. So, whether your aim is to achieve a financial goal or just to earn some passive income, now it can be done with confidence and ease,“ he said.
MIDF head of group managing director office Ahmad Farouk Mohamed said traders are given US$1,000 (RM4,150) to trade in the demo version of the application.
The application is delivered in partnership with Saxo Markets Asia Pacific. Saxo Markets is a licensed subsidiary of Saxo Bank, a regulated provider of investment services and technology.
MIDF Invest will offer free brokerage for all trades under US$1,000 from July 6 to 31.
