Development and Performance Trends of Malaysian Unit Trusts

Unit trust is a collective investment scheme for investors, who seek to meet their long-term investment objectives for better returns with diversified portfolios. Unit trust is one of the largest sources of funding in Malaysia and plays a significant role in financial development and economic growth. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the development and the performance trends of unit trust investment schemes in Malaysia. There are several types of unit trust products available in Malaysia: both conventional as well as Islamic unit trust schemes (UTSs). The rapid growth of investment management industry over the last 10 years was largely driven by the unit trust industry, in which the net asset value (NAV) grew annually by 18.0% from RM43.3 billion in 2000 to RM226.8 billion in 2010. The penetration rate of the unit trust industry rose from 10.0% in 2000 to 17.8% in 2010.