Stay Defensive and Look For Yield

With brent crude declining sharply by 20% to US$35 per barrel, what will the impact be to the Malaysian economy as the country is a net energy exporter? Anand Pathmakanthan, Head of Regional Equity Research at Maybank Kim Eng tells us that this puts the country in a fiscally constrained position with potentially weaker GDP for 2020. With increasing risk, he also advocates a more defensive strategy with a focus on capital preservation and yield. He suggests looking at sectors such as utilities, healthcare and consumer names but also says there is value to be found in certain exporters like the tech companies.