In its Annual Report 2023, the commission said this was primarily driven by the growth in total equity market capitalisation and bonds and sukuk outstanding.

Its chairman Awang Adek Hussin said the fund management industry also grew strongly with total assets under management (AUM) hitting a new high of RM975.5 billion from RM906.5 billion previously, due largely to greater asset allocation in foreign markets.

He said this shows that the Malaysian economy remained resilient in 2023, supporting economic activity and intermediating savings, despite global economic challenges and divergent monetary policies.

Meanwhile, total funds raised in the capital market moderated to RM127.7 billion in 2023, compared to a high of RM179.4 billion in 2022.

Awang Adek said that like most markets in the region, the country’s equities market did not perform as well in 2023 due to global headwinds.

He said the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined by 2.73% during the year.

“Nonetheless, positive developments in our stock market in the first two months of 2024 have been most encouraging,” he said in a statement.

Alternative financing activities on the other hand showed positive growth and continued to support the funding needs of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), with total funds raised amounting to RM3.8 billion from RM3 billion previously.

The unit trust segment remained the largest source of funds, comprising 51.3% of total AUM, compared to 53.9% of total AUM in 2022.

In addition, the average daily trading volume improved to 3.55 billion units in 2023 (2022: 3 billion units), and at a higher average value of RM2.29 billion per day (2022: RM2.18 billion).

Awang Adek also said that with the collaboration with Bursa Malaysia, the initial public offering approvals for the Main Market and Ace Market were expedited to three months for new applications received from March 1 this year.