Morningstar Asia Limited, a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc., a leading provider of independent investment research, has announced the winning funds for its 2021 Morningstar Fund Awards Malaysia. The annual Morningstar Malaysia Fund Awards recognise retail funds that have added the most value for investors within the context of their relevant peer group in 2020 and over longer time periods. Morningstar selects the winners using a quantitative methodology, along with a qualitative overlay. Weightings to one-, three-, and five-year risk-adjusted performance are factored into the methodology.
“The market volatility resulting from the pandemic in 2020 highlighted the importance of investors staying the course and maintaining perspective. The 2021 Morningstar Fund Awards winners stand out for their ability to serve the best interests of investors and deliver excellent returns over the longer term. We applaud all winners for their outstanding achievements,” said Nick Cheung, chief executive officer for Morningstar Asia Limited.
Wing Chan, Morningstar’s director of manager research practice, EMEA & Asia, remarked, “After a year of exceptional market performance, global financial markets are increasingly pricing in a strong economic rebound this year. Combined with an elevated risk appetite, investors are advised to be mindful of stretched asset valuations and risk of a market pullback. This year’s winners demonstrated their abilities to navigate through turbulent times and delivered competitive long-term results for investors.” The winners of the 2021 Morningstar Fund Awards Malaysia are:
| FUND CATEGORY AWARDS | WINNERS |
| Best Asia-Pacific Equity | Affin Hwang Select Asia Pacific (ex Japan) Dividend Fund |
| Best Malaysia Bond Fund | AMANAHRAYA UNIT TRUST FUND (BOND FUND) |
| Best Malaysia Bond (Shariah) Fund | AMANAHRAYA SYARIAH TRUST FUND (SYARIAH BOND FUND) |
| Best Malaysia Large-Cap Equity Fund | Public Industry Growth Fund |
| Best Malaysia Large-Cap Equity (Shariah) Fund | Public Islamic Alpha-40 Growth Fund |
The Morningstar fund category awards are based on Morningstar fund data as of 31 December 2020. The awards methodology emphasises the one-year period, but funds must also have delivered strong three- and five-year returns after adjusting for risk within the awards peer groups in order to obtain an award. In selecting winners, fund returns are adjusted for risk using the Morningstar Risk, a measure which imposes a higher penalty for downside variation in a fund’s return than it does for upside volatility.
