Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) has emerged as the leading force in Malaysian investment banking after securing six major accolades from two prominent financial publications in June 2021. The firm received top honors from both FinanceAsia and Alpha Southeast Asia (Alpha SEA), marking its second consecutive year of sweeping the region’s most competitive banking awards. FinanceAsia recognized Maybank IB as Malaysia’s “Best Investment Bank,” “Best ECM House,” and “Best DCM House.” Meanwhile, Alpha SEA awarded the same institution “Best Bond House,” “Best Equity House,” and “Best Institutional Broker” for the country.
The “Best Investment Bank” and “Best Institutional Broker” titles represent back-to-back wins, while the DCM and bond house categories now mark three consecutive victories. The award-winning transactions were completed during challenging market conditions caused by Covid-19 lockdowns and volatile capital markets.
A notable deal was Sime Darby Property’s RM 800 million ASEAN Sustainability SRI Sukuk Musharakah, where Maybank IB acted as sole adviser and joint lead manager. This Sukuk was the first globally to combine a sustainability label with the Musharakah profit-sharing structure and the first ASEAN sustainability Sukuk from a property developer. The five-year RM 150 million tranche was fully subscribed within hours of its March launch.
In June, Maybank IB served as joint book-runner for MR D.I.Y. Group (M) Bhd’s RM 1.5 billion initial public offering, the largest Malaysian retail-sector IPO on record and the country’s biggest flotation since 2017.
The offer was 3.4 times covered and priced at the top of the range, with proceeds intended to triple the home-improvement chain’s store count across Southeast Asia. Maybank IB was the only ASEAN-based arranger invited onto Petronas’ two-part global medium-term note programme. The 2020 tranche totalled US$6 billion and included a 40-year tenor, the longest-dated bond ever issued by a Malaysian corporation.
A second US$3 billion drawdown followed in April 2021, raising the state oil firm’s overall programme ceiling to US$15 billion. Both transactions rank as the largest global bonds out of Southeast Asia in their respective years.
Fad’l Mohamed, chief executive of Maybank IB, stated that the bank’s pandemic strategy of remaining “client-centred and solutions-driven” enabled teams to execute landmark mandates. He expressed gratitude to clients for their trust and said the accolades would spur the firm to continue developing innovative solutions with a sustainability-first approach. The Sime Darby Property Sukuk was certified by the UK-based Climate Bonds Initiative, adding to a growing pipeline of green and sustainability-linked deals structured since the central bank eased guidelines in 2020.
According to Dealogic, the bank now leads Malaysian ringgit bond league tables with a 22% share of proceeds so far in 2021, up from 18% last year. Beyond the twin award programmes, Maybank IB also collected “Malaysia’s Best Equity Adviser,” “Best Bond Adviser (Domestic),” and “Best Brokerage” at The Asset Triple A Country Awards earlier in the quarter.
These five additional trophies bring the firm’s year-to-date award count to eleven, the most it has gathered in a single fiscal period since parent Maybank began disclosing segmental results in 2010. The haul comes as regional competitors scale back proprietary risk and retreat to core markets. RHB Research analyst Wong Mei Ling noted that Maybank IB’s ability to cross-sell Islamic, conventional and equity products under one roof is becoming a clear differentiator, positioning the firm as the local gatekeeper for global funds seeking ASEAN exposure with Shariah-compliant structures.
The bank’s investment-banking fees rose 28% to RM 1.1 billion for the financial year ended March 2021, helping offset slower trading income across the group. Management has guided for double-digit growth again in FY22, with a pipeline including at least three more sustainability-labelled Sukuk and two IPOs from the healthcare and logistics sectors pending regulatory approval.
