KUALA LUMPUR (June 9): Many of the largest listed companies remain under-researched by institutional analysts and under-promoted to investors, according to the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC).

A review by the market regulator on the country's 88 largest listed companies found that at least six companies do not have dedicated investor relations units while four are not covered by any single research analyst, according to SC executive chairman Datuk Mohammad Faiz Azmi.

"How do you expect people to buy your shares if you don't talk to analysts?" Mohammad Faiz said. Such weakness has limited investor interest, especially among foreign investors, he noted.

Mohammad Faiz was giving a special presentation about the Capital Market Masterplan 2026-2030 at the MIA International Accountants Conference 2026 on Tuesday. His comments come as Malaysia seeks to attract more long-term foreign capital and reduce its reliance on short-term portfolio flows.

In March, the SC and Bursa Malaysia launched the MY Value Up programme that aims to raise the visibility of the top public listed companies in terms of market capitalisation to domestic and foreign investors.

Many foreign investors in the local market invest through benchmark indices such as the MSCI and FTSE indices, which generally favour stocks with large free-float shares and high trading liquidity, according to Mohammad Faiz.

While such investors contribute to market liquidity, they are often more sensitive to changes in index weightings and market sentiment.

"This is a structural issue," Mohammad Faiz said. "I need stickier investors — people who hold long-term, not people who move in and out of the market."

Foreign investors currently own about 20% of Malaysia's equity market and roughly 13% of the bond market, with most of the latter concentrated in Malaysian Government Securities rather than corporate bonds.

Malaysia's representation in the MSCI Malaysia Index has gained renewed attention following the index’ latest May review that reduced the number of constituents to 21 from 27 previously.

MSCI indices are closely watched by fund managers and international investors. An exclusion from the indices can trigger outflows as investors sell the former constituent in their portfolios to mirror the benchmarks.

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