⚠️
Important Notice: Office phone lines temporarily disrupted. View More →

Our Investment Approach

A proven, disciplined framework built on more than 30 years of navigating Asian and ASEAN markets through every cycle and crisis.

Investment Philosophy Investment Process
Our Philosophy

Investment Philosophy

"Never Fully Invest At All Times"
— Core Philosophy by Dr. Tan Chong Koay, Founder / Executive Chairman / Chief Strategist, Pheim Malaysia

We strongly believe that strategic asset allocation that takes advantage of major market trends, supported by good stock picks, are key to superior out-performance without taking on unduly high risks.

Our Investment Philosophy of "Never Fully Invest at All Times", innovated by our Founder Dr. Tan Chong Koay (who has been in the fund management industry for more than 46 years), has successfully weathered through major crises and navigated through the volatile Asian/ASEAN market, substantially increasing the wealth of clients in the long run.

We adopt a predominantly value approach — seeking stocks that are cheap relative to their underlying value, in the expectation that prices will rise to more accurately reflect true worth.

Long-term wealth growth

Generally, we seek companies that have focused management, enjoy high margins and earnings growth, and low debt equity gearing, and whose shares trade at low price-earnings ratio and/or low price-to-book ratio. At times we may apply a combination of value and growth strategies, or putting greater focus on growth stocks to take advantage of market and business cycles.

As Asian markets tend to display greater cyclicality and price volatility, we believe that an active asset allocation strategy can add value to our investors. Thus, we do not believe in being fully invested at all times. Rather, we seek to trim our equity exposure near market peaks in order to preserve capital, and to be fully invested near market troughs.

Over the past 30 years, Pheim Malaysia has established a consistent and outstanding long-term track record, and our funds have been receiving numerous LSEG Lipper Fund Awards (Malaysia and Global), Best of the Best Awards from Asia Asset Management, and other awards from international rating agencies.

What We Look For

Our Investment Criteria

We seek companies that demonstrate a combination of quantitative and qualitative strengths. As Asian markets tend to display greater cyclicality and price volatility, we believe an active asset allocation strategy can add substantial value.

Focused Management

Companies with capable, transparent management that holds significant equity interest and demonstrates strong corporate governance.

Strong Earnings Growth

High margins, dominant market position, pricing power, and consistent earnings growth with low debt-equity gearing ratios.

Attractive Valuations

Low price-earnings ratio and/or low price-to-book ratio relative to underlying intrinsic value, with strong balance sheet and cash flow.

How We Invest

Investment Process

Pheim has an investment process fully guided by its proven Investment Philosophy and investment criteria that apply across all Investment Teams. Our Investment Committee (ICM) meets weekly, with decisions made collectively after deliberation on stock recommendations raised by Fund Managers and Investment Analysts.

1
Client Goals, Needs & Risk Profile
We begin by understanding each client's financial goals, needs, and risk appetite to define the appropriate investment universe, benchmark, and asset allocations that reflect their return objective and risk tolerance.
2
Macroeconomic & Market Analysis (Top-Down)
Our top-down analysis covers global and country-level macroeconomic outlook — economic growth, inflation, interest rates, liquidity, sentiment, socio-political developments, monetary and fiscal policies, and balance of payments — to determine country and sector weightings.
3
Stock Screening & Selection (Bottom-Up)
We conduct meticulous stock screening based on quantitative and qualitative analysis — valuations, NAV comparisons, management quality and transparency. Each Fund Manager attends 3–4 company visits per week and submits recommendations for IC debate.
4
Buy Discipline
We focus on depressed stocks backed by strong fundamentals that are temporarily out of favor. Key criteria: strong balance sheet (low gearing, strong cash flow), positive earnings dynamics, attractive financial ratios (low P/E, P/B), and high margins. Technical analysis supplements to identify historical lows.
5
Sell Discipline
Sell decisions are triggered by: (1) material adverse changes in macroeconomic or political outlook; (2) material deterioration in company fundamentals or earnings; (3) fundamental changes in management or business focus; (4) detrimental corporate actions; (5) prices materially exceeding intrinsic value.
6
Portfolio Allocation & Execution
Having identified stocks, we determine portfolio allocations adjusted for each client's objectives, risk profile, and portfolio liquidity, subject to investment limits and restrictions. Transactions are executed by Fund Managers for their respective markets.
7
Portfolio Monitoring & Risk Management
The IC reviews stock and market performance, portfolio performance, and portfolio risk measures (standard deviation, tracking error, information ratio) at weekly meetings. Our robust internal control system addresses market risk, counterparty risk, liquidity risk, exchange rate risk, and operational risk.
Words of Wisdom

Famous Quotes from Our Founder

Dr. Tan Chong Koay — Founder, Executive Chairman & Chief Strategist of Pheim Malaysia — shares his investment wisdom built over 46+ years navigating Asian markets through every cycle.

Never cultivate expensive habits. You are likely to have lesser money to invest when the bad time comes.

Dr. Tan Chong Koay

It is not wise to borrow money to invest in equities when the market is at record high even though interest rate is at extreme low.

Dr. Tan Chong Koay

Growth strategy does not outperform the value strategy all the times. Growth companies and value companies do not have the same business cycle.

Dr. Tan Chong Koay

Falling in love with a stock near its peak is not wisdom. Failing to buy a stock that has corrected sharply but possesses a good management team and is expected to continue growing is to miss an excellent buying opportunity.

Dr. Tan Chong Koay

Predicting the exact timing of a market crash is not easy but guessing near the time of crash is possible and acting accordingly will benefit the investor enormously.

Dr. Tan Chong Koay

Equities will generally outperform fixed deposits in the long run especially during low interest rate periods.

Dr. Tan Chong Koay

A contrarian near the peak or the bottom of a cycle will enjoy better returns and is likely to outperform his peers.

Dr. Tan Chong Koay

Crisis creates problems but also provides opportunities that are hard to come by in normal time.

Dr. Tan Chong Koay

One of the best and simple defensive strategies in equity investing is to raise cash when the market or share prices are too high.

Dr. Tan Chong Koay

Investors must adapt to changes in demand and supply. History does not always repeat.

Dr. Tan Chong Koay

ESG companies may not be able to outperform at all times but will benefit the world in the long run.

Dr. Tan Chong Koay

It is not advisable to put short term funds in equities when the market is too high. The correction may force you to sell at a loss.

Dr. Tan Chong Koay