Corston-Smith Asset Management is an independent Southeast Asian asset management firm owned and managed by an active investment team with over 100 years of collective experience in the financial services industry. Licensed by the Securities Commission of Malaysia and with offices in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Corston-Smith has a conscious objective of managing money responsibly. It is our conviction that companies with transparent corporate governance practices are more likely to respond to shareholders’ concerns and achieve superior long-term financial performance than those without. At the same time, strong governance resulting from strong boards can help to take the broad market up. This has been the firm’s continuous message to both the corporates and market regulators.

RECENT POSTS

With power comes responsibility

By Shireen Muhiudeen on Saturday, April 28th, 2012
Across the border, both the investment and legal fraternity are watching the war that has emerged between the Singapore Exchange (SGX) and a S-chip.The issue began at the end of last year when the regulators directed the company to appoint a special auditor. The regulator was dissatisfied with the responses to its queries...

Special relationships need special scrutiny

By Shireen Muhiudeen on Saturday, March 31st, 2012
RELATED party transactions (RPT) should be under the microscope of all regulators after a recent series of controversial RPTs. More often than not, such deals attract controversy because parties to RPTs are inherently in a special relationship. We all know that special relationships can create conflicts of interest that...

Appointing strong-minded fund managers to change investors’ perceptions

By Shireen Muhiudeen on Saturday, February 25th, 2012
TWO recent appointments to the boards of high-profile companies have garnered significant interest from investors.The first was that of Mark Mobius as an independent director of Lukoil, one of Russia's large oil companies, for the second year running.He was followed by Nat Rothschild, who was made co-chairman of Indonesian...

Ugly AGMs only goes to show the ineptness of board members

By Shireen Muhiudeen on Saturday, January 28th, 2012
WE have just ushered in a brand new year and, in doing so, we have taken the opportunity to review and look back on the corporate highs and lows for us in 2011. Clearly, we have had our fair share of unhappy shareholders within corporate Malaysia despite the move by the regulators to try and increase transparency standards....

Timing and transparency important in agencies’ ratings

By Shireen Muhiudeen on Saturday, October 1st, 2011
We recently spoke to two chief executives of privately owned, for-profit companies that, uniquely, also function as quasi-regulators. Sound odd? Well, for some reason, these two companies are legally sanctioned to provide opinions that significantly impact the entire financial system. This is because they can determine...

Lost in expansion

By Shireen Muhiudeen on Saturday, August 27th, 2011
WE recently reviewed a company that had embarked on an unusually aggressive expansion of its business.Companies, of course, need to use their available capital wisely and expand when they can. But investors need to track such expansion plans closely and be especially vigilant when there are several expansions simultaneously...

Asean as an asset class

By Shireen Muhiudeen on Saturday, July 16th, 2011
IN January 2007, the 10 member countries of Asean agreed to establish the Asean Economic Community (AEC) by 2015. However, few details have been revealed on the efforts to transform the association into an economically, and not just politically, significant bloc.Essentially, the AEC is meant to allow the freer movement...

SGX moves on transparency

By Shireen Muhiudeen on Saturday, June 18th, 2011
ON June 2, 2011, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) asked for feedback from the public via a consultation paper which proposes amendments to its listing rules. These suggested changes are aimed primarily at deepening the engagement of shareholders with company management and directors at AGMs. This is because more concerted communication...

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