Almost six months after the launch of its Principal e-Cash Fund, Principal Asset Management’s first fund to be distributed through a digital wallet, the fund manager has made the conventional Shariah compliant in response to swelling demand from Muslim investors in Malaysia.
The fund is the anchor fund for Touch ‘n Go’s GO+ fund, which allows Touch ‘n Go’s e-wallet users to gain exposure to low-risk money market investments for as low as RM10 (US$2.36).
Rolled out earlier in March, GO+ was Touch ‘n Go’s first foray into the digital investment space. Since its launch, the platform has attracted over 1.2 million users.
“When we first launched GO+, there were calls from our users for the underlying fund to be Shariah compliant. We listened to them, and immediately went to work,” Effendy Shahul Hamid, group CEO of Touch ‘n Go Group, said. “We now have a product that is even more inclusive than it was, and perfectly in line with our goals of bringing basic financial services to everyone.”
Touch ‘n Go, Malaysia’s largest e-wallet, continues to expand its financial offerings. Just last month, the digital wallet formed a long-term partnership with AIA Malaysia to offer digital Takaful and insurance products. Principal Asset Management manages a total of RM96.7 billion (US$22.81 billion)-worth of funds in Southeast Asia, out of which RM30.69 billion (US$7.24 billion) is in Shariah compliant products as of June 2021. The asset manager has in recent years revved up its digital initiatives to capture a larger market share, the partnership with Touch ‘n Go being one of them.