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Kenanga Investors Recognised At The Global Islamic LSEG Lipper Fund Awards 2025 For Shariah-Compliant Excellence


KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach Newswire – 9 June 2025 – Kenanga Investors Berhad (“Kenanga Investors“) has received international recognition for the Kenanga SyariahEXTRA Fund (“KSEF“) which was awarded under the Mixed Asset MYR Balanced 10 Years category at the Global Islamic LSEG Lipper Fund Awards 2025. The KSEF recently won the Best Mixed Asset MYR Balanced – Malaysia Islamic Funds Awards Over 10 Years title at the LSEG Lipper Fund Awards 2025. This recognition further affirms Kenanga Investors’ standing as a leading global asset and wealth management firm.

Datuk Wira Ismitz Matthew De Alwis, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Kenanga Investors Berhad
Datuk Wira Ismitz Matthew De Alwis, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Kenanga Investors Berhad

Datuk Wira Ismitz Matthew De Alwis, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer said, “We are pleased that the Kenanga SyariahEXTRA Fund has received its second Lipper recognition in a year for its impressive performance. Shariah-compliant funds have seen increased interest, partly due to inclination toward defensive sectors like healthcare, telecommunications, and utilities, which tend to be more resilient during market downturns, making them attractive to both Muslim and non-Muslim investors seeking resilience amid market uncertainty. The Fund exemplifies our commitment to investing for good, blending Shariah principles with the benefits of impact investing. By focusing on sectors that align with both ethical values and long-term sustainability, we strive to deliver strong returns for our investors while contributing to meaningful, positive outcomes.

As at 31st March 2025, the KSEF delivered returns of 46.30%* (5-years), 62.85%* (10-years), 220.02%* (since inception). Launched in 1996, KSEF aims to provide investors with medium to long-term capital appreciation through investments in specified asset classes by adopting a balanced approach towards equities and fixed income exposure based on Shariah principles.

Lee Sook Yee, the Chief Investment Officer of Kenanga Investors explained, “The KSEF’s outperformance is mainly attributed to Shariah-compliant stock, sukuk selection and asset allocation. The team continued the strategy of identifying key sectors or groups of Shariah-compliant securities that we believe would perform well under an anticipated economic condition. Individual Shariah-compliant securities selection will then focus on well-managed, financially sound companies with attractive relative valuations and a potential for high earnings growth over the medium to long term time frame. We believe in staying consistent with our investment philosophy so that we may manage our portfolios effectively to capitalise on market opportunities, even with volatility”.

The firm recently saw its innovative efforts within the Shariah investing landscape recognised at the Bursa Excellence Awards 2024 which awarded its exchange-traded funds’ arm, Eq8 Capital Sdn Bhd with the Special Award – Thought Leadership for launching Eq8 FTSE Malaysia Enhanced Dividend Waqf ETF, the world’s first Waqf-featured Exchange Traded Fund. The Waqf ETF aims to distribute income annually with half of the income distribution to be allocated as Waqf assets with the remaining half payable to unitholders.

The Global Islamic LSEG Lipper Fund Awards celebrate funds and fund management firms that have delivered consistently strong risk-adjusted performance relative to peers.

For more information about Kenanga Investors, please visit www.kenangainvestors.com.my.

*Source: Lipper Investment Analytics, 31 March 2025.

Hashtag: #Kenanga

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Kenanga Investors Berhad 199501024358 (353563-P)

We provide investment solutions ranging from collective investment schemes, portfolio management services, alternative investments, as well as wills and trusts for retail, corporate, institutional, and high net worth clients via a multi-distribution network.

The Morningstar Award 2025 has recognised the Kenanga Blue Chip Fund as Best Malaysia Large-Cap Equity Fund. The Bursa Excellence Awards 2024 awarded KIB’s exchange-traded funds’ arm, Eq8 Capital Sdn Bhd with the Special Award – Thought Leadership for launching Eq8WAQF, the world’s first Waqf-featured Exchange Traded Fund. Introduced under a newly established category, the award highlights innovations that are reshaping the investment landscape.

At the LSEG Lipper Fund Awards Malaysia 2025, KIB received awards for the Kenanga DividendEXTRA Fund (“KDEF”) under the Best Equity Malaysia Diversified – Malaysia Funds over 3 years, Kenanga Malaysian Inc Fund (“KMIF”) under the Best Equity Malaysia Diversified – Malaysia Provident Funds over 10 years, Kenanga Balanced Fund (“KBF”) under the Best Mixed Asset MYR Balanced – Malaysia Provident Funds over 10 years, Kenanga Managed Growth Fund (“KMGF”) under Best Mixed Asset MYR Flexible – Malaysia Provident Funds over 10 years, and Kenanga SyariahEXTRA Fund (“KSEF”) under the Best Mixed Asset MYR Balanced – Malaysia Islamic Funds Awards over 10 years.

The Hong Kong-based Asia Asset Management’s 2025 Best of the Best Awards awarded KIG under the following categories, Malaysia Best Impact Investing Manager, Best Impact Investing Manager in ASEAN, Malaysia Best Equity Manager, Malaysia CEO of the Year (Co-Winner), Malaysia CIO of the Year, Malaysia Best House for Alternatives, Malaysia Best ESG Engagement Initiative, Malaysia Fund Launch of the Year, and Malaysia Best Retail Asset Management Company.

The FSMOne Recommended Unit Trusts Awards 2024/2025 has awarded the Kenanga Growth Fund Series 2 with the “Sector Equity – Malaysia Focused” award for the third consecutive year since 2022. We were also recognised at The BrandLaureate BestBrands Awards 2024 – Brand of the Year under the category Wealth Management & Investment Solutions. For the eighth consecutive year, KIB was affirmed an investment manager rating of IMR-2 by Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad, since first rated in 2017. The IMR rating on KIB reflects the fund management company’s well-established investment processes and sound risk management practices.

This Press Release was issued by Kenanga Group’s Marketing, Communications & Sustainability department.

2025 Beijing Cyber Security Conference Opens, Focusing on Security Breakthroughs in the AI Era


BEIJING, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 9 June 2025 – On June 5, the Main Forum on Digital Security of the Global Digital Economy Conference 2025 (GDEC 2025), along with the 2025 Beijing Cyber Security Conference (BSC 2025), officially opened in Beijing. Under the theme “Security Breakthrough: Reshaping Built-in Security Systems”, the conference brings together stakeholders from government, industry, academia, and research institutions to explore strategic breakthroughs for the cybersecurity industry in the age of artificial intelligence.

The 2025 Beijing Cyber Security Conference
The 2025 Beijing Cyber Security Conference

Xu Xinchao, Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal People’s Government, stated in his speech that the construction of the Beijing National Cybersecurity Industrial Park has made phased progress. The Haidian Park, Tongzhou Park, and the Information Innovation Park in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area have together registered over 740 enterprises. The park has launched a national-level public cybersecurity service platform and has emerged as a leading national platform for China’s cybersecurity industry. Going forward, Beijing, as a hub for international scientific and technological innovation, will promote breakthroughs in core technologies, enhance digital security application capabilities, speed up the development of standards systems, and foster a vibrant industrial ecosystem, laying a solid security foundation for the healthy development of emerging industries, new business models, and innovative formats.

Qi Xiangdong, Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and Chairman of Qi-Anxin Group, emphasized that as intelligent agents and vertical AI applications proliferate rapidly, cybersecurity has reached a critical juncture requiring decisive breakthroughs. According to him, reshaping data aggregation models, security operations models, and ecosystem cooperation models are three major pathways for the security industry to reconstruct its framework and achieve transformation.

“Enhancement of AI capabilities does not equate to an improvement in security capabilities,” noted Zeng Yi, Dean of the Beijing Institute of AI Safety and Governance. He pointed out that AI security threats are becoming increasingly complex, evolving from basic threats to composite and sophisticated attacks.

Zhao Zhiguo, Executive Deputy Director of the Expert Advisory Committee of the Internet Society of China, remarked that artificial intelligence is not only a key technological domain in the global competition over cybersecurity but also a strategic asset in gaining the initiative in cyberspace. He called for a systematic approach to address complex risks and the construction of a more agile, intelligent, and collaborative security framework.

Participants at the conference underscored the importance of an ecosystem based on the principles of coexistence, mutual prosperity, and shared success, which plays a critical role in overcoming key technological challenges, promoting industrial synergy, and co-building the cybersecurity ecosystem. They expressed hope that the Beijing Cyber Security Conference would continue to serve as a platform to drive the modernization of the national cybersecurity system.

This year’s conference features cutting-edge technology forums, specialized competitions, international collaboration sessions, and, for the first time, a satellite venue in the Macao Special Administrative Region. Over a dozen sub-forums were held from June 5 to 6, covering topics such as smart energy security, data security, and AI large model application security.Hashtag: #GDEC2025

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PolyU-led research reveals that sensory and motor inputs help large language models represent complex concepts


HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 9 June 2025 – Can one truly understand what “flower” means without smelling a rose, touching a daisy or walking through a field of wildflowers? This question is at the core of a rich debate in philosophy and cognitive science. While embodied cognition theorists argue that physical, sensory experience is essential to concept formation, studies of the rapidly evolving large language models (LLMs) suggest that language alone can build deep, meaningful representations of the world.

A research team led by Prof. Li Ping, Sin Wai Kin Foundation Professor in Humanities and Technology, Dean of the PolyU Faculty of Humanities and Associate Director of the PolyU-Hangzhou Technology and Innovation Research Institute, explored the similarities between large language models and human representations, shedding new light on the extent to which language alone can shape the formation and learning of complex conceptual knowledge.
A research team led by Prof. Li Ping, Sin Wai Kin Foundation Professor in Humanities and Technology, Dean of the PolyU Faculty of Humanities and Associate Director of the PolyU-Hangzhou Technology and Innovation Research Institute, explored the similarities between large language models and human representations, shedding new light on the extent to which language alone can shape the formation and learning of complex conceptual knowledge.

By exploring the similarities between LLMs and human representations, researchers at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and their collaborators have shed new light on the extent to which language alone can shape the formation and learning of complex conceptual knowledge. Their findings also revealed how the use of sensory input for grounding or embodiment – connecting abstract with concrete concepts during learning – affects the ability of LLMs to understand complex concepts and form human-like representations. The study, in collaboration with scholars from Ohio State University, Princeton University and City University of New York, was recently published in Nature Human Behaviour.

Led by Prof. LI Ping, Sin Wai Kin Foundation Professor in Humanities and Technology, Dean of the PolyU Faculty of Humanities and Associate Director of the PolyU-Hangzhou Technology and Innovation Research Institute, the research team selected conceptual word ratings produced by state-of-the-art LLMs, namely ChatGPT (GPT-3.5, GPT-4) and Google LLMs (PaLM and Gemini). They compared them with human-generated word ratings of around 4,500 words across non-sensorimotor (e.g., valence, concreteness, imageability), sensory (e.g., visual, olfactory, auditory) and motor domains (e.g., foot/leg, mouth/throat) from the highly reliable and validated Glasgow Norms and Lancaster Norms datasets.

The research team first compared pairs of data from individual humans and individual LLM runs to discover the similarity between word ratings across each dimension in the three domains, using results from human-human pairs as the benchmark. This approach could, for instance, highlight to what extent humans and LLMs agree that certain concepts are more concrete than others. However, such analyses might overlook how multiple dimensions jointly contribute to the overall representation of a word. For example, the word pair “pasta” and “roses” might receive equally high olfactory ratings, but “pasta” is in fact more similar to “noodles” than to “roses” when considering appearance and taste. The team therefore conducted representational similarity analysis of each word as a vector along multiple attributes of non-sensorimotor, sensory and motor dimensions for a more complete comparison between humans and LLMs.

The representational similarity analyses revealed that word representations produced by the LLMs were most similar to human representations in the non-sensorimotor domain, less similar for words in sensory domain and most dissimilar for words in motor domain. This highlights LLM limitations in fully capturing humans’ conceptual understanding. Non-sensorimotor concepts are understood well but LLMs fall short when representing concepts involving sensory information like visual appearance and taste, and body movement. Motor concepts, which are less described in language and rely heavily on embodied experiences, are even more challenging to LLMs than sensory concepts like colour, which can be learned from textual data.

In light of the findings, the researchers examined whether grounding would improve the LLMs’ performance. They compared the performance of more grounded LLMs trained on both language and visual input (GPT-4, Gemini) with that of LLMs trained on language alone (GPT-3.5, PaLM). They discovered that the more grounded models incorporating visual input exhibited a much higher similarity with human representations.

Prof. Li Ping said, “The availability of both LLMs trained on language alone and those trained on language and visual input, such as images and videos, provides a unique setting for research on how sensory input affects human conceptualisation. Our study exemplifies the potential benefits of multimodal learning, a human ability to simultaneously integrate information from multiple dimensions in the learning and formation of concepts and knowledge in general. Incorporating multimodal information processing in LLMs can potentially lead to a more human-like representation and more efficient human-like performance in LLMs in the future.”

Interestingly, this finding is also consistent with those of previous human studies indicating the representational transfer. Humans acquire object-shape knowledge through both visual and tactile experiences, with seeing and touching objects activating the same regions in human brains. The researchers pointed out that – as in humans – multimodal LLMs may use multiple types of input to merge or transfer representations embedded in a continuous, high-dimensional space. Prof. Li added, “The smooth, continuous structure of embedding space in LLMs may underlie our observation that knowledge derived from one modality could transfer to other related modalities. This could explain why congenitally blind and normally sighted people can have similar representations in some areas. Current limits in LLMs are clear in this respect”.

Ultimately, the researchers envision a future in which LLMs are equipped with grounded sensory input, for example, through humanoid robotics, allowing them to actively interpret the physical world and act accordingly. Prof. Li said, “These advances may enable LLMs to fully capture embodied representations that mirror the complexity and richness of human cognition, and a rose in LLM’s representation will then be indistinguishable from that of humans.”

Hashtag: #PolyU #HumanCognition #LargeLanguageModels #LLMs #GenerativeAI

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Lao Students in Limbo as US Freezes Visas, Tightens Travel Rules

Lao Students in Limbo as US Freezes Visas, Tightens Travel Rules
US President Donald Trump signed a new travel ban June 4, 2025 targeting 12 countries, saying it was spurred by an attack on a Jewish protest in Colorado that authorities blamed on a man they said was in the country illegally. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)

The Laotian Times/AFP – President Donald Trump’s sweeping new travel ban came into effect on 9 June immediately after midnight, barring citizens from a dozen nations from entering the United States and reviving a divisive measure from his first term.

Laos Reports Fewer Road Accidents in May

The accident in Vientiane (Photo: Lao News Agency)

Laos recorded a decline in road accidents in May, with incidents dropping from 734 in April to 532 nationwide. Despite the decrease, the accidents still resulted in economic losses estimated at LAK 19.37 billion (approximately USD 896,000).

Laos Shakes Up Cabinet in Sweeping Reform, Names New Central Bank Chief

Laos Shakes Up Cabinet in Sweeping Reform, Names New Central Bank Chief
Lao government officials stand up in the cabinet meeting (photo credit: Pasaxon News)

Laos has carried out a sweeping government reshuffle, replacing or reassigning nine ministers along with the governor of the central bank. 

NEXTPrep Summit 2025 Empowers Nearly 500 Lao Students to Discover Their Next

The NEXTPrep event (Photo: supplied)

On 10 May, the inaugural education event NextPrep Summit 2025 brought together more than 480 students from across Laos for a day of inspiration, mentorship, and future planning at the Holiday Inn Vientiane. 

Generali Hong Kong Introduces LionAchiever Elite with High Potential Returns¹ and All-in-One Legacy Solutions


HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 9 June 2025 – Generali Hong Kong announces the launch of LionAchiever Elite (the “Plan”), a new flagship whole life savings and life insurance plan that offers customers high potential returns¹ with a short 2-year premium payment term, while also providing all-in-one legacy planning. Designed to support both wealth accumulation and legacy planning, the plan empowers customers to achieve their financial goals and take control of how their legacy is preserved and passed on.

Generali Hong Kong announces the launch of LionAchiever Elite (the “Plan”), a new flagship whole life savings and life insurance plan that offers customers high potential returns¹ with a short 2-year premium payment term, while also providing all-in-one legacy planning.
Generali Hong Kong announces the launch of LionAchiever Elite (the “Plan”), a new flagship whole life savings and life insurance plan that offers customers high potential returns¹ with a short 2-year premium payment term, while also providing all-in-one legacy planning.

With a premium payment term of just 2 years, LionAchiever Elite provides an accessible solution for customers to grow their wealth with minimal ongoing commitment. The plan offers high potential returns¹ and early breakeven at early as the 3rd policy year¹. By the 10th policy year, it reaches a projected internal rate of return of up to 5.03% per annum¹, making it a powerful solution for customers looking to grow their wealth with a shorter commitment period.

In addition to wealth growth, the Plan provides comprehensive legacy planning solutions that support seamless wealth transfer across generations. These include the Death Benefit Payment Option, Policy Split Option, and Policy Custodian Option, allowing customers to tailor how their wealth is passed on through a single, integrated solution that gives them greater flexibility and control.

Ronald Tse, Chief Insurance Officer, Generali Hong Kong, said: “LionAchiever Elite is designed for customers who want more control over their wealth, not just in how they grow it, but also in how they transfer it to future generations. With flexible, all-in-one legacy planning solutions and a short 2-year premium term, the plan empowers our customers to plan ahead with clarity, confidence, and peace of mind.”

LionAchiever Elite’s Key Features include:

  • Short premium payment term of 2 years with high potential returns1 and early breakeven1
  • Flexible death benefit settlement – choose lump sum, monthly instalments, partial or deferred payment for each beneficiary2
  • Policy Split Option – pre-arrange to split the policy automatically among beneficiaries upon the insured’s death2
  • Policy Custodian Option – nominate a trusted person to manage the policy temporarily when the Policyholder passes away until the successor is ready2

Building on the success of LionAchiever, the new LionAchiever Elite is designed to offer even more features and greater flexibility to meet customers’ evolving financial needs. For more information about LionAchiever Elite, please visit https://www.generali.com.hk/EN_US/savings-and-retirement/lionachiever-elite.

All information above is for reference only and does not constitute any offer and/or insurance product recommendation. The product information in this material does not contain the full terms of the product, for the details of the product features, terms and conditions, exclusions and key product risks, please refer to the product brochure and policy contract of relevant products or visit the website.

Remarks:

1. The calculation for total breakeven and total IRR includes Guaranteed Cash Value and non-guaranteed Terminal Dividend. It is not guaranteed. It is based on the scenario of 2 years Premium Payment Term with existing promotion of 4% premium refund, annual premium payment mode with Total Premiums Paid of USD 1,000,000. It is assumed that all premiums are paid in full when due without any prepayment, policy loan, withdrawal, and/or exercise of any policy options

2. Please refer to the Policy Provisions, product brochure, “Generali’s All-in-one Legacy Planning Solutions” leaflet, forms, promotion flyer and other relevant documents for details.
Hashtag: #GeneraliHongKong


The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Generali Hong Kong

In 1981, Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. was first registered as an authorised insurer in Hong Kong, with the business extending into the life insurance sector in 2016 with Generali Life (Hong Kong) Limited. With a combination of local knowledge and Generali Group’s global expertise, we develop unique and innovative life insurance, general insurance, specialty insurance, and employee benefits solutions to meet the needs of our customers.

THE GENERALI GROUP

Generali is one of the largest integrated insurance and asset management groups worldwide. Established in 1831, it is present in over 50 countries in the world, with a total premium income of € 95.2 billion and € 863 billion AUM in 2024. With around 87,000 employees serving 71 million customers, the Group has a leading position in Europe and a growing presence in Asia and Latin America. At the heart of Generali’s strategy is its Lifetime Partner commitment to customers, achieved through innovative and personalised solutions, best-in-class customer experience and its digitalised global distribution capabilities. The Group has fully embedded sustainability into all strategic choices, with the aim to create value for all stakeholders while building a fairer and more resilient society.