THE weighting of Asean markets in most global portfolios seems small due to a perceived lack of investment opportunities, low liquidity and weak investor relations in the region, Singapore Exchange chief executive Magnus Bocker said yesterday.

He raised this point from an unnamed study of investor perceptions of regional markets that highlighted the attractiveness of Asean markets at the same time.

'By international standards, even as an Asean grouping of markets, we would appear somewhat small and underweight in most global portfolios,' he said at an investor relations conference.

'Let us be clear that there is much to strive for, not least in competing for attention with larger Asian markets, but also in the way we manage the perceptions of investors through our investor relations.'

Mr Bocker also cited a survey this year by the Investor Relations Professionals Association (Singapore) and Singapore Management University, which showed that close to 90 per cent of Singapore-based fund managers were willing to pay at least 15 per cent more for companies with good investor relations.

That premium equates to $75 million for a company with a market value of $500 million.

The survey, carried out in April, was based on the responses of 38 fund managers representing 27 institutional investors with estimated Asian equity assets of more than US$30 billion under management as at April.

'Critical-thinking fund managers are like businessmen,' Mr Bocker said.

'They do their sums and they decide whether seeing a company is worth their time. Moreover, they do take access to senior management seriously and it is important to give them that access.'