Unit trust managers are aiming to manage up to 40 per cent of all funds invested in Malaysia's stock market by 2020, the Federation of Malaysian Unit Trust Managers (FMUTM) said.

"At the moment, the net asset value of funds managed by unit trusts is only 10 per cent, but we want 40 per cent," FMUTM president Datuk Azim Mohd Zabidi was quoted as saying by newswire reports on Dec 5.

Investing in unit trusts is gaining popularity in Malaysia with the industry posting double-digit growth over the past nine years. This was helped by the government's move to allow a part of the pension money to be invested in the stock market.

"But we should not rest on our laurels, we must work harder to achieve an annual growth rate of 15.5 per cent," Azim said. Malaysia has 35 unit trust management companies overseeing 151 funds worth RM46.4 billion.

He also said the FMUTM would lobby the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to allow more contributors to invest by lowering the current threshold, which prevents accountholders with less than RM50,000 from buying unit trusts.

"We want the EPF to lower the threshold to RM30,000 so that more people can participate."

Azim said the industry expects the Securities Commission to approve, by next year, a single licensing regime for both unit trust and asset management firms, which currently operate under separate licenses.