DBS Group Research, citing "market chatter", says that the Monetary Authority of Singapore is "close to shortlisting" investment managers to allocate the $5 billion fund that is put forward as part of the comprehensive moves to revive the local market.

The so-called Equity Market Development Programme was first unveiled in February, and is meant to channel new capital into local listed counters outside of the Straits Times Index.

To this end, DBS has shortlisted eight listed companies with a market cap of at least $300 million that will likely benefit from "renewed investor attention" under the EQDP.

These shortlisted companies meet at least three of the following critera:

First, FY2024 net cash level that is equivalent to more than 15% of its market cap.

Next, an attractive dividend yield of more than 4%.

Strong earnings growth of at least 10% for the current FY2025.

Forward PE that is below their respective four-year average.

Last but not least, more than half of their most recent FY2024 revenue generated from within Singapore.

The eight counters shortlisted with this set of filters are further grouped into three main themes.

The first, rotation into overlooked industrials: ComfortDelGro, Hong Leong Asia, and SIA Engineering offer exposure to the strong industrials trend with less crowded positioning

The next theme, earnings momentum from structural growth: UMS Integration, Frencken Group, and IFAST Corp benefit from sustained semiconductor demand and digital wealth flows

Thirdly, so-called domestic economic proxies: Raffles Medical and PropNex track their respective pillars of Singapore’s economy: healthcare and property.