EARLY START: Young execs invited to Invest Malaysia to gain first-hand knowledge on investing
BURSA Malaysia is investing heavily in programmes to attract those from the Generation-Y to invest in securities on the stock exchange as the domestic securities industry realised it is missing a big portion of potential investors.
Its chief executive officer Datuk Tajuddin Atan said the younger generation has stayed away from the stock market for several reasons, including the negative perception towards investing in securities following the 1998 Asian financial crisis.
The times have changed, he said in an interview with Business Times at Invest Malaysia 2014 in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
Tajuddin said the exchange and securities industry in general have moved forward since the crisis to become more regulated and transparent, and knowledge has become more important than sheer guesswork, the rumour mill and luck in making investment decisions.
On Monday, Bursa Malaysia, for the first time, invited a group of young executives to the annual forum that thus far was known to attract largely senior and top company officials.
Tajuddin said the move was to enable the young executive to get first-hand information on the fundamentals of investing and of the participating companies.
During the hot market period between the late 1980s and the mid-1990s, many local investors treated investing in stocks as they would any game of chance.
One of the worries among the market regulators then was that a large portion of investors in initial public offerings didn’t even bother to know what business activities the companies were involved in.
The group of young executives heard from no less than Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself, who told them in a closed-door session the kind of economic and market framework Malaysia was working to build.
“The youths left largely impressed and were willing to know more (after meeting the PM),’’ Tajuddin said.
They then participated in briefings organised by the participating companies and many realised then that there are many Malaysian companies doing well overseas.
Technology is also central to Bursa Malaysia’s plans to bring securities investing to the younger generation.
A new retail investor platform called “Bursa Marketplace” (www.bursamarketplace.com) was launched recently to provide retail investors with comprehensive, accurate and timely market data.
It provides broker research reports, market insights, trading ideas and the unique S&P AlphaFactor analytical tool to help Malaysians invest and trade confidently.
Response has been encouraging, with the number of hits increasing rapidly and some 2,000 research notes having already been posted on the portal.
Meanwhile, data indicates that Malaysia will have one of the fastest-growing working populations in the world between now and 2020. According to Bloomberg, Malaysia is also the third-best emerging market in the world.
Tajuddin said one of the traits of a developed economy is having a financially-literate society and various investment options, apart from the existing bank savings, national and private unit trust schemes and real estate.
Since March 2009, total market capitalisation of companies listed on Bursa Malaysia has grown 184 per cent to US$513.6 billion (RM1.65 trillion) from US$181 billion, while the country’s gross domestic product has expanded by 54.5 per cent from US$202.3 billion in 2009 to US$312.4 billion at the end of 2013.
While some may argue on the adequacy of disposable income among the younger population to invest in stocks, Tajuddin said they should not wait but instead start to acquire the knowledge in investing now.
“Otherwise they will never start,’’ he said.