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On October 2nd, for the second consecutive year, BME meets the public to answer questions on stock market investment
- The initiative coincides with the “Financial Education Day” promoted by the Spanish stock market regulator –CNMV- and the Bank of Spain for the last three years, with which BME collaborates
- In the 2016 edition about 400 people became involved
- About 250 participants answered a survey. Most of them stated that better financial education would increase their trust in investment products.
On Monday, October 2nd, coinciding with the Financial Education Day, BME will again promote financial knowledge among the public as part of its “Financial Education vis a vis" programme. It is an out-of-class learning experience which for the second consecutive year takes place in the cities home of the four Spanish stock exchanges, i.e. Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia.
To this end, from 10 hrs to 18 hrs without interruption BME employees will be available to people who approach the stands set up for this purpose, whose exact location can be checked at www.diadelaeducacionfinanciera.es.
During the event those members of the public interested will have the chance to make queries on investments in shares and other securities markets, which will be answered on the spot. If this were not possible, they will be guided as to how and where they can find additional information if they wish. Besides, members of the public will be invited to fill in an anonymous questionnaire, which will help BME to improve the orientation and development of the various educational and financial programmes it develops for different groups every year throughout Spain.
Spain is among the developed countries with the highest rates of participation of retail investors in the stock market. They own 23% of the shares of listed Spanish companies.
This contributes to the protection of the households’ savings thanks to the diversification of their portfolios and the long-term higher returns of shares in comparison with other investment instruments, as a significant volume of academic studies points out.
However, different research pieces, surveys and studies on the level of financial culture of the adult and non-adult population around the world point to very low level rates in an environment where finance is part of people’s everyday life. Spain is no exception and for this reason BME has become involved as a collaborator with the Financial Education Plan - promoted by the CNMV and the Bank of Spain - since 2008.
The Financial Education Plan is part of a broader international trend aimed at increasing the level of financial literacy of the entire population, regardless of people’s socioeconomic status and age. The Financial Education Day is an initiative that forms part of the Plan. Its purpose is to build upon the efforts made by public institutions and market participants to improve the transparency of the financial system and strengthen investor protection on a continuous basis.
In the survey conducted by BME in 2016, in which 250 citizens took part, about 80% rated their level of financial knowledge only sufficient or even poor, while almost 100% acknowledged that a higher level of financial culture would greatly increase their trust in investment products and the protection of their savings. That is an explicit acknowledgment of a deficit and a need identified by the general public.
Another striking conclusion of the survey conducted in 2016 is that 56% of respondents claimed to have invested some time in products traded on the stock market, although most of them perceive this option as a difficult alternative and 60% consider that investing requires a high level of knowledge or else perceive it somewhat distrustfully.
