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As a committed advocate of financial literacy, Bursa Malaysia Berhad (“Bursa Malaysia” or “the Exchange”) showed its support for World Investor Week (WIW) by joining other exchanges around the world to host a “Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy” ceremony today, followed by the launch of its second National Investment Debate Challenge. Held from 30 September to 4 October this year, WIW is a global campaign organised by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) to raise awareness about the importance of investor education and protection.
Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, Chief Executive Office of Bursa Malaysia said, “We are proud to ring the bell in support of WIW and financial literacy. In conjunction with this event, we are kicking off our annual National Investment Debate Challenge, which is a platform for Bursa Malaysia to promote financial awareness and create a future generation of informed investors. Through this lively learning activity that encourages students to use their research and reasoning abilities, we want to nurture their interest in the capital market and at the same time reinforce WIW’s key messages such as understanding the importance of diversification, knowing the importance of due diligence before investing, and recognising the elements of risk in investing.”
The National Investment Debate Challenge is a competition specially designed for undergraduates from universities across Malaysia. This year, the debate challenge has gained greater attention amongst students who are seeing value in what it brings in terms of enriching their investment knowledge and helping them develop the right investing skills to grow wealth responsibly as they prepare to enter the workforce. Twenty-one teams from private and public universities nationwide registered their interest to participate in the challenge, of which sixteen were shortlisted for the preliminary round today.
“We are very encouraged by the growing interest amongst the universities and industry players in this year’s National Investment Debate Challenge, as financial literacy can be promoted with greater impact through competitions that stimulate and accelerate discussion, research and knowledge acquisition. Our experience in organising this event also indicates to us that financial literacy can be more effective when driven in collaborative effort by all parties including the regulators, industry players and the education sector,” said Datuk Muhamad Umar.
In support of the National Investment Debate Challenge’s growing traction among university students, event sponsors CGS-CIMB Securities Sdn Bhd, Affin Hwang Investment Bank, Maybank Investment Bank Bhd and Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd have collectively pledged to increase the total prize money to RM21,000 this year. Notably, CGS-CIMB Securities Sdn Bhd, the sponsor for the first prize, has increased the prize money by threefold to RM9,000.
This year’s debate topics cover a much wider scope ranging from stock market analysis and online trading to price volatility and derivatives trading, challenging participants to be more rigorous in their research and presentation skills. The best four out of the sixteen participating teams will be proceeding to the semi-finals and finals on 2 November to battle it out for the champion’s trophy.
Bursa Malaysia is committed to helping investors build their confidence to participate in the capital market in an informed manner through investor education. The Exchange has organised 468 initiatives between January to August 2019 for the benefit of more than 250,000 retail investors. Some of Bursa’s notable initiatives this year include The Marketplace Fair @ Penang, a family-oriented carnival aimed at reaching out to the public to promote financial literacy, as well as the inaugural Women and Investment seminar held in collaboration with the National Council of Women’s Organisations Malaysia to celebrate Hari Wanita 2019.
Bursa Malaysia is also collaborating with a local newspaper to publish a series of investor education articles to raise awareness on investment opportunities in the capital market. In addition, a collaboration with Vision 2 Transform, a Bursa Bull Charge 2018 beneficiary organisation, to carry out a financial literacy pilot project has benefitted more than 2,000 students in 24 secondary schools.
Event Photos and recommended captions:
Photo 1: Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, Chief Executive Officer, Bursa Malaysia (third from left) together with Dato’ Ahmad Azman Abdul Manaf, Chairman, Association of Stockbroking Companies Malaysia (fourth from right) hitting the gong to signify support for “Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy” – witnessed by Ms. Selvarany Rasiah, Chief Commercial Officer, Bursa Malaysia (second from left) and the panel of judges.
Photo 2: Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, Chief Executive Officer, Bursa Malaysia delivers his welcome address at the launch of “Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy” and officially kicks off the Bursa Malaysia National Investment Debate Challenge 2019.
Photo 3: Debate teams in action at the Preliminary Round of the Bursa Malaysia National Investment Debate Challenge 2019.
