The fourth season of Bursa Malaysia's Market Chat ended with a resounding success, having reached up to 12,000 retail investors nationwide over a six-month period. This season, Market Chat 2010-2011 also made greater presence in non-traditional markets, with roadshows organised in cities nationwide including Bintulu, Sibu, Tawau, Lumut and Kota Bahru. To celebrate the successful conclusion of Market Chat 2010-2011, Bursa Malaysia hosted an appreciation night on Tuesday, 12 July 2011 to recognise the participation and contribution of the eight participating brokers and investment banks.
Dato' Tajuddin Atan, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia Berhad, said, "When we embarked on this programme four years ago, we wanted to collaborate with the industry to reach out to the retail community. In 2007, our inaugural Market Chat attracted about 2,700 retail investors, with three brokers and 13 roadshows. Today, we have eight brokers, 78 roadshows and 12,000 retail investors. This is a growth of about five times in four years."
Dato' Tajuddin also said that over the same period, the market recorded a positive trend in retail participation. Retail online trading has doubled from 2007 to 2010 and retail trading value has also grown by 50% from 2008 to 2010.
Participating brokers commented that the response to this year's Market Chat has been overwhelming, particularly in smaller towns which have traditionally been neglected. They believed that Market Chat has gained recognition as a meaningful platform for brokers to interface directly with investors to retain and build a sustainable investor base. Some participating brokers have opened up new branches in non-traditional cities like Sibu.
The eight participating brokers for Market Chat 2010-2011 are Affin Investment Bank, CIMB Investment Bank, Hong Leong Investment Bank, Jupiter Securities, Maybank Investment Bank, MIMB Investment Bank, OSK Investment Bank and RHB Investment Bank.
The fifth season of Bursa Malaysia's Market Chat is scheduled to start from October 2011. "The presence of dynamic domestic retail investors is crucial in the creation of a vibrant capital market. Going forward, we are stepping up our efforts to focus on increasing the retail investor base domestically via continued education and engagement. Concurrently, we will also be looking at driving retail growth in the ASEAN region," Dato' Tajuddin further added.
Market Chat is one of the Exchange's retail investment programmes aimed primarily at encouraging greater retail participation in the capital market. The programme also seeks to equip investors with the necessary knowledge, skills and tools to invest, and to create investors who are well-informed.
For more information on Market Chat, visit Bursa Malaysia's website www.bursamalaysia.com,/span>.