IBF And SGX Announce New Initiatives To Upskill Stockbroking Industry - Industry Comes Together To Prepare Dealers & Remisiers With Skills For Future Economy

With the aim of upskilling the stockbroking industry, the Institute of Banking and Finance Singapore (IBF), the national accreditation and certification agency for financial sector competencies, and Singapore Exchange (SGX) today announced new training and development initiatives, following an extensive survey[1] and feedback received from the stockbroking industry last year.

IBF-SGX Trading Representatives Survey 2015

The survey highlighted that a majority of Trading Representatives[2] remain positive about their future in the industry. More than 70% of the respondents believe they will likely remain as a Trading Representative five years from now, with more than half keen to undergo continuous training. The survey results also revealed Trading Representatives’ desire to proactively expand their client base, as more of their clients (56%) are increasingly trading online. Providing more value-add for clients in terms of better client servicing skills and building themselves as more credible wealth-advisors was also a key priority. 

Many also expressed interest to look at more effective use of social media channels, in addition to the traditional channel of obtaining new clients through referrals.  They expressed a willingness to upgrade themselves and learn about new technologies, new products and overseas markets as well as technical and marketing skills.

Revised IBF Standards for Sales and Trading/Execution (Retail)

To encourage Trading Representatives to upskill themselves, IBF launched today a new set of IBF competency standards for Trading Representatives.  The “IBF Standards for Sales and Trading/Execution (Retail)” serve as a professional development roadmap for the Trading Representatives. It will incorporate competency standards to foster deep technical competencies, and provide a good understanding of market developments, as well as laws and regulations.  It would also allow Trading Representatives to be more familiar with new products. A fresh element of the revised Standards is aimed at boosting the Trading Representatives’ client skills – client acquisition, onboarding and needs analysis and client servicing.  Another new emphasis will also be on ethics, risks and controls, as well as coverage on overseas markets and technologies.

Towards this end, IBF will be working with accredited Training Providers to offer a 3-level certification pathway to provide a Dealer/Remisier with structured training to progress to more senior roles:

• Level 1 IBF certification enables a Trading Representative to develop foundational knowledge of Singapore-listed products, financial markets, and gain technical skills such as technical analysis, order execution as well as softs-skills for more effective client servicing. 
• Level 2 is targeted at a Senior Dealer / Remisier to attain more complex skills such as applied knowledge of products across asset classes, the ability to develop multi-product, multi-market recommendations and more complex investment strategies.  It will also touch on more value-added client services.
• Level 3 is pitched at a senior practitioner being prepared as a Head of Dealing Team. The senior practitioner can enhance his specialist skillset and managerial capabilities relating to governance, internal controls, performance management, as well as developing business acumen, leadership and supervisory insight. 

SGX Academy rolls out new training modules

As part of IBF’s longer term plan to provide Trading Representatives with a formal certification pathway, SGX Academy will become an IBF Level 1 training and certification provider. Program details will be available in 2H2016.

IBF will also work with other Training Providers to progressively introduce accredited certification programmes at Levels 2 and 3.

In line with the Government’s push for lifelong learning and the SkillsFuture movement to empower every Singaporean, SGX Academy will further roll out nine new training modules in February 2016 focused on technical and client management skills, spanning over 130 training hours. The new modules, such as Effective Prospecting Through Social Media, were developed with the objective of equipping Trading Representatives with the right skills for a changing market. To encourage continuous training and development, SGX Academy will offer members of the Society of Remisiers, Singapore (SRS) free introductory courses based on the nine new modules.

Training Programmes and Funding Subsidies For Professional Development

Besides structured certification programmes, IBF is also working closely with key industry partners to ensure their shorter-run thematic training is kept updated. IBF has been in dialogue with the Securities Association of Singapore (SAS) and the Society of Remisiers, Singapore (SRS) to update their training programmes.

Financial subsidy under the Financial Sector Development Fund (FSDF) is also available.  Training programmes recognized under the IBF Financial Training Scheme (IBF-FTS) will receive 50% funding subsidy from FSDF. The funding subsidy rises to 70%, should Trading Representatives embark on the more structured IBF-Standards certification programmes.  [The respective funding subsidies are subject to grant caps and available to Singaporeans and Singapore Permanent Residents only.] All Singaporeans can also tap into the SkillsFuture Credit of $500 made available in January this year. IBF is thus confident that upskilling and continuous professional development will be kept affordable for Trading Representatives. 

Mr Chew Sutat, Head of Equities and Fixed Income, SGX, said, “The marketplace is evolving and with global competition more intense, there is a need for better, if not, new ways of conducting business. As one of the key channels to retail investors, Trading Representatives remain an important stakeholder group for investors and the market. Despite increasing use of online platforms, the stockbroking industry continues to attract new talent and expand relevance.  With a majority of the respondents to the SGX-IBF TR survey expressing their wish to learn more about overseas markets and trading technologies in the face of changing market dynamics, we believe the new training programmes that SGX Academy and IBF will be rolling out will equip Trading Representatives with the right skills for the future.”  

Mr Lim Wah Tong, Chairman of SAS, said “The SAS fully encourages Trading Representatives and Remisiers to continuously upskill and enhance their capabilities. The structured IBF Standards appropriately reflects the evolving needs of industry and will better prepare the Trading Representative to handle the new demands of the market and the client. Broking firms of the SAS support the IBF Standards for the industry and will encourage practitioners to upgrade their skills and knowledge through certification and deliver even more value to their clients.

Mr Jimmy Ho, President of SRS, said, "I applaud IBF's efforts to raise competency standards of the remisier fraternity. Remisiers are generally not against attending courses as long as the product(s) concerned bring him decent earnings. The Society has been working diligently with IBF in designing quality courses for these people, which will best meet their future needs."

Ms Ong Puay See, CEO of IBF, said, “The significance of this multi-stakeholder partnership cannot be understated. It was important that IBF collaborated with SGX, SAS, SRS and broking firms in developing an industry-endorsed competency roadmap for Trading Representatives. The IBF Standards for Sales and Trading/Execution (Retail) allows Trading Representatives to develop deep functional competencies. This is critical to prepare Trading Representatives for the transformational changes that will sweep the industry, with the advent of technology and increased competition. The availability of funding subsidies will go a long way in making such efforts affordable during these challenging market conditions. I urge Trading Representatives to embrace lifelong learning and master your craft.”