Singapore Exchange (“SGX”) and Securities Investors Association (Singapore) (“SIAS”) announced today they are signing a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) to formalize their commitment over the next 3 years to bring investing to the heartlands.
Retail investors can look forward to the Community Outreach Education Programme which includes various investment seminars conducted in the heartlands jointly by SGX and SIAS. These seminars will be customized according to the needs of the community, ranging from the basics of financial literacy, like how to manage your money to courses on the basics of investing, for example, what are stocks and dividends.
Another highlight of the MOU is the Youth Chapter which will see SGX and SIAS cooperate with tertiary educational institutions to equip young investors with foundational knowledge of investing and SGX-listed stocks.
The first joint initiative is the inaugural Singapore Investment Week 2012, a community outreach campaign that will raise the level of awareness on the importance of investing. From 25th to 31st August 2012, members of the public can learn more about investing through a series of investment seminars, online videos and radio programmes.
The above initiatives build on SGX’s recently launched ‘My Gateway’ investor education portal which has garnered more than 100,000 sign-ups for market updates. They also complement the 200 investor education seminars and courses organized by SGX Academy over the last 12 months from July 2011 till June 2012, which were well attended by more than 10,500 participants.
“With rising inflation, savings alone is no longer sufficient for retirement planning. It is therefore important for the community and youths to be financially literate, including knowing more about investing as part of financial planning. SGX, together with SIAS, aim to empower the investor community by promoting financial literacy and raising awareness of Singapore’s securities market through committed programmes over the next 3 years,” said Mr Chew Sutat, Head of Sales & Clients at SGX.
“As we go through turbulent times with an uncertain economic outlook, it is even more important that Singapore investors are equipped with the knowledge to cope with the fast changing investment landscape and to make sound investment decisions for their secure future. The collaboration with SGX is, therefore, timely and meaningful to the community. SIAS looks forward to working closely with SGX to roll out a series of investor education programmes to benefit different community groups,” said Mr David Gerald, President & CEO at SIAS.
At the MOU signing, SGX also launched StockWhiz, an online investing competition held from 10 September to 30 November 2012 where participants can win up to $150,000[1]. Registration is now open at www.sgx.com/stockwhiz.
[1] All prizes will be in the form of ETF units of approximate value, based on the purchase price of the ETF units. Please visit www.sgx.com/stockwhiz for the full set of terms and conditions and how to play.