Mr Loh Boon Chye, CEO SGX Group,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Past and the Present
1. Good morning and happy new year! I am delighted to join you today to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Straits Times Index, or STI.
2. Sixty years ago, in 1966, the index began as a simple measure — a newspaper-published barometer of our young economy’s industrial backbone. It tracked the pulse of factory floors, shipyards, trading houses, and it captured the spirit of a nation building with purpose.
3. At that time, it was first known as the Straits Times Industrials Index and stood alongside the Straits Times Mining and Rubber indices, tracking 30 blue-chip counters on the Stock Exchange of Malaysia and Singapore.
4. Since then, the STI has experienced a significant transformation. Between 2007 and 2008, FTSE Russell formed a strategic joint venture with the SGX and SPH Media Ltd and took over the responsibility for the index’s calculation and management. With this partnership, the STI adopted FTSE’s international index methodology, which enhanced transparency and investability for global and local investors.
5. Today’s STI tells a larger story. It is anchored by our banks, telecommunications, logistics and industrial champions, as well as real estate and REITs — mirroring Singapore’s transformation from an industrialising city-state to a trusted global enterprise and financial hub.
6. The STI story goes beyond Singapore. It has evolved alongside our economic development as a key regional and global node. Many of the companies within the STI have leveraged Singapore’s global connectivity to establish significant business footprints across Asia.
7. Over half of the STI constituents’ earnings originate outside Singapore, giving investors exposure to China, India and Southeast Asia amongst other regions.
Looking Ahead – Turning the Flywheel of Liquidity and Listings
8. As we reflect on STI’s 60-year history, the road ahead for Singapore equities requires us to continue this partnership, to continue working together. We are focused on strengthening our competitiveness across several key areas that issuers, investors, and intermediaries have given us feedback on during the Review Group’s consultations. We want to get the flywheel turning by enhancing liquidity, making trading easier, making listings more attractive, and better connecting Singapore with other major markets.
9. So first on liquidity. Liquidity is the lifeblood of any market. We are seeing encouraging signs that there are now more trading activities going on and before the usual year-end market slowdown, the average daily traded value of securities on SGX grew more than 20% year-on-year to almost S$1.8 billion in November 2025. Total market value of listed companies also crossed the S$1 trillion mark, while average daily traded value of securities for full year of 2025 was the highest since 2010. These numbers reflect improving market functionality and stronger two-way interest from market participants.
- Importantly, we also saw increased activity in small- and mid-cap counters, with turnover in this segment increasing by more than 40% year-on-year, outpacing the rest of the market. Even as we celebrate STI 60th anniversary today, I would like to acknowledge the efforts by Boon Chye and his team at SGX in launching its iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index, which has also performed admirably with total returns of more than 25% in 2025.
- This Next 50 Index is a positive step towards broadening market liquidity and fostering a more inclusive stock market. By featuring the performance of large and liquid companies just below the flagship STI, this encourages broader investor participation. Such recognition promotes healthy competition and strengthens the overall market ecosystem.
- Listed companies also have a crucial role in improving market liquidity for their counters. The Review Group has put in place various measures, including the Equity Market Development Programme (EQDP) and grant schemes to enhance equity research. But one of the most important lever for market liquidity and vibrancy lies in the hands of listed companies themselves – when they communicate a clear equity story, maintain high corporate governance standards, and engage investors proactively.
- So I would like to encourage all our listed companies to tap on the “Value-Unlock” Programme that MAS and SGX have launched to support your efforts in achieving these objectives. This will further enhance and draw in more investor interest into our markets.
10. Second, let us continue to work together to draw in more quality listings. I am very encouraged to hear the update from Boon Chye that we look forward to more listings this year. IPO activity last year has rebounded significantly, with more than S$2.4 billion in total funds raised, which is the highest since 2019.
11. We want to see more growth companies and diverse sectors choose Singapore as a listing venue. With the implementation of the Review Group’s measures, our ecosystem players must now move together as one. SGX, investment bankers, and fund managers should continue to work closely with one another to bring more quality IPO-ready companies to our public market.
- Singapore already has a strong private equity and venture capital ecosystem that supports a breadth of promising start-ups and growth companies, and this provides a strong potential pipeline for future IPO candidates. We must collectively better engage, cultivate, and raise the profile of these growth companies to investors. I believe this will support their transition from private to public market.
- To this end, MAS has awarded the first grant under the GEMS private market research scheme to Smartkarma, to provide research on pre-IPO companies. We look forward to more firms and research participants coming on board to broaden awareness and understanding of these companies. As we build greater investor familiarity with a larger spectrum of upcoming growth companies, this expands the pipeline of companies that could list in Singapore.
- The upcoming partnership between SGX and Nasdaq to launch a Global Listing Board will also support our collective efforts to attract more quality listings. It will provide a bridge for Asian growth companies to access capital and liquidity across two key global market venues with one single prospectus. This innovative collaboration reduces friction and costs for companies as they seek both the brand recognition from Asian investors and the deep liquidity pools from the US. We look forward to this new Board going live by mid-2026.
- We are also strengthening intra-Asian capital flows to support the region’s growth. MAS and SGX are deepening linkages across major Asian markets – extending the secondary listing framework, including streamlined prospectus requirements, to companies listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
- We are also working with ASEAN partners to strengthen market connectivity by expanding depository receipt linkages and cross-border investment channels. These initiatives will better enable regional companies to tap intra-Asian capital for their expansion across the continent.
12. Ladies and Gentlemen, strengthening our public equity market will enhance the resilience and vibrancy of our enterprise financing ecosystem as a whole. This contributes to our nation’s shift towards an innovation driven economy. It offers a reliable exit option for private equity and venture capital investors to realise their investments and this gives them confidence to recycle their capital into the next generation of new start-ups and new growth companies.
Concluding Remarks - The Next 60 Years Begin Today
13. Ladies and gentlemen, our journey to build a more compelling and attractive Singapore equity market has started well in 2025 thanks to the joint efforts by many of you. The flywheel of listings and liquidity has started to turn and it is gaining momentum. All stakeholders including MAS, SGX and our partners must continue to work hard to build on what we have done last year to give these initiatives a bigger boost this year.
14. As we shift to focus on timely and effective implementation of our measures, I am confident that the Equity Market Implementation Committee under the joint leadership of MAS and SGX will continue to adapt, adjust, and accelerate our efforts to make the Singapore equity market more competitive and effective for investors and issuers.
15. Our journey to grow Singapore as a trusted financial centre for the next 60 years continues. So, let us be bold in trying new ideas, taking calculated risks and building the road ahead together — with ambition, enterprise and strong partnership between the Government and the industry.
16. And as we head towards the Year of the Horse next month, I would like to take this opportunity also to wish everyone 龙马精神，马到功成, and to wish our local equities market 一马当先，骏马腾飞, or as we say in Hokkien, “bo beh zao” (没马跑) (meaning incomparable)!
17. Thank you very much!
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[1] Saw Swee Hock, Investment Management in Singapore (Longman Singapore Publishers, 1989), 139.
[2] Tan Chwee Huat, Financial Markets and Institutions in Singapore (Singapore University Press, 1997), 217.
[3] https://www.lseg.com/en/insights/ftse-russell/beyond-the-headlines-five-things-you-didnt-know-about-singapores-straits-times-index
