Bursa Malaysia's Market Chat roadshow, which is aimed at going on-ground to engage and educate retailers on opportunities on the capital market, grows bigger and better this year. This fourth installment of the annual investment roadshow is expanding to more than 20 locations and non-urban town centres, in partnership with eight brokers and investment banks. The main aim of the roadshows is to create greater awareness on the opportunities available in the capital market, as well as introducing retailers to new products and electronic trading services in the Malaysian capital market.
Dato' Yusli Mohamed Yusoff, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia said, "We strongly believe that retail investors are integral to the growth and vibrancy of our capital market. To that end, we are focused on growing our investor base - both the young and savvy investing segment - as well as providing investors an avenue to access investment knowledge. Market Chat is the perfect platform which enables us to reach out to the retail investors nationwide and to equip investors to achieve better control in their investment decisions by adopting informed investment strategies."
Bursa Malaysia's Market Chat is a series of roadshows aimed at cultivating informed retail investors and encouraging Malaysians to view the stock market as an investment option. Established in 2007, Market Chat is part of a continuous retail investment programme by Bursa Malaysia with the primary aim to stimulate greater retail participation in the capital market. The annual Market Chat is spearheaded by Bursa Malaysia with the support of eight brokerage firms and investment banks. This year's series, which will commence on October 9, 2010 and continue until March 2011, will be held in more than 20 locations nationwide.
Dato' Yusli is heartened with the ongoing support of the Market Chat partners and added, "Our broker partners play a crucial role in assisting us to promote the market via the Market Chat series where they have an opportunity for face-to-face interaction with the retail investors. I am pleased to note that our partners have been working closely with Bursa Malaysia in our endeavours to build a market that is of high quality as well as to uncover the hidden gems in our markets, and encourage greater retail investor participation. This interactive platform between partners and investors also bodes well for Bursa Malaysia's continuous commitment to educate the younger investing population on becoming well-informed investors. I am confident that participants can look forward to a new learning experience by attending Market Chat."
Investors will benefit greatly from Market Chat roadshows as they will learn about the various investment opportunities, trading and investment strategies, available products and tools, risks and returns, to name a few. Market Chat will offer investors an avenue to gain knowledge on various asset classes apart from stock trading. There are also other investment options such as structured warrants, exchange traded funds or ETFs, real estate investment trusts or REITs, and the latest offering Callable Bull Bear Certificates or CBBCs, which can give retail investors more flexibility in diversifying their investment portfolios. In addition, they will also be exposed to the usage of electronic trading methods such as online trading and Bursa Malaysia's electronic services such as the e-dividend facility where shareholders are able to to receive their cash dividends directly into their bank accounts.
The Market Chat roadshows have achieved increasingly positive results year-on-year. In the space of just three years, Market Chat reached nearly 18,000 investors via 117 roadshows. More notably, Bursa Malaysia was able to generate nearly 3,600 new CDS accounts over the said period. This marks an average conversion rate of 20%.
For more information on Market Chat, visit Bursa Malaysia's website www.bursamalaysia.com.