Bursa Malaysia looking at raising number of millennial investors

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia Bhd is looking at increasing the number of millennial investors on the local bourse through its significant outreach and marketing education programmes.

Bursa Malaysia chief commercial officer Selvarany Rasiah said the programme, which targets university and school students, will provide them with the necessary knowledge and skills for trading.

"Millennials are the fastest-growing account for us as of now. For example, this year we opened up more than 40 per cent of Central Depository System (CDS) accounts for millennials aged 25 years and below," she told reporters after the Inter-Varsity Stock Challenge 2019 (IVSC) closing ceremony here today.

The IVSC, a three-month-long interactive stock trading competition from May to July, attracted 3,000 students from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Multimedia University (MMU) and Taylor’s University (Taylor’s), who were then divided into 787 teams.

Two teams from Taylor's bagged the grand prize and second place, namely team 'Goreng' and team 'Ikan Bakar', while third place was won by team 'No Ideas' from MMU.

Commenting on the IVSC challenge, Selvarany said: "I think this event certainly goes towards familiarising millennials with the opportunity that they have, so it’s not just about the trading aspect but also the learning aspect.

"As one of the judges, I noted that many of them have very strong learning coming out of this participation," she added.

Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift said the stick exchange welcomes collaborations in investor education with capital market players, saying it is a critical enabler in helping to develop a sustainable and vibrant capital market.

"We are also most encouraged by the positive response from students of the participating universities, which shows that IVSC is creating the right type of conversation to generate interest among young people and build their confidence in becoming savvy, knowledgeable capital market investors," he said. - Bernama