Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) held its third session of SECP Investor Education Programme for the members of business community and working professionals from diverse backgrounds on Friday. The seminar was attended by a number of Karachi based investors. Senior officials from the Karachi Stock Exchange, Institute of Capital Markets (ICM) and Pakistan Mercantile Exchange (PMEX) presented their views during the session.
CEO Institute of Capital Markets, Javed Hassan; Head of Marketing and Business Development, Pakistan Mercantile Exchange, Hassan Mehmood; Chief Strategy Officer, JS Investments, Maleeha Bangash; General Manager, Karachi Stock Exchange, Sani-e-Mehmood Khan; along with the KSE officials participated in the session.
While addressing the session, CEO ICM, Javed Hassan, elaborated the pros and cons of investing in different financial products. He focused on the broad features of investments opportunities available in the country, Pakistan's economic & financial system, features and characteristics of different financial markets, regulatory framework, market indicators, investment products, financial services and roles and responsibilities of various financial institutions in the country. He also explained the fact that how diversification across various investment instruments safeguards the investors' interest. The investors were also given an insight about the features of insurance, mutual funds, commodities, debt, and equity markets.
Head of Marketing and Business Development PMEX, Mehmood Hassan, also briefed about the role of PMEX in Capital Markets along with its products and mechanisms. It was also addressed to the participants that in what circumstances and how investors can lodge complaint with the Exchange / PMEX in case he/she is not satisfied with the services of the broker.
Maleeha Bangash, briefed the participants about the opportunities in Mutual Funds, and the role of Mutual Funds in creating the saving habits in general investors. Speaking on the occasion, Sani-e-Mehmood Khan, General Manager Market Development said that investors face a wide range of investment choices these days, and it is not easy for an average investor to make investment decisions without proper knowledge and understanding of the available investment choices. He further said that Equity Market is one such venue where general public can invest through purchasing shares and own equitable rights to the extents of shares purchased. He also spoke about the Cash Settled Futures and derivatives available in the markets along with the new products that stock markets are planning to launch. He also briefed about the various products available in equity markets of the country along with the latest steps taken by their respective organisations for the benefits of investors.
At the end of the session, a detailed questions answer session was conducted. Investors asked several questions from the CEO ICM, which were then answered by him in detail. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and Institute of Capital Market (ICM) along with financial market stakeholders (KSE, LSE, ISE, NCCPL, CDC, MUFAP, PMEX, IAP) have developed a countrywide `Investor Education and Awareness Programme' launched from July 13, 2012. As part of this programme, it was the third session conducted by the Karachi Stock Exchange for the general investors.
The basic purpose of the programme is the promotion of investors understanding of risk and reduced vulnerability to fraudulent schemes. Expanding outreach of financial products and services and encouraging short-term as well as long-term saving culture is also an important component of the programme. However, the basic objective of the programme is to build investor confidence in the non-banking financial markets which includes stock exchanges, commodity market, insurance, mutual funds etc. The investor education is widely recognised as being crucial for sustainable growth of the financial markets, ensuring investor protection and bolstering confidence in the markets.-PR