CFA Society Singapore joined hands with partner organisations to support World Investor Week 2018, the global campaign to raise awareness about the importance of investor education and protection. 

World Investor Week in Singapore was organised by MoneySense, a national financial education programme supported by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The aim of the event was to raise awareness of issues relevant to the current financial services environment in Singapore.

Tan Lay Hoon, CFA, president, CFA Society Singapore said: “We’ve been working with MoneySense and key partners for the past few years to help Singapore investors improve their financial knowledge and investment skills, through seminars, talks, newspaper columns and portfolio simulations. Raising financial literacy, and helping investors to know their rights and how to exercise them, are all part of the core mission of CFA Society Singapore. We’re delighted to join World Investor Week in Singapore this year to help strengthen efforts in this area.”

At the event, there were four sessions of panel discussions on the following topics:

• Investing with Confidence
• Digital Financial Services and You
• Is the Deal Too Good to be True?
• Leveraged Investing

Two expert speakers from CFA Society Singapore contributed to the “Investing with Confidence”, "Digital Financial services and You" and “Leveraged Investing” panel discussions.

The session on “Investing with Confidence” was aimed at new investors and those who have tried investing but are daunted by market volatilities. The session covered the basic principles of investing, including the type of instruments, risk management, securities research and financial planning. The panellists candidly shared their own learning points, specifically addressing market volatilities, and the necessity of taking a long term, staying on course, attitude to investing.

“Digital Financial Services and You” explored the security of digital services, ranging from the stories around loss of bitcoin, liabilities of robots advising investments, the safety of digital wallets and more. The panellists discussed how new digital services has meant more prudence and due diligence is needed by the individual in their decision-making. This was a very lively discussion and it was great to see a real mix of ages in the audience.

The “Leveraged Investing” session raised awareness of counterparty risks that leveraged investors are exposed to, and the differentiation of this risk between over-the-counter and centralised clearing/exchange markets. They spoke in detail on trading/risk management technique, investment time horizons, type of personalities, and sizing of the notional exposure. The panel concluded that leveraged investing is not something that is suitable for everyone, and even savvy and sophisticated investors should be aware that the risks need to be assessed and managed carefully.

All the panel discussions were well attended, with lively discussion and lots of questions.

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