SGX should seriously meet retail needs

THERE have been many attempts to stimulate retail interest in the stock market over the past few years, but the results have not been encouraging. Brokers and the Singapore Exchange (SGX) regularly conduct educational seminars, the exchange's website is a useful source of instructional information and commissions are now razor-thin, yet volume today is poor, phones are not ringing and many brokers are seriously contemplating throwing in the towel.

As one remisier noted, why stay in stockbroking and service retail clients for 40 per cent of 0.2 per cent of business done, when real estate brokers can earn 1-2 per cent? Why indeed. As we have noted many times before, the only way to change this is to address the concerns of the retail segment, both the punters who trade regularly and the frontline staff who actually bring in the business and service the retail investing public. Listening to what they have to say may prove useful.

According to these parties, a great deal of the reluctance to trade today originates from last October's penny stock crash. The handling of that sorry episode was undoubtedly poor and hardly inspired confidence, with patchy and incomplete information from regulators compounding the fear and panic that surrounded that collapse. This, according to unanimous feedback, has significantly dented confidence in the system and is keeping retail punters away.