SGX constantly enhancing quality of stock market here

I REFER to Jimmy Ho's letter, "It's not a 'quality market' for investors" (BT, Nov 12). We appreciate Mr Ho's feedback, but do not agree with his depiction of the Singapore stock market as suffering from a "malaise".

In fact, over the past 12 quarters, the Straits Times Index (STI) and its dividends have rewarded investors with a 10 per cent return annually - much higher than interest rates and broad residential housing prices, which have averaged gains of less than one per cent each year.

While we acknowledge that not all products we have introduced to the market have worked, such as Extended Settlement (ES) contracts and American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), some have gained traction among investors. For example, assets under management (AUM) for the STI ETFs, namely the Nikko AM STI ETF and the SPDR STI ETF, have grown 12 per cent to US$419 million at the end of last month from US$374 million as at end-2011. Regular Saving…