Sunday 18 March 2012

Why are young people shunning Bursa?

Blog from Anil Netto why so few young adults invest on Bursa Malaysia. He also refers to a query he emailed to Bursa that went unanswered. I am afraid I have had very similar experiences with Bursa.

The comments to this article are also telling.

"Few young adults are investing in the Kuala Lumpur stock market. A survey has revealed that only 12 per cent of investors are in the 20-29 age group, while 59 per cent involve those 40 years and above.

Some have cited possible reasons: the high risk factor involved in investing in the stock market; young people preferring to spend their money on property, cars and movies;  a lack of education about how to invest, etc.

I have my own theories.

Perhaps young adults, now with more access to independent information, are looking for more stable, secure investments rather than the speculative roller-coaster ride that is the Bursa Malaysia, especially in these days of economic uncertainty.

Or quite simply, many young adults don’t have enough spare cash to invest as their income levels are unable to cope with the rising cost of living. After buying a house and a private vehicle (due to the inadequate public transport) – and you know expensive those can be – and having to cope with rising fuel and food prices, how much spare cash do you think young adults will have left over to invest in the Bursa? Of course, there are study loans to repay as well.

Some of these young people might even think, why should we let the tycoons with access to capital (the young investors’ hard-earned money) earn huge profits – sometimes in ‘cronyistic’ or monopolistic businesses – in return for meagre dividends? Maybe they can see more clearly through the whole charade?

The other issue is one of confidence – or the lack of it. My emailed query to the Bursa in November 2009 has gone unanswered despite a reminder. I had posed the question to Bursa: if a listed firm fails to meet the minimum 25 per cent public shareholding spread requirement, what is the maximum duration allowed for it to comply? Is there a time limit at all?"

5 comments:

  1. If you can be specific, in terms of addressee of your question, probably you can highlight the lack of response to his/her supervisor. From then, he/she will not get his KPIs achieved and no share grant plan, ha ha. A reader who share equal frustration with Bursa.

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  2. http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/3/20/business/10949815&sec=business#13322408921541&if_height=886

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  3. Thanks. Yes, many shareholders accepted apparently the offer, which was not intended. That is the risk of making such an offer.

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  4. Well none of my colleagues are investing. What i notice is they are able to buy tech gadgets like Iphone, Ipad, cars and travel. But I didn't found anyone of them are interested on investment. There was once I was reading business news, a colleague who was in her late 40s told me that share market is not interesting and very dangerous. Although I dare not to speak out but what on my mind is it is dangerous for you to gamble but for a real investor share market is not that risky. Besides that only 1 out of my 12 cousins invest in share market. After 1997 the younger generation had been taught that share market is a big casino and no body are able to win from share market. Before I read my first investment book, I did shared the same mind set with them.
    Bursa had to buck up on this. They should enter colleges and offer financial education to the undergraduates.

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  5. Yes, there is a clear credibility issue.

    In markets like US and Australia investing in shares is popular, but retail investors will (on average) have made good money there, that is in the long run (US last 10 years was pretty poor).

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