THE Director General of
the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Rev. Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh, has
outlined some goals that should underpin financial literacy and financial
education campaigns in the country.
He said to create a pool of resilient investors, financial
literacy campaigns must have an overarching goal of producing responsible and
informed investors.
“People must be responsible for the decisions they take. We need
to get to a point where we have investors that are responsible and informed and
are responsible for planning their finances and investment decisions.
“We need to educate people
on the need to plan and the need to follow the plan and not the crowd,” he
stated.
Mr Ogbarmey Tetteh said that when he delivered the keynote address
at the ‘Ring the Bell’ for financial literacy’ event which was held by the Ghana
Stock Exchange (GSE).
He said the campaigns must also have the goal of producing
investors who were responsible for conducting some minimum due diligence about
the products they were signing on to and the service providers.
“People many times just
follow the word of mouth and invest but it is necessary to do your checks to
find out if the providers are even licensed,” he stated.
The director general also pointed out that a good financial
education campaign must be aimed at creating investors who were knowledgeable
about the risk-return characteristics of various products.
“We have people who do not appreciate this and you sometimes get
investors asking you what is the best return, forgetting that the returns were
based on the risks,” he noted.
Shared responsibility
Mr Ogbarmey Tetteh noted that investor education was a shared
responsibility that involved the financial sector regulators, the market
operators and even the investors themselves.
“Market operators are also
responsible, as well as the investing public, who also have a responsibility to
access the sources of financial information available to bolster their
awareness.
“This means that everyone should step up to the occasion in
achieving financial literacy and driving illiteracy out of the sector,” he
stated.
Sustained campaign
He also noted that the issue of investor education must be
sustained and must not be limited or restricted to an event.
“It’s nice to have this
event but beyond having events, we must have a sustained approach to achieving
knowledge and awareness about the financial market and how it operates.
“We must also make sure the education is simplified so that the
target audience can understand,” he said.
Ring the bell
As part of activities to
mark World Investor Week, the GSE has joined over 80 stock exchanges across the
world to mark the occasion.
This will see the GSE, together with the Central Securities
Depository (CSD), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and market
players educate the public and investors on the investment opportunities
available to them and also raise awareness about the importance of investor
education and protection.
The Deputy Managing Director of the GSE, Abena Amoah, said
financial literacy had become more important than ever to help investors
navigate the challenges and uncertainties surrounding investment options.
She said the theme for the World Investor Week, ‘Building investor
resilience’ was very relevant, considering the current economic challenges
confronting the world and the uncertainties in the investor space.
Commitment to financial literacy
In his closing remarks, the Managing Director of GSE, Ekow
Afedzie, said the exchange was committed to financial literacy and it had been
so since it was first established.
He said although the ring the bell for financial literacy advocacy
had been going on for the past six years globally, this was the first time the
GSE was taking part.
He assured the public that going forward, the GSE would continue
to participate in this global event each year.
“As an exchange, we will continue to do it because it will have a
great impact on the development of the capital market. Without investments,
there is no way the country can develop and without savings, there is no way
people can invest.
“Financial literacy is, therefore, very important at this time,
especially at a time when investors are having challenges and don’t know what
to do,” he stated.
Source: Graphic Online