Director General of the Securities and Industry Association (GSIA), Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh, is urging financial institutions, especially capital market operators that are championing financial literacy campaigns to make them relatable to both investors and potential ones to help them build resilience and confidence.
He stressed that all possible information must always be made available to allow them to make informed investment decisions.
Delivering the keynote address at the Ghana Stock Exchange in partnership with the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), the International Organisation of Securities Commission’s (IOSCO) ‘Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy’ program in Accra on the theme ‘Building Investor Resilience’, Mr. Ogbarmey Tetteh noted that campaigns aimed at achieving inclusivity and literacy must be sustainable and not just a one-time event.
“Let us make the financial literacy education as comprehensive as possible because we are trying to build a system and the investors are a critical part. The education must be sustainable, simplified, relatable, and objective,” he said.
He reiterated that financial literacy is crucial to the financial sector as it needs to grow a pool of resilient investors.
“The financial sector needs a growing pool of resilient investors, not the ones that turn to be fleet-footed and prone to knee-jerked reactions or head mentality. I know how difficult it is to have investors who simply do not understand and will move on to decide on the slightest sound. When we execute our financial literacy well, I believe we will have this pool of resilient investors,” he said.
The GSIA director also indicated that financial literacy campaigns must target goals such as producing responsible and informed investors who will be accountable for the decisions they take.
“Our financial campaigns should bring people who see the need to plan and follow the plan and not the crowd. People without knowledge will just follow the crowd. Let our goal be to produce investors who will be responsible for conducting some minimum due diligence about products and service providers. Create investors who know risk-return characteristics of various products,” he added.
The need to protect people’s well-being from economic shocks was underscored by other speakers who urged individuals to set realistic financial goals.
They advised that investors must also seek adequate knowledge about investments even in challenging times to guide their decision or indecisions.
For the Managing Director of the GSE, financial literacy is important in this current dispensation, especially when investors are uncertain about the economic crisis
CEO of Crescendo Consult Ltd, Mrs. Doris Ahiati, advised that in uncertain times investors “must be present, learn, and seek professional guidance.”
Managing Director of Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC) Investments, Paul Mante, also holds that individuals must be deliberate about making available emergency funds so they do not have to distract their long-term savings plan.
For the Managing Director of Tesah Capital Limited Mrs. Eugenia Basheer and CEO of OctaneDC Limited, Dr. Suzy Aku Akpene Puplampu, it is important to have other sources of income and lean on professional advises to make an informed decision and minimize investment risk.
