PSE to offer securities course in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - The University of San Carlos (USC) has partnered with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) to introduce a Certified Securities Specialist Course, to further promote the maturity of capital market in the Philippines.

USC and PSE will formalize the partnership through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), slated on August 8 at the university’s main campus.

The Securities Course is a 127-hour continuing education program for market practitioners that will put emphasis on financial market theories, valuation techniques and analysis, investment portfolio management, ethics, regulations and market dynamics.

In a statement, PSE revealed that it has conducted 19 runs since its launch in December 2006 with partners like Ateneo Center for Continuing Education, UST Center for Continuing Professional Development, Development Center for Finance, iACADEMY School for Continuing Education and Global City Innovative College.

The ceremony will be graced by PSE’s president and chief executive Hans B. Sicat, and marketing services and market education head Jose Antonio S. Villar, as well as USC’s president and chief executive officer Dionisio Miranda, SVD, Liberato Reyes, chairman of the USC Graduate School of Business and Economics.

Meanwhile, in an earlier interview with PSE chief operating officer (COO) Roel A. Refran, he said that that stock exchange is promoting different projects including pushing uptake of the retail investors in the Philippines, specifically in Cebu, as Cebuanos have become savvy and interest to make stock market is their top investment alternative.

“We see a lot of potential investors here in Cebu especially from the younger generation as they are more open-minded and look at a lot of information available online,” Refran said.

According to Refran, 52 percent of the investors in the stock market last year are foreign investors registering P109.98 billion in investments, which is a 94.6 percent increase from only P56.52 billion in 2011.

Domestic investors are slowly catching up with P61.68 billion or an increase of 84.9 percent from that of 2011.

“All these are positive indicators. We are seeing a lot of interest from local investors especially with the many affordable products that are being offered now,” said Refran.

Refran added that PSE has been in the constant dialogue with SEC at the technical and strategic level “so we can both push the capital market forward with some of the new products that have been long waiting in the wings.”

 Moreover, the PSE inked memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Singapore Exchange (SGX) last March 2013, for the mutual cooperation on the development of Philippines-link derivative products.

The Philippines stock market is currently in the midst of an unprecedented run in history. As of May this year, the PSE is the third best performing benchmark index among selected Asian indices with a year-to-year growth rate of 26.1 percent. —(FREEMAN)