On 30 October 2024, CFA Society Singapore launched the Singapore edition of the CFA Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Code. The launch marks the first release of the voluntary code in Asia, offering financial services organisations across Singapore, regardless of size, an action-oriented framework for developing impactful DEI strategies should they voluntarily choose to follow the code.
The DEI Code Singapore launch follows recent launches of DEI Codes in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. To date, the CFA Institute DEI Code for the Investment Profession has been adopted by nearly 200 investment organisations worldwide, representing around 30 percent of global assets under management.
DEI Code Singapore signatories voluntarily commit to six metrics-based principles, which aim to create better working environments and generate a cycle of positive change for current and future generations.
We highly encourage financial institutions to adopt this voluntary code for the benefit of the industry and broader society.
CFA Society Singapore successfully held our Investment Gala Dinner 2024, titled “Turning the Tide on Climate Finance” on 14 May 2024.
The gala, which saw over 200 attendees, was graced by our Guest-of-Honour, Senior Minister of State, Dr Koh Poh Koon, and keynote speaker Professor Winston Chow, co-chair of the bureau of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The dinner included an impactful panel discussion on sustainable finance strategies, featuring speakers Keoy Soo Earn, CFA; Tan Boon Gin, Tarang Khimasia, Won Shinbo, and moderator Jessica Cheam.
When we put on an inclusion lens and look through them, the Singapore landscape throws up groups of people which the financial sector often underserve. One group caught our eye — gig workers.
We believe much can be learnt from research done in this area to improve the offerings of financial products to the gig workers. CFA Society Singapore believes that with the right and appropriate financial products, the variable income workers will have a higher probability of achieving their aspirations and desired retirement sum.
We hope this report would serve as a catalyst to firms in Singapore to make available and to provide suitable financial products and services for the benefit of this underserved segment.
Read the full report here.
Trust in Singapore’s financial services industry dropped a significant 11 percentage points to 36% in 2020. The decline in trust levels was flagged out in CFA Institute’s fourth global trust survey which surveyed 15 markets and 3,525 retail investors globally.
This research report aims to address and arrest the decline, which can have long lasting effects on investors’ wealth aspirations, such as saving for children’s education, as well as retirement adequacy. The knock-on effects of slower growth or lesser capital flow into the financial services sector can adversely impact future job opportunities and Singapore’s hub status in the region.
Read the full report here.
In September 2015, CFA Institute, in collaboration with CRISIL, produced a 111-page research report on portfolio pumping in Singapore. The report, titled “Portfolio Pumping in Singapore: Myth or Reality?” examined the effectiveness of
regulatory enforcements on deterring portfolio pumping by analysing tick-by tick data of 189 listed companies under the FTSE Straits Times All-Share Index from Singapore Exchange (SGX) between 2003–2013. Given the interest shown
by the investment community, especially in Singapore, CFA Society Singapore decided to undertake a follow-up research project that further examined if the equities market in Singapore is free from manipulation. Manipulation compromises
market integrity and is detrimental to the development of capital markets. The project aims to determine the presence of market manipulation around company announcements in equities listed on SGX. By analysing data on price, volume and announcements in the six-year period between 2011 and 2016, the study investigates if the Singapore equities market is prone to manipulation with announcements as the trigger at both the broader market level as well as at any subset level.
Read the full report here.
“Save and Invest Portfolio Series” with Lianhe Zaobao
<<联合早报>>步步为盈” 栏目
SGX, CFA Society Singapore and MoneySENSE jointly launch the “Save and Invest Portfolio Series” with Lianhe Zaobao
Singapore Exchange (SGX) partnered CFA Society Singapore and MoneySENSE to launch the year-long “Save and Invest Portfolio Series” with Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao in 2017, in a move to encourage Chinese-language readers to save and invest for the future. This followed the success of The Sunday Times Invest section’s “Save and Invest Portfolio Series” that had been running from 2015-2016. The monthly Save and Invest Portfolio Series named “步步为盈” was featured in Lianhe Zaobao’s weekly financial planning column on every second Sunday of the month, which started from 8 October 2017. The series featured simulated savings and investment portfolios of a young working adult, a married individual with a young child and a retiree – three Singaporean individuals each at different life stages.
Read the press release here.
Save and Invest Portfolio Series
In collaboration with CFA Society Singapore and MoneySENSE, “Save and Invest Portfolio Series” was a monthly column on The Sunday Times, featuring simulated savings and investment portfolios of three Singaporean individuals and families at different life stages. The objective was to provide retail investors with simulated examples of basic investment and portfolio building techniques, in accordance with specific investment goals and risk tolerance. The featured portfolios also introduced different types of investment instruments and products available to retail investors, including relatively new ones such as the Singapore Savings Bonds. The three simulated portfolios were tracked over one year and guided by a panel of four CFA Society Singapore volunteers who are CFA charterholders and collectively have 77 years’ experience as investment professionals.