PSE readies more products to boost market activities

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is expanding its product line to spur more activities in the local bourse.

More investment instruments like exchange-traded funds (ETF) and the online service bureau will make the country’s stock exchange competitive in the region, a top PSE official said.

“With new products coming on board, new issuers, new investors in the mix, we’d likely increase the average trading value,” PSE president and CEO Hans B. Sicat said in a briefing.

The Online Service Bureau will be launched in mid-April.

“That is a very important part of our developmental effort to increase the retail universe of investors,” Sicat said, adding this will increase the accessibility of the stock market.

The OSB will encourage brokerage houses to offer online trading services to the investing public.

Sicat said the PSE wants to take advantage of the growing number of online investors, allowing them to use their own computers, laptop, or smartphones to manage their own accounts.

ETFs, securities and investment instruments that monitor a commodity of assets like an index fund but trades like a normal stock in an exchange, will also be launched soon, Sicat said.

At least three firms, First Metro Investment Corp. of the Metrobank Group, Sy-led BDO Unibank Inc. and Bank of the Philippine Islands of the Ayala conglomerate have expressed plans to offer ETFs.

These new products will prepare the local stock market for the trading linkage of Southeast Asian bourses, Sicat said.

“I think it is fair to say that first of all, we should continue to grow our liquidity,” Sicat said.

“Number two is to increase the issuers then increase the number of products,” Sicat said.

In the planned Southeast Asian trading linkage, bourses in the region will make available for trading 30 top companies for each stock exchange. The linkage is seen to speed up the Southeast Asian integration by enhancing access and liquidity in capital markets across the region.

More investment products in the local bourse will give new investors the opportunity to participate more in the local bourse, Sicat said.

“Those with as many products can attract attention from investors,” Sicat said.

Robust activities in the equity market allowed the PSE’s profits to climb 53.7 percent to P624.17 million last year from P406.19 million in 2011.

Sicat said the operator of the local stock exchange aims to grow by double digits this year.

“We think we will probably have double-digit growth in revenues and income. We are assuming that there will be a few more products listed, there will be an increase in volumes and value as we have seen in the first two months of the year,” Sicat said.

So far this year, the benchmark index has recorded 23 all-time highs, with analysts expecting it to end the year near the 7,400-level amid rosy economic prospects, continuous corporate income growth and foreign capital flows.