PSE named best stock exchange in SEAsia

MANILA, Philippines - Robust trading activity and the launch of new products allowed the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) to become the top bourse in the Southeast Asian region this year despite volatilities.

The PSE said it received the Marquee Award for being the Best Stock Exchange in Southeast Asia during the 7th Annual Alpha Southeast Asia Best Solution and Deal Awards.

“The award cited the record-breaking year of the

Philippine stock market despite the volatility of equities markets worldwide,” PSE said.

Alpha Southeast Asia took note of the PSE index’s (PSEi) breach of the 7,000 mark, the remarkable growth of trading activity and capital raising activity during the year.

The organizers also recognized the various corporate governance initiatives, PSE said. The awards was organized by Alpha Southeast Asia, the first and only institutional investment magazine focused in Southeast Asia.

“This is a very good way to cap the year, which has shaped up to be one of the best years of the PSE from a new product offering standpoint,” said PSE president and CEO Hans B. Sicat.

“This will inspire us to push for more products and services that will attract more investors to take part in our growth story,” Sicat said.

For this year, the PSEi hit 31 all-time highs. On May 15, the benchmark index closed at a record 7,392.20 but has since dropped to 5,835.13 due to concerns over the US Federal Reserve’s tapering and the economic impact of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

For new products and services, PSE said it launched the country’s first exchange traded funds to increase investment options, the Shariah program for local stocks to attract Muslim investors, and a Philippine-based index futures in Singapore.

The local bourse also introduced PSETradex, its own online trading platform that brokers can use to offer online trading services to their clients.

“[PSE] is also preparing to launch its new and enhanced online corporate disclosure system dubbed the PSE EDGE,” the local bourse said.

It also continued recognizing companies and trading participants adhering to high standards of corporate governance with the second year of the PSE Bell Awards.

The performance of the equity market underscores how the Philippines’ equity market has been partially insulated from global volatility, said the in-house panel of Alpha Southeast Asia’s Marquee Awards.