Goddy Egene
The acting Director General of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms. Mary Uduk, has said the commission has stepped up efforts to encourage retail investors to invest in the capital market in order to create wealth, deepen the market and grow the nation’s economy.
Uduk stated this on the sidelines of the recently held Thisday Awards 2020, urging investors to look into the capital market for future investments as various products abound that would suit their needs.
“You don’t need to have so much money to be able to tap into the opportunities available in the capital market. For instance, with the government bond, the minimum investable amount is N10,000 and you can buy in subsequent amounts of N1,000.
“We have Collective Investments Schemes (CIS), we have the stocks that you can buy through the stockbrokers and those you can invest in with as little as N5,000. So you don’t necessarily have to have a lot of money to invest, all you need is to approach the stockbrokers. They can open an account for you and whatever you have you can pay into the account and give instructions in what kind of investments you want to make.”
According to her, it is important for people to understand the workings of the capital market and not have the misconception that they must have a lot of money before they can invest.
“We have to disabuse our minds of it. I think that is what is leading people into putting money into Ponzi schemes and lose their money. So all you need to do is to go to SEC website see the list of capital market operators and approach one of them to open an account” she said.
