MONEY MATTERS

The best route to financial freedom and wealth is by saving and investing one’s funds. With the rising inflation rate in the country, money saved in the bank is useless and would depreciate with time.

In raising awareness of the importance of investor education and protection, the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has come up with ‘World Investor Week’, which is a global campaign.

World Investor Week is a global campaign promoted by the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) to raise awareness about the importance of investor education and protection.

This week, starting from October 24 to 26, 2022, is the sixth eWWdition of the 2022 world investor week(WIW).

Planning for life’s unexpected challenges, being mindful of economic conditions, and creating an investment portfolio for the long term can provide one with a strong foundation to take control of their financial future and be a resilient investor.

The Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC), in collaboration with the Financial Literacy Technical Committee (FLTC), joined the rest of the world to celebrate the sixth edition of the 2022 World Investor Week (WIW), being coordinated by the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). The key message of the IOSCO WIW campaign for this year is based on two themes; ‘Investor Resilience; and Sustainable Finance’.

The IOSCO WIW is an annual week-long global campaign which aims at promoting investor education and protection, as well as strengthening collaborations among member jurisdictions. The Commission, being a member representing Nigeria in the organisation, lined up series of activities to commemorate the year’s event.

Some of the activities slated for the event include interaction with the public on topics regarding investor education, rights and protection that are considered critical to retail investors nationwide. In particular, webinars titled ‘The Non-Interest Capital Market as Panacea to Mortgage Financing in Nigeria’ and ‘Investor Resilience and Sustainable Finance’ held on 26 and 27 October, 2022 respectively.

The director general of the SEC, Mr. Lamido Yuguda, stated that, the SEC and other players in the capital market have, over time, frequently sought to enhance the level and quality of financial literacy in Nigeria.

He said: “major among the recent initiatives is the on- going plan to introduce capital market studies in Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Institutions, a project which has reached an advance stage. It is without doubt that the delivery of this project will change the face of financial literacy in Nigeria.

“Indeed, for this sixth edition of the WIW, stakeholders nationwide are urged to collaborate with the Commission, and in their own different ways create the awareness on the need to educate and protect the investor.”

The chair of the IOSCO Board and the chief executive officer of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, Mr. Ashley Alder said: “during the last two years, we have seen a growing number of retail investors participating in securities markets, in the context of the global pandemic.

“Those investors are facing new challenges, such as inflationary pressures and the uncertainties deriving from geopolitical tensions. Financial education and investor protection play a critical role in enhancing investor resilience and investor confidence to participate in financial market on a properly informed basis.”

Types of Investment

There are different types of investments. Investing, broadly, is putting money to work for a period of time in some sort of project or undertaking in order to generate positive returns (profits that exceed the amount of the initial investment).

Today, investment is mostly associated with financial instruments that allow individuals or businesses to raise and deploy capital to firms. These firms then rake that capital and use it for growth or profit-generating activities.

Here are the most common types of investments:

Stocks: A buyer of a company’s stock becomes a fractional owner of that company. Owners of a company’s stock are known as its shareholders and can participate in its growth and success through appreciation in the stock price and regular dividends paid out of the company’s profits.