PSE chief wants a taste of Vietnam's retail potion

Low retail participation has been ailing the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) for quite some time now, impacting the market's liquidity.

- By RICHMOND MERCURIO

Monzon

A magic potion of sorts might be needed to rejuvenate and spur active participation, and PSE president and chief executive officer Ramon Monzon is keen on finding one.

If Monzon can have it his way, though, he would like to uncover and study the elixir behind strong retail participation in one of the country’s Southeast Asian neighbors.

"What dictates liquidity basically is retail investing," Monzon told The STAR. "Vietnam, I read, is hitting $900 million a day of volume, and 80 percent of that volume is generated by retail investors. I keep telling my research team how can that happen?"

"How can 80 percent of the $900 million be generated by retail investors? Where do they get the money when their per capita is $4,800? How can they trade such that 80 percent of the $900 million to $1 billion comes from retail investors? I'm still trying to figure that out. But they must have a secret elixir that I want to learn," he said.

Monzon's wish is to see increased liquidity in the market, and doing so will require a bigger role for retail investors.