SET hopes for 40,000 new accounts from provincial roadshows

The 40,000 target is part of the SET’s overall aim of 95,000 new investment accounts this year.

SET president Kesara Manchusree said almost 20 per cent of newly listed companies in the past two years were from the provinces and their combined fund-raising value was around Bt14.38 billion. The proportion of provincial investors increased from 15 per cent to 18 per cent in the same period, with more than 200,000 of the total 1.1345 million investors in the capital market as of February from the provinces.

She said it was significant that annual growth in the number of provincial investors had increased from an average of less than 10 per cent to more than 16 per cent in the past five years. “This shows that the process of urbanisation is ongoing, while the increase of regional integration has provided business operators, especially companies on the borders, with more opportunity for expansion and more need for funds.” 

Chamber vice chairman Somkiat Anurat said business clusters in the provincial areas were among the country’s main economic drivers, and the move to arm them with financial knowledge would greatly increase local economic development. The increase in knowledge would also increase investment and economic activities in the provinces.

The secretary-general of the Association of Thai Securities Companies, Yarnsak Manomaipiboon, said more and more securities companies were expanding their services to the provinces because of the increasing trend of new provincial investors. 

FTI vice chairman Thanarak Pongpetra said most investors in the provinces had financial and investment knowledge but had little time to watch the market, and he hoped that the roadshow would increase the number of listed companies from the provinces as they gained more understanding of the capital market.

The managing director of Krungsri Securities, Udomkarn Udomsab, said the firm believed that the effort to increase people’s financial literacy would contribute to an increase of listed companies from the provinces. He added that the growth of new investment accounts upcountry was much larger than before.

“Sixty per cent of the country’s gross domestic product is contributed by the provinces, and this shows that more wealth is being distributed. But financial literacy is still not widespread enough … and this roadshow show should improve this aspect,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kesara said the lifting of martial law should improve tourist confidence, and the timing was good since Westerners normally plan their vacations at least six months ahead, so this move should be able to increase the number of inbound Western visitors by the end of this year.

Still, the decision by the military regime to cancel martial law would not have much effect on investors’ decision-making, she said. Even though GDP last year grew by only 0.7 per cent, listed companies posted growth of 5 per cent on average. 

This meant the SET remained attractive through the political turmoil, because investors normally look at the performance of listed companies more than any other factors.