Bangkok--20 Nov--SEC
SEC, ThaiBMA and TIA introduce ‘Bond Supermart’ to encourage retail investors access to corporate bonds in the secondary market with adequate information for investment decision making.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Thai Bond Market Association (ThaiBMA)
and Thai Investors Associations (TIA) co-developed Bond Supermart as corporate bond information platform for retail investors. The platform provides prices and necessary information of liquid bonds traded in secondary market as well as basic information, dealer contact details, and bond price and return calculator which could be of use for trading with dealers. In addition, deposit interest rates and government bond yields are provided for comparison. Bond Supermart can be accessed through five channels including ThaiBMA’s websites (www.thaibma.or.th and www.thaibond.com), SEC’s websites (www.sec.or.th and www.start-to-invest.com) and SEC’s Mobile Application ‘start-to-invest’.
Bond Supermart provides 20 liquid plain corporate bonds rated at investment grade. ThaiBMA will quarterly revise the lists in response to investors’ demands. Meanwhile, TIA will encourage the investors to make use of the information disclosed in the platform for efficient portfolio management.
SEC Secretary-General Vorapol Socatiyanurak said ‘Bond Supermart’ is one of bond market development projects initiated by the SEC and jointly developed with ThaiBMAto encourage investment in the capital market. Bond Supermart will function as a user-friendly one stop information site for retail investors’ access to prices and trading contact channels enabling them to appropriate portfolio management and asset allocationsfor diversifying risk. Amid the stock market popularity, the platform will serve asthe very first step for investors’ interest and understanding in the debt securities market. It is important to emphasize that continual cooperation among all market participantsis very crucial to achieve the development of overall Thai bond market.
ThaiBMA President Niwat Kanjanaphoomin said ‘Bond Supermart’ offers the retail investors the basic information for making decision to trade corporate bonds in the secondary market. It helps the investors to lift up efficiency of portfolio management under today’s dynamic financial and economic conditions. Instead of buying newly-launched bonds or adopting buy-and-hold investment strategy, the investors could step into the secondary market for buying or selling when needed. Presently, 14 dealers have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ThaiBMA to ensure their services while the others are expected to participate in Bond Supermart in the future.
TIA Chairman Mongkol Leelatham said corporate bonds are offered quite attractive returns and help diversify investment risk. The instruments, however, are not much popular among the retail investors, in particular trading them in the secondary market. Perhaps, the investors are accustomed to buy-and-hold investment or they may not have sufficient knowledge in corporate bonds or the access to information may not be convenient. Accordingly, I trust that Bond Supermart will be a catalyst for both retail investors already invest in the primary market and those who seek the right time to invest in corporate bonds traded in the secondary market.