BPO employees, more firms eyed for stock market

THE Philippine Stock Exchange aims to tap the 640,000-strong Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) employee base in the city for the retail trading activities in the stock market.

In an interview last Tuesday, PSE president and executive director Hans B. Sicat said part of their thrust this year is to intensify awareness especially among young professionals about the investment opportunities in the stock market.

“Employees in the outsourcing companies are a huge market that we can tap to encourage more activities in the stock market. One reason is that they have bigger disposable income that they can use for to invest,” he said.

Sicat said most BPO employees have their own savings and checking accounts,are  more technology savvy and are most likely to review information online.

He said this makes BPO employees adaptable to investment opportunities like buying stocks which they can do right in their offices.

At present, Sicat said there are  outsourcing companies that have employee investment program which includes buying stocks with advice from brokers.

Sicat said the PSE office in Cebu will help them encourage more companies to enlist in the stock market.

He said some companies are unaware that they can raise capital through the PSE.

Family-owned companies are also wary about selling their shares to outsiders, Sicat said.

At present,  there are about 255 publicly listed companies that are actively trading their stocks in the market.

Sicat said they expect that number to double within the year.

“The year 2011 was a phenomenal year for PSE with P107.5 billion total capital raised. We expect to raise P198 billion this year,” said Sicat. Reporter Aileen Garcia-Yap