The Tribune

The Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX) is pushing forward with efforts to broaden, and deepen, the pool of Bahamian capital markets investors.

BISX spent the morning of Friday, April 26, at the Doris Johnson Senior High School speaking to a Grade 11 Economics class. This followed an engagement on Friday, April 12, at Queen’s College speaking with Grade 12 Economics and Commerce students about stocks, investing and the Bahamian stock exchange.

Both visits allowed senior BISX officials to interact with young Bahamian, and give students the opportunity to ask questions directly to them.

BISX’s chief executive, Keith Davies, said: “Young people are our future investors, and they bring such a unique perspective to discussions, so we not only talk about investing and stocks, but we also branch out to talk about education, especially their next step in their life, into college or another path.

“More than a few years have passed since I was a high school student, and it is easy to forget the concerns of young people at that stage in their educational, professional and financial life.

“Giving them advice on saving, investing and education is great from a social point of view. However, it is also smart business, because this generation is the first generation that will grow up having always been familiar with a stock exchange. BISX is only 13 years old, and these young people will mature along with our nation’s stock exchange.”

Mr.Davies added: “I would like to say a special thank you to Mrs Shandica Sweeting at Doris Johnson and Mrs Monique Carnegie‐Scavella at Queens College for inviting us to speak to their classes.

“What I appreciate the most about this was that this was our second time speaking to one of Mrs. Sweeting’s classes, and the third time speaking to one of Mrs Scavella’s classes. They have decided that discussing saving and investing should be a part of their students’ curriculum, and we are only too happy to assist. This is a great commitment on behalf of these teachers.”

The BISX chief executive said: “Over the past five years, we have had the opportunity to speak to a number of schools in Nassau about the exchange. In the next academic year, we plan to also speak to schools in Grand Bahama, and utilising modern technology, we hope to be able to speak to other schools throughout the Bahamas over alternative communication technologies such as Skype.”

Mr Davies added that BISX welcomed any opportunity to speak to students who were preparing for the BGCSE exams, as well as those students who were moving towards graduation and into the workforce.

He said: “An educated investor base is essential to a proper capital market. The time and energy we put into educating students like those at Doris Johnson Senior High School and Queen’s College will create a whole new group of informed future investors, who will seek to take advantage of the opportunities that exist in the Bahamian capital markets.”