On 5 October 2099, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that Lori Schock has been named Director of the agency’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA). You thought all American investors were educated?
“As more than half of American households are invested in the markets for their retirement, children’s education, health care
or other goals, it’s imperative that the SEC have a world class program to provide investor education and promote financial literacy for Americans of all ages,” said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro.
OIEA each year has direct contact with tens of thousands of individual investors–reaching out to hear their needs, answering their questions and helping solve their problems. The office also leads the SEC’s investor education and financial literacy efforts and other key initiatives.
Each listed company in Africa has its own investment community with which it communicates and from which it receives feedback. If the African stock exchanges used the power of the Internet and their significant resources (with nominal contributions from the smaller stock exchanges), a similar initiative to the OIEA’s could be implemented. The rules would be that the stock exchanges jointly fund the initiative whose content may only be disseminated through any listed company website in Africa. This would ensure buy-in from listed companies and create a natural distribution channel.
The other half of a successful retail shareholder strategy is automating shareholder communication.