The three-year initiative, which was announced by the Prime Minister in Budget 2023, is driven by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC). The initiative is also in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), Bursa Malaysia and leading capital market industry players. It is also the first ever such collaboration between the SC, capital market industry and universities.

Present at the event, attended by about 1,000 people, were Minister of Higher Education Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Deputy Finance Minister I Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan, key government officials, capital market industry leaders, vice-chancellors of public and private universities and university students.

SC Chairman Dato' Seri Dr. Awang Adek Hussin said investing for education and talent development is a priority agenda for the SC and the capital market.

"Talent cultivation is vital for an industry with high talent mobility like the capital market,” he said.

“The programme is introduced to help address the mismatch of talent between graduates and the growing needs of the industry, which is seeing the shift to the digital world. Thus, it is crucial that the ‘last mile’ assistance be given to graduates to address this mismatch.”

"We hope this initiative will enhance the employability of graduates and enable them to seize the various job opportunities in the capital market,” he said.

The Capital Market Development Fund (CMDF) is funding the RM30 million graduate programme.

At the launch, the Prime Minister also unveiled the official name for the initiative. To be known as investED, NextGen Capital Market Talent, the initiative will help improve the knowledge and employability of 9,000 university graduates, especially for the capital market industry, over three years from this year.

investED is expected to provide job opportunities for 600 graduates over the three-year period. This will be done via job placements and on-the-job training provided by capital market firms under investED’s Leadership Programme.

Another 2,400 graduates will also benefit from investED’s Foundation Programme, a structured certification program managed by SC’s learning arm, the Securities Industry Development Corporation (SIDC).

Dato' Seri Dr. Awang Adek said investED is in line with the government's policy of strengthening the higher education system through public-private sector cooperation to produce a skilled workforce to meet the needs of the industry.

At the launch of investED, the Prime Minister also visited a career fair, participated by investment banks, stockbrokers, and fund managers. He also interacted with over 400 students present at the event.

A career talk, comprising speakers from the SC and the capital market industry, was held on the sidelines of the launch. The students from over 15 public and private local universities participated in the session which highlighted various career opportunities in the industry.

Applications for investED’s Leadership Programme is now open to fresh graduates and students graduating this year. Students can apply at: https://www.invested.my/leadership-programme/.

The Leadership programme comprises of one month comprehensive classroom learning and six months of on-the-job placement at designated companies. Selected graduates will receive a RM2,000 allowance during their formal training and a minimum monthly stipend of RM2,400 during the on-the-job placement.