Yang Berbahagia Datin Faizah Tahir, Ketua Setiausaha, Kementerian Wanita dan Pembangunan Keluarga, yang mewakili Yang Berhormat Dato' Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Menteri Pembangunan Wanita dan Keluarga, tuan-tuan dan puan-puan yang saya hormati sekalian.
Assalamualaikum dan salam sejahtera.
2. Terlebih dahulu, bagi pihak pengurusan Suruhanjaya Sekuriti, saya ingin mengucapkan "Selamat Datang" kepada semua yang hadir dan terima kasih kerana meluangkan masa untuk menyertai seminar yang direncanakan khas bagi wanita Malaysia. Saya juga ingin mengambil kesempatan ini untuk merakamkan setinggi penghargaan kepada Yang Berhormat Dato' Seri Sharizat Abdul Jalil dan Kementerian Pembanguan Wanita dan Keluarga yang telah memberi sokongan kepada Pusat Perkembangan Industri Sekuriti, SIDC, dalam usaha kami untuk mempertingkatkan kesedaran mengenai perancangan kewangan peribadi di kalangan wanita-wanita Malaysia. Malahan, seminar perancangan kewangan peribadi khas untuk wanita yang diadakan pada hari ini merupakan yang pertama seumpamanya di adakan di negara kita.
3. Yang Berbahagia Datin Faizah dan para hadirin sekalian, seterusnya, izinkan saya memberi ucapan saya dalam Bahasa Inggeris.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
4. This seminar on "Personal Financial Planning for Malaysian Women" is the first of its kind in this country and it is aimed at equipping women with the knowledge and skills that will help them plan and achieve some assurance of a more comfortable financial future. Certainly when one talks about financial planning, it does not matter if you are a man or a woman, in the sense that we all save and invest for a secure future. Both men and women are concerned with the rising cost of medical care, and about supporting themselves financially when they are retired from the rat race. Even so, women do face unique situations, such as early death of a spouse, divorce, polygamous situations and debilitating illnesses. Statistics also show that women live longer than men, meaning we are likely to be on our own a lot longer and this requires financial independence even if our culture and society is still basically a filial one. Therefore, when we think today about what should go into making up our financial portfolio to take care of our tomorrow, it is only practical that we be aware of the life-changing situations that I have mentioned.
About the Seminar
5. The seminar, designed with the Malaysian women in mind, will examine and discuss the growing importance of financial planning and wealth management for women across the entire socio-economic spectrum. Regardless of whether you are a career woman or whether you are a homemaker, understanding the basics of financial planning will empower you to be directly involved in planning and controlling your finances and in a way, your own future. In other words, this seminar will offer useful information that will enhance your financial literacy. The various speakers will offer you guidance on good financial planning for short, medium and long-term goals.
Securities Commission's (SC) efforts to promote Financial Planning
Ladies and gentlemen,
6. Due to the increasingly important role of financial planning in providing proper and effective management of individual wealth, the SC has identified financial planning as one of the areas whose development should be facilitated. This is clearly reflected in the Capital Market Master Plan (CMP), and indeed, the SC is very pleased that in the past two to three years, more and more professionals in the financial services industry and many individual investors have begun to appreciate the importance of proper financial planning. Many intermediaries in the financial services sector have expanded their scope of their activities to include financial advisory services to meet the demands of their clients. In that regard, the SC has encouraged licenced representatives such as the remisiers to expand their scope of activities to include financial planning advice. In that way, they can offer value-added services to their clients. At the same time, we also note the growing awareness among the retail investing public, including women investors, of the need to have professional guidance in managing their personal financial affairs
7. In terms of our work in promoting capital market development, financial planning services provides the important link between investors and the growing array of choices available for investment. The development of the financial planning services industry also serves to complement other aims of the CMP, mainly in the area of investment management such as to increase the amount of funds available for management, to enlarge the number and diversity of players with access to those funds, to encourage greater outsourcing of institutional funds, and to help spur the development of the private pension fund industry. We are therefore focused on reviewing the market framework to ensure that there are no obstacles that would inhibit the growth of the financial planning services industry.
Inculcating importance of planning for the future
Ladies and gentlemen:
8. Research over the years on personal financial planning indicates one big distinction among people approaching retirement i.e. the people who "do something" are generally better off than those who don't. Financial and investment plans need to be flexible enough to anticipate and adapt to change. The plans need to be well thought through, monitored and nurtured as different stages of life require different financial planning strategies and different types of investments.
9. You will find that financial planning does take some time and effort as one needs to monitor investments and keep financial records in order. It is also important to update basic knowledge by continuously reading and being aware of what is happening in the capital market. The Internet is also a good way to source for learning tools and computer software packages that could help you plan and manage your finances.
Ladies and gentlemen:
10. We have with us today, a panel of distinguished speakers both from the academia and the corporate sector. They are all subject matter experts with a great deal of experience behind them. We are fortunate to be able to hear of their experiences, their learned opinions, unique perspectives, modalities and solutions as well as their ideas and visions. I hope all of you will actively participate in the discussions and leave this seminar with deeper insights into personal financial planning. I believe that you will benefit from the opportunity to learn more about designing a personalised financial plan that focuses on your specific needs and financial goals.
Conclusion
Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan,
11. Saya bagi pihak Suruhanjaya Sekuriti ingin merakamkan setinggi penghargaan kepada YB Dato' Seri Sharizat Abdul Jalil yang telah memberi sokongan kepada usaha kami di SC. Saya juga ingin mengucapkan setinggi penghargaan kepada YBhg. Datin Faizah Tahir yang akan menyampaikan ucaptama YB Menteri pada pagi ini. Akhir sekali, kepada semua para peserta seminar, terima kasih kerana meluangkan masa untuk menimba pengetahuan dalam seminar ini dan diharapkan supaya peluang yang ada digunakan untuk menjawab apa-apa kemusykilan berkenaan dengan isu-isu dan perkara yang melibatkan perancangan kewangan yang secekap. Selamat maju jaya .
Sekian, wassalamualaikum w.b.
