HSBC Holds Second Investment Seminar
By Azaraimy HH & Izam S. Ya'akub

Bandar Seri Begawan - HSBC yesterday held a second Investment Seminar for 2005 entitled "Global Economic Issues and Their Likely Impact on Financial Markets in 2006".

The half-day seminar took place at the Mutiara Ballroom of the Sheraton Utama Hotel in the capital, where over 150 of HSBC's invited Premier customers and government officials attended the event.

The event started off with a welcoming speech by the Deputy CEO, Mr Simon Williams.

"The announcement by the Ministry of Finance to cap personal unsecured loans six months ago has led to a certain degree of contraction in this market sector following increasing lending prudence by the banking industry as well as by members of the public," said Mr Williams.

"It is still early days in this part of the cycle. However we now know that our decision three years ago to make a substantial investment in growing our Financial Planning capabilities through internationally qualified HSBC Financial Planner, was the right one.

Mr Williams went on to say that the move by the Ministry of Finance to encourage a saving culture amongst Bruneians opens up opportunities for a wider range of investments and savings vehicles with potentially exciting returns.

"For instance, HSBC Brunei offers Monthly Investment Plans for the investor to put aside a fixed amount of money regularly every month into unit trusts, thus supporting the initiatives of the Ministry of Finance," he said.

`By investing fixed amounts at regular intervals, `Dollar Cost Averaging' smoothes out the peaks and troughs, which reduces investors' exposure to market volatility."

"In recent years, we have seen Bruneians taking up more investment opportunities as we have explored and understood their individual appetites for taking on risk, and this is good for their long-term future and for the economy," added Mr Williams.

The invited guest speaker for yesterday's seminar was Mr Tony Dolphin, Director of Economics and Strategy at Henderson Global Investors, London. Mr Dolphin is responsible for recommending asset allocation for a range of international products, and for the management of the Economics and Strategy Team.

During the seminar, he discussed the US economy and how it is affected by interest rates and energy prices as well as housing market risks. Mr Dolphin also discussed the recent trend in the US Dollar and its possible trends in 2006 as well as the outlook for bonds and equities.

Mr Dolphin joined Henderson Global investors in 1998 as Director of Economics Research and was appointed Director of Economics and Strategy in January 2003.

He is a regular media commentator on economic and investment market issues and has extensive experience in analysing the relative return outlook between the key asset classes including fixed interest, property and equities and their relationship to the economy cycle.  -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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