Considering the persistent bear run at the stock market, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema on Thursday advised investors to take a portfolio approach to investing in the market.
The Nigerian stock market has lost about N1.2 trillion in capitalisation since the beginning of the 2016 to headwinds resulting from declining oil prices at the international market and foreign exchange challenge in the country.
However, presenting the NSE 2015 market recap and 2016 outlook in Lagos, Onyema said the current state of the market creates both challenges and opportunities for investors.
“We believe that taking a portfolio approach to investing provides the best risk adjusted alternative for participating in the capital market. As such, we want to ensure that the NSE provides a repertoire of products that will allow investors to create well diversified portfolios of uncorrelated asset classes,” he said.
According to the NSE, the negative performance of the stock market is a reflection of the domestic economy and to some extent, international economic performance. He said assured investors not to panic, saying once there is recovery in economy, the stock market will equally bounce back.
“It would have been more worrisome if the economy is going down and the stock market is going up. But what is currently happening is a reflection of the heath of the nation’s economy,” he said.
Looking ahead, Onyema said while the anticipate 2016 to be a challenging year for the market and the domestic economy, “We intend to continue our collaborative efforts with the new administration and other private sector players to create a framework for financing the Nation’s infrastructure and capital requirements. Additionally, we plan to work with the FGN to ensure that the appropriate messaging is conveyed to the investor community.”
The NSE boss said the exchange will in 2016 will focus on executing its strategy in order to continue to provide a credible platform for financing the economy.
“To this end, we intend to intensify engagement efforts with the Federal Government of Nigeria. We have also prioritized three initiatives(demutualize the NSE, monetize market services suite, establish derivatives initiatives for 2016 aimed at achieving the Exchange’s three strategic objectives o increasing the number of new listings across five asset classes; increasing order flow in the five asset classes; and operating a fair and orderly market based on just and equitable principles,” Onyema said.