THE Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) will tap the military and other professional groups as potential investors in the stock market.

In an interview Wednesday, PSE president Francis Lim said the bourse will soon conduct free seminars at the Armed Forces to entice the soldiers and their families to take a look at the stock market as an alternative investment vehicle.

The lowest-ranked soldier, based on a research done by the stock exchange, receives an average monthly salary of P18,000.

AFP chief of staff Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano welcomes the campaign of the PSE saying the move will be a big help to its ranks. “I hope this will happen soon. You know very much that our soldiers are not getting enough pay and the stock market could be the right investment for our people,” he said in a separate interview.

Apart from the military, Lim said they will also launch similar campaigns professional associations such as those composed of doctors, lawyers and architects.

“We are doing this in anticipation of the passage of the Personal Equity and Retirement Account (PERA) bill,” said Lim.

In the midst of rising prices of goods and services, and given employers’ constraints to hike workers’ salaries, PERA’s incentives will represent a welcome alternative. “Once enacted into law, PERA will reaffirm our lawmakers’ commitment to help workers and employees adjust to economic difficulties,” he said. 

The PERA bill seeks to establish the legal and regulatory framework for the creation of a voluntary personal savings and investment plan as a means of providing financial security to PERA account holders during their retirement years. Employers may even contribute to the employees’ PERA to the extent of the amount allowable to the contributor.

The allowable PERA Investment Products will include shares of stock of listed companies, exchange-traded funds, unit investment trust fund, mutual funds, annuity contract, insurance-pension products and preneed-pension plans.

In another development, Lim said they will ask the Securities and Exchange Commission to allow them to implement alternative modes to sell the trading rights and shares of Mariano Olondriz y Cia after two failed biddings.

He said one option they are looking at is to subject the rights and shares to dacion en pago as payment for the claims of the clients.

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