INTHEBLACK December 2021 - Magazine - Page 29
CAPITAL
OPPORTUNITY
DAT U K M U H A M A D U M A R SW I F T F C PA B E L I E V ES I N V ESTO R E D U CAT I O N H O L D S
U N TO L D O P P O RT U N I T Y F O R A DY N A M I C A N D S U STA I N A B L E CA P I TA L M A R K E T.
STORY SUSAN MULDOWNEY
AT A G L A N C E
Datuk Muhamad Umar
Swift FCPA is CEO of
Bursa Malaysia, the
Malaysian Stock Exchange.
In 2020, Swift and his
team launched Bursa
Academy, an e-learning
platform aimed at
enhancing capital
market knowledge
among investors.
According to Swift,
these online education
platforms have
contributed to
increased capital market
participation by younger
institutional investors.
F
or an accountant who likes all his “ducks in
a row”, Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift FCPA
has become increasingly comfortable with
uncertainty.
Chief executive of Bursa Malaysia, the country’s
listed stock exchange operator, Swift joined the
organisation in February 2019 at a time of escalating
trade tensions, concerns about a “no deal” Brexit and
volatility in commodity-related sectors.
Within a year, the global pandemic brought
economic activity to a near standstill as countries
across the globe sought to curb the spread of
COVID-19.
Swift was forced to make quick decisions
“based on the data that was in front of us”.
A significant lift in the number of retail investors
in 2020, for instance, prompted Swift and his team
to launch Bursa Academy, an e-learning platform to
boost knowledge of capital markets.
The exchange instituted a number of relief measures
for publicly listed companies, such as fee waivers and
annual listing fee rebates. It collaborated with broker
partners to build awareness of stock market investing
among specific segments, such as women, millennials
and university students.
Growing investor expectations about sustainable
investment options were also met through increased
promotion of Shariah-compliant investments and the
recent launch of the FTSE4Good Bursa Malaysia
Shariah Index.
“My aim is to remove barriers and remove
objections,” says Swift. “I want investors to be educated
about the market. I want them to understand what
they’re investing in. I want people to talk about
companies. I want them to read and critique annual
reports. Education and engagement are how you create
a sustainable market for the long term.”
A DIFFERENT VIEW
Swift began his finance career in audit and assurance
at PwC in Melbourne in the late 1980s, before moving
into an insolvency role, where he saw “conglomerates
being dismantled because they were based on debt”.
“This was a time when equity was expensive, and
companies were putting a lot of debt on their balance
sheet,” says Swift.
“The moment there was an inflexion, there was no
resilience and no ability to navigate. That’s when we
would step in, look at the nature of the problem, try
to salvage value and keep people employed.”
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