35.26 pc women’s BO accounts closed in 6 years

Farhad Chowdhury: Many women in India have invested in the capital market to boost their incomes in the wake of the global epidemic of coronavirus infection. In this case, the women of that country have chosen mutual funds as the ideal field of investment. However, as the participation of Indian women investors is increasing in Corona, the opposite picture has been observed in the capital market of Bangladesh. Women investors are lagging behind here.
This information has been known from the sources of Central Depository Bangladesh Limited (CDBL) which is known as the database of capital market.
Market participants say that women are lagging behind in the capital market due to lack of publicity on investment education. At the same time, due to the continuous downturn in the market, the fear of women investing in this sector is increasing. Since the country’s capital market is not stable, women do not want to risk investing their savings here. Besides, there is no publicity about investment education.
Capital market stakeholders do not pay much attention to this issue. So, the reluctance of women in this sector is increasing. Compared to India, there is not much publicity in the country’s capital market to attract women.
In this case, in order to bring women in the stock market as investment, all stakeholders including regulatory body Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchange, Merchant Bank, Brokerage House should give importance in this regard.
Concerned parties also said that besides providing various facilities, arrangements should be made to organize continuous training or workshops on investment education for women throughout the year.
In addition, the risk-free investment of women in the capital market should be highlighted through publicity through an initial public offering (IPO). At the same time, the idea that investing in bonds and mutual funds in the secondary market is relatively safe should be spread among women. This will encourage women to invest.
According to CDBL sources, the number of women employers in the capital market in 2010 was more than 6 lakh. After the subsequent collapse, about 2 lakh women investors turned away from now on. The gradual return of stability in the capital market has led to an increase in women’s participation in the market, but not as much as in 2010.
Subsequently, till December 26, 2016, the number of BO accounts of women investors in the country’s capital market was 8 lakh 94 thousand 424. As of December 31, 2016, the BO accounts of women investors have been reduced to 6 lakh 21 thousand 602. Till 31st December 2017, the number of female BOs increased to 8 lakh 39 thousand 212. However, till 31st December 2019, the number of ABO accounts has come down to 8 lakh 65 thousand 984.
And since then the number of female BO accounts has been declining. As of December 31, 2020, the number of female BO accounts stood at 6 lakh 80 thousand 364. As of December 30, 2021, the number of female BO accounts was 5 lakh 6 thousand 315. And as of March 7 this year (Thursday), the number of female BO accounts stood at 5 lakh 14 thousand 290. As a result, the number of BO accounts of women investors in the country’s capital market has decreased by 260,134 or 35.28 percent in the last six years.
At present, the total number of BO accounts of men and women in the stock market of the country stands at 20 lakh 50 thousand 36 till March 6. The number of male BO accounts is 15 lakh 35 thousand 69. As such, the BO account of women investors is 25.09 percent. As a result, one-fourth of the total BO accounts in the capital market are now owned by women investors.
In this regard, Khujista Nur-e-Naharin, former director of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and managing director of Modern Securities, told that there are many corrections in IPO at present. And the number of women investors is not really what it is on paper. Because even though there was a BO account in the name of women, it was managed by men.
However, due to the change in the IPO system, the number of female BO accounts is showing less. As a result, there is a shortage of 200,000 women investors, who were IPO clients. And the capital market has not been steadily improving for the last few years. The market was good at the beginning of 2021. Now there is a downward trend again. So, I think the participation of women investors will increase as soon as the capital market turns around.
Shailin Zaman Akbar, managing director of RAK Capital, a newly certified brokerage house, told that women should be trusted and given opportunities. Many people think that women cannot play such a role in the capital market. But women can. At the same time, women should be given family support to make them interested in investing in the capital market.
Given the opportunity, women will certainly be interested in investing in the capital market with challenges. In this case, the capital market regulator and other stakeholders have to come forward.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Institute of Capital Markets (BICM) Executive President Prof. Mahmuda Akhter said, “We are thinking about how to train and train women in investing in the capital market.
BICM has already developed some modules to train women investors. However, due to the Corona epidemic, we could not proceed in that way. However, virtual training has been arranged in Corona. It is hoped that BICM will organize a training workshop on investment education for women by March.