REMISIERS will now be able to pick up advanced digital skills and broader trading and portfolio customisation strategies, to better support investors in grabbing opportunities.
The Society of Remisiers (Singapore), or SRS, and the Securities Association of Singapore (SAS) on Monday (Sep 30) launched the Remisier Development Programme (RDP), which comprises three training courses focused on artificial intelligence, portfolio customisation and digital marketing.
The programme was developed in collaboration with the industry, and is open to members of SRS and remisiers at large.
These courses, which have already had good take-up rates, are run in a workshop format and accommodate up to 30 participants in each session. Each workshop concludes with a test, requiring a minimum passing score of 60 per cent.
SAS chairman Luke Lim described the RDP as a “proactive response” to elevate the remisier profession, and complements initiatives undertaken for the development of the equities market, including the recent formation of the stock market review group.
The programme follows a modular format, so participants can choose the workshops to attend without the need to complete all three.
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Each workshop is priced at S$800, but eligible participants can receive funding of up to 70 per cent of the course fee through the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) Financial Sector Development Fund, under the Institute of Banking and Finance Standards Training Scheme. Further funding will be provided by brokers, SRS and Singapore Exchange (SGX).
Industry feedback
Remisiers told The Business Times (BT) that the new programme will help them keep up with changes in the industry.
Lek Yew Meng, who was among the pioneer batch of remisiers to attend the programme, said he found the session on AI useful. The remisier with Lim & Tan Securities, who has been in the job since 2011, said the course showed him how to use generative AI to serve his clients more efficiently.
The course on personal branding is also useful to older remisiers such as himself; that course taught him how to use technology to connect with his peers in the brokerage industry, he added.
For Karen Ng, a remisier with Maybank Securities, the structured nature of the programme was, for her, a huge draw.
Apart from compulsory courses that remisiers are required to undergo under SGX’s regulations, she said few other training programmes catered specifically to remisiers, so she had to pick up new skills herself.
Ng, who has been in the industry since 2010, said the new programme makes courses relevant to her job scope more accessible.
She has yet to attend the programme, and is particularly looking forward to the course on AI. “If we can incorporate this technology into our stockbroking and improve our portfolio for our clients, I think that’s a fantastic idea,” she said.
Ground-up initiative
The RDP marks the first time that SRS, SAS and SGX have come together to structure such a programme.
SRS president S Nallakaruppan said at a media briefing following the launch of the programme: “It is a ground-up initiative and so far, it is working fine. We are determined to upskill the whole industry and recruit new remisiers. It’s about time we see a much more vibrant capital market.”
SAS chairman Lim, who was also at the briefing, clarified that the RDP is not a “one-off exercise”, but just one among a number of development initiatives being lined up. He said that training is just one aspect, and “you still have other aspects like giving them platforms to acquire customers, so it’s almost a year-long sort of initiative”.
In response to queries about whether the programme will cover ethics and regulations applying to remisiers, particularly in light of the cases of recent misconduct within the community, Nallakaruppan told BT that these topics are already being covered in the core training that remisiers must complete annually.
“Once we move up to the next phase, we can re-emphasise ethical conduct as well as money laundering aspects,” he added.
Attracting young individuals to the remisier profession is also one of the RDP’s key objectives, given that two-thirds of SRS members are already aged 60 and above. Plans are in place for a recruitment drive across polytechnics and universities.
Lim believes that young people would appreciate the flexibility offered by the remisier profession, a plus among those looking for work-life balance.
“It fits very nicely in the gig side of economy, where you are your own boss,” he added.
