Sebi training programmes for scribes soon

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) will be shortly launching training programmes for journalists. These programmes will be on the lines of the nationwide investor education programmes that the market regulator has been organising since 2003.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the securities market awareness campaign organised by the Hyderabad Stock Exchange (HSE), R K Nair, executive director of Sebi, said, "We will be starting our training programmes for journalists in January/February 2006. We will begin with Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai."

"This is to ensure that the journalists who report about the stock markets get insights into the nuances of the market and report in a better way," he added.

Nair said that investor education has become a strategic issue from the regulator's point of view.

"We want the investors to invest with knowledge, and through the journalists we would like to ensure that the investor is made aware of his/her rights and responsibilities," he said, adding that Sebi will be conducting investor education workshops in semi-urban areas also.

According to B Brahmaiah, director, HSE, there is no magic formula for investor's success and consistent winners are very rare in stock markets. "It is important, therefore, to diversify and not put all eggs in one basket," he added.

On the need for greater awareness among Andhraites about stock markets, K Ravindra Babu, managing director of Zen Securities Limited, said that due to lack of awareness only 10 per cent of household savings in Andhra Pradesh is being invested in equity as compared to 35 per cent in Gujarat.