SGX launches "Born to Trade" campaign to promote futures trading

Aims to attract new derivatives traders.

In a release, Singapore Exchange (SGX) said it has launched its “Born to Trade” initiative to support the futures trading profession and expand its community. The “Born to Trade” initiative is part of SGX’s commitment to attract new derivatives traders to the market, it added.

The initiative includes several features such a new microsite (www.sgx.com/borntotrade) for trading professionals and potential traders to interact and exchange trading stories.

Singapore’s foray into global futures trading began in 1984 when the former Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX) placed Singapore and Asia’s first financial futures exchange on the world map through its innovative products such as the Nikkei 225 Index Futures and the MSCI Taiwan Index Futures. SIMEX’s series of pioneering products and efforts accelerated the liberalisation and globalisation of the Asian financial futures market. In the same year, SIMEX launched the world’s first and most successful exchange linkages, known as the Mutual Offset System to-date, with Chicago Mercantile Exchange. SIMEX merged with the Stock Exchange of Singapore in 1999 to form SGX.

The public is able to learn more of the contributions of former SIMEX traders in the early days through personal testimonies through the "Born to Trade" initiative.

Market participants and the public are also invited to share their trading experiences and any trading stories at #borntotrade on Twitter and Instagram. Individuals who are interested in building the knowledge and skills for a trading career can also visit the SGX Academy at www.sgx.com/academy.

"Tapping on the 30-year rich and extraordinary legacy of derivatives trading in Singapore, the initiative also brings to the forefront the contributions of former and current traders towards the development of the Singapore derivatives market," it said.

“The SIMEX open outcry was like our second home. Many exciting trading deals were made and global partnerships were forged. We now welcome more to join the community and contribute towards the future of derivatives trading in Singapore,” said Mr Ng Tee How, President, AFACT.

“Singapore’s trading floor was the anchor leg of the “follow-the-sun” market in global US Dollars, alongside London and Chicago. SIMEX was the poster child of the intensely competitive derivatives marketplace globally, and its legacy is fondly nurtured and supported by the international fraternity of futures and options traders.

SGX is keen to support Association of Financial & Commodity Traders’ (AFACT) efforts in nurturing the art, craft and tradition of professional trading. This pioneering Singaporean legacy of the entrepreneurial risk-taker shines a mirror to Singapore’s own history as successful entrepot – a unique narrative for a community born to trade,” said Mr Michael Syn, Head of Derivatives, SGX.