By Goddy Egene, 08.25.2010 

The Interim Administrator (IA) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Emmanuel Ikazoboh and stockbrokers will tomorrow hold a meeting as part of efforts to restore investor confidence  to the nation’s stock market. Since his assumption of office August 5, Ikazoboh has held several meetings with stakeholders in line with his determination to carry all along in a bid to stabilise the stock market.He was appointed the Interim Administrator by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following the removal of Prof. Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke as the Director-General of the Exchange.

Ikazoboh  would oversee the affairs of the NSE until a substantive DG is recruited. However, in  order to successfully perform his duties, he has been adopting various strategies, including regular meetings with stakeholders.THISDAY gathered that Ikazoboh will hold one such meetings with the stockbrokers tomorrow.  It was  gathered that the meeting is a follow-up to a previous one.

“Ikazoboh will meet with us (stockbrokers) tomorrow on how to move the market forward. It was an agreement reached at the first meeting we had with the IA. We agreed that there should be regular meetings.  Tomorrow’s meeting  will afford us the opportunity to review the performance of the market, make our observations known to him and chart ways  on how to move the market forward. This is a very trying period for all of us in the market and we must work together to  overcome the current challenges,” a broker said. He said all the suggestions their clients (investors) have made on how to restore confidence would be table before Ikazoboh at the meeting.

At his median media briefing last week, the IA said that  his assignment would end as soon as a substantive DG is  appointed for the NSE.He said that the screening process for the appointment of  the  DG and other principal officers of the NSE would begin this week.“We want to follow up the recruitment and selection process and ensure it is carried out transparently and that whoever emerges is the right person to drive the market in the right direction. Also, I will work with the forensic investigators who  have already commenced  their task and make sure that they come out with the true  financial position of the Exchange,” he said.Apart from  recruiting a DG for the Exchange, Ikazoboh added that the NSE is forging ahead with the process of purchasing a new trading platform. 

“Considerable research and market analysis has gone into the platform selection effort to ensure that we secure a platform that employs up-to-date technology and has the capacity that we require in this market now and in the future. The platform we will purchase,  will be comparable in all material aspects to those used in other exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and London Stock Exchange (LSE),” he said.Speaking on the state of the market, the IA re-affirmed that the fundamentals are strong and the current trend is a phase that would pass away. According to him, the swings in the market, which is the global trend, confirms the thinking that the stock market is a barometer for the economy.

He noted that one of the lessons that investors need to learn from the global meltdown is the essence of portfolio diversification.“Many investors had hitherto concentrated on equity at the gross neglect of other asset classes, especially fixed income securities. Today awareness is gradually rising regarding investments in bonds as many state government and corporate entities have applied to the funds via bonds,” he said.

Source:ThisDay