Singapore, 15 July 2022 – The Investment Management Association of Singapore (IMAS) is launching an investment competition and a new e-learning module to boost financial literacy and understanding of sustainable investing among students. The competition will kick off with students at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the sustainable investing module with students at the Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU Singapore).
“Young Singaporeans are eager to invest, with half of the 500 Singaporean respondents to the inaugural Next-Gen Investor survey saying they believe financial planning and investing should start early. To support the next generation, we are launching an investment competition during the college orientation period to help boost students’ understanding of investment and the asset management industry”, said Carmen Wee, CEO of IMAS. “We are grateful for the support of NUS and NTU in supporting this initiative, and the abrdn Sustainability Institute APAC for co-creating the sustainable investing module with us.”
Designed with real data to simulate actual investment outcomes, the LIT game educates investors on how to best manage their investment portfolios. With guidance and input from the industry, the game was created by Optimai, a fintech startup in Singapore. The game is available on iOS and Play Store.
“The LIT game covers comprehensive topics such as equity, bonds, gold, real estate, investment trust and mutual funds. Users can experience an enriching and interactive learning experience through rich illustrations and animations,” said Ng Khim Peow, CEO of Optimai.
IMAS will be launching the competition during NUS Business School’s Freshmen Orientation Camp. Students will compete in their orientation groups over the course of the camp, and the groups with the highest aggregated scores at the end stand can win shopping mall vouchers, as well as invitations to future IMAS events where they will have the opportunity to learn from senior representatives of global funds.
IMAS is also collaborating with NTU’s Nanyang Business School (NBS) to showcase the LIT gamification during the 14th Nanyang Business School Career Day on 12 September, which will see premier employers from a myriad of industries, such as consulting, big data and research, banking, and insurance, meeting over 1,000 NBS undergraduates.
Sustainable Investing Module
IMAS will also be launching learning modules around sustainable investing with partner tertiary educational institutes to help students better understand the key developments in this evolving space which is very important to the investment community. Co-developed by IMAS and the abrdn Sustainability Institute APAC, the module provides an overview of the key sustainable investing topics including the regulatory landscape and a focus on net zero investing.
NBS is looking to incorporate the sustainable investing module as an elective under its Careers Future Forward course, in order to raise awareness of the developments in ESG in the finance sector.
Professor Christina Soh, Dean of NTU’s Nanyang Business School and Goh Tjoei Kok Professor in Business, says: “Sustainability is a key pillar in NBS’s programmes and research. The inclusion of the ESG module as an elective for our undergraduates is in line with the enrichment of the curriculum with strong industry orientation and interdisciplinary sustainability capabilities. This collaboration will help raise greater awareness among our students about values-aligned investing and open up more opportunities for them to work in the asset management sector.”
NUS Business School plans to further explore with IMAS including the e-module as part of the curriculum for sustainable finance-related courses, such as the undergraduate module on Sustainability and Finance.
“The abrdn Sustainability Institute, APAC is proud to collaborate with IMAS on a learning approach that will equip students with the fundamentals of sustainable investing and help contribute to ESG capacity building in Singapore and Asia Pacific”; said Ian Macdonald, Chief of Staff and Deputy Head of APAC, abrdn.
About the Investment Management Association of Singapore (IMAS)
Representing over 150 investment managers with over trillions of assets under management, the Investment Management Association of Singapore (IMAS) seeks to set the benchmark for the investment and fund management industry in Singapore by fostering high standards and professionalism while promoting exemplary practices among its members. IMAS is the representative body of investment managers spearheading the development of the industry in Singapore. It serves as a forum for members in discussions as well as a collective voice where representation is needed on behalf of the investment management industry, facilitating training for its members, and contributing towards investor education.
About Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
A research-intensive public university, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has 33,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Engineering, Business, Science, Medicine, Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences, and Graduate colleges.
NTU is also home to world-renowned autonomous institutes – the National Institute of Education, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Earth Observatory of Singapore, and Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering – and various leading research centres such as the Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI) and Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N).
Under the NTU Smart Campus vision, the University harnesses the power of digital technology and tech-enabled solutions to support better learning and living experiences, the discovery of new knowledge, and the sustainability of resources.
Ranked amongst the world’s top universities, the University’s main campus is also frequently listed among the world’s most beautiful. Known for its sustainability, over 95% of its building projects are certified Green Mark Platinum. Apart from its main campus, NTU also has a medical campus in Novena, Singapore’s healthcare district.
For more information, visit www.ntu.edu.sg
About abrdn
At abrdn, we enable our clients to plan, save and invest for their futures.
We structure our business into three areas – and together they reflect our focus on enabling our clients to be better investors:
Across our investments, adviser and personal businesses we manage and administer £542 billion of assets for our clients, and abrdn plc has over 1 million shareholders. (Figures as at 31 December 2021)
Our investments are built on an insight strength that comes from multi-layered research and a large global footprint. Our teams collaborate across multiple capabilities, to create forward-thinking solutions that aim to meet our clients’ needs and deliver more sustainable outcomes. Our investments business manages £464 billion on behalf of individuals, governments, pension funds, insurers, companies, charities and foundations (as at 31 December 2021) – with support and expertise from 800 investment specialists in over 30 locations.
abrdn is the single global brand for all areas of our business. In July 2021 our plc listing became abrdn plc. In September our investments business, formerly Aberdeen Standard Investments, became abrdn.
For all media queries, please contact:
Chi-an Chang
Financial PR
T: 6438-2990
E: IMAS@financialpr.com.sg
Mr Joseph Gan
Manager, Media Relations
Corporate Communications Office
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Email: joseph.gan@ntu.edu.sg
