One of the pillars underpinning the trust of the general public in the capital market and its institutions is fostering of the culture of investment in society while building awareness about the functioning of the capital market. Activities focused on capital market education, promotion and information are a statutory goal of the Exchange.
Investor Education
The Exchange organises training sessions, seminars and conferences to promote investment in financial instruments and knowledge about the capital market. A flagship educational programme offered by WSE in 2013 was a series of meetings of the Capital Creation Academy co-organised by the Association of Individual Investors. The experts who delivered the training shared knowledge about the capital market and the exchange, as well as the methods of investing money and mitigating risks, which helped to raise the awareness of the participants about responsible investment.
WSE organised 39 training events in 2013, both individually and in co-operation with higher schools and business partners, reaching out to around 3,200 existing and prospective exchange investors.
Furthermore, since 2010, the Exchange is a partner of the “Civic Shareholding” educational programme initiated by the Ministry of the State Treasury and addressed to individuals interested in investing on the exchange. A new series of Civic Shareholding education workshops completed in February 2013 was attended by 3,074 exchange investors as exchange experts delivered lectures in 33 towns across Poland.
To raise the awareness about investments, WSE implements projects dedicated to the improvement of practical skills of investors. In May 2013, the Exchange launched WSETr@der, a demo learning platform for investors interested in WIG20 and mWIG40 futures, stock futures and fx futures. The tool has been designed for beginners who want to learn more about the derivatives market and discover the practical mechanisms of investing in financial instruments available on the market. In 2013, close to 2,000 investors opened accounts on the WSETr@der platform; the tool is used for education by brokerage houses and higher schools across Poland.
Instytut Rynku Kapitałowego – WSE Research S.A., a member of the WSE Group, also participants in WSE’s educational mission and works to bridge the gap in the professional education and development of human resources on the financial market and in capital market research programmes.
Responsible Investments – RESPECT Index
A flagship initiative of WSE which promotes and educates about responsible investments in Poland is the RESPECT Index project, established in 2009 as CEE’s first responsible companies index. The index portfolio includes companies listed on the WSE Main Market which follow the highest standards of corporate governance, communication and investor relations taking into account environmental, social and governance factors in their business. The companies in the RESPECT Index portfolio are selected in three steps of verification carried out by WSE and the Association of Listed Companies in the areas listed above as well as an audit performed by the project partner Deloitte. Seven editions of the survey have been completed to date with 16 to 23 companies included in the index portfolio at each time.
In 2013, following consultations with market participants, WSE decided to modify the methodology of the RESPECT Index survey. In the new format, the company survey and index revision will be performed annually in the second half of the year. As before, index participants will be selected from among the biggest listed companies participating in the indices WIG20, mWIG40 and sWIG80; however, as an important change, the survey will also cover foreign companies participating in these indices. Similar to previous editions, those companies that fulfil the reporting and best practice criteria will be invited to complete a questionnaire. The questionnaire form has been partly modified compared to the previous editions, among others to account for sector specificity.
The RESPECT Index Project enjoys strong interest of companies listed on Warsaw Stock Exchange and indirectly helps to improve the standards of corporate social responsibility on the Polish market. In the seventh edition of the survey carried out in 2013, 23 companies were put in the index portfolio, including for the first time Warsaw Stock Exchange.
The return rate of the RESPECT Index was 52% from the first publication on 19 November 2009 until the end of 2013.
In addition to the RESPECT Index Project, WSE is also engaged in educational initiatives which promote the inclusion of ESG criteria (Environment, Social, Governance) in investment decisions. In 2013, the Exchange was for the second time a partner of the CSR Academy co-organised by Puls Biznesu, Martis Consulting and the Ministry of the State Treasury. In the project, which is addressed to small and medium-sized enterprises, WSE representatives delivered lectures on responsible investments in 6 towns in Poland, attended by nearly 500 participants.
WSE also offers an online service dedicated to the RESPECT Index Project and the application of ESG criteria in investment decisions: www.odpowiedzialni.gpw.pl.