Financial Literacy in a New Context

By: José Antonio Martínez, CEO, Bolsa Santiago Oct 2022

Between the pandemic, social unrest and political uncertainty, Chile's issues have shifted priorities for people and companies, as well as the angle from which these issues are addressed. Faced with this new reality, and as financial market participants, we are not indifferent.

One of our main missions at the Santiago Exchange is to promote sustainable market growth, aiming to generate shared value with shareholders, customers and stakeholders to contribute to the wellbeing of Chile and the region. Concretely, this translates into fostering access to the market and facilitating informed decision-making with respect to the various investment instruments available in the Chilean market.

In order to achieve this, we must first reduce gaps in knowledge about the financial world and its impact on people's daily lives, while also bringing our institution and our work closer to our stakeholders to build strong ties that promote the exchange of experiences and information. In this spirit, we have strengthened our commitment to inclusion and cross-cutting initiatives in an attempt to reach an array of audiences with different demands, interests and needs.

In response to this ongoing challenge, we work hard to offer a diversified Financial Literacy Program that includes activities such as free lectures, introductory courses, workshops and study programmes for professionals, who play a fundamental role in incorporating best practices and sustainably developing the market.

After identifying the wide range of audiences and needs we face, we set the goal of coming up with targeted content and activities for each group, taking advantage of new technologies that are accessible today and commonly used by the community to interact and communicate. We aspire to contribute tangibly and conscientiously to the development of our country’s securities market, collaborating to educate current and future citizens on the responsibilities, opportunities and risks associated with investment instruments and personal finance.

At the Santiago Exchange, we recognize not only our role in operating the stock market, but also in building the knowledge required to participate responsibly in that market, thus playing a crucial role in society’s financial wellbeing.