Visakhapatnam: The National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. (NSE), India’s leading Stock exchange, today organized the ‘Investor Fair’ in the financial capital of Andhra Pradesh – Visakhapatnam, to inculcate the equity cult among entrepreneurs, investors and students in the city.

The event was inaugurated in the hands of Hon. HRD minister of Andhra Pradesh Shri. Ganta Srinivasa Rao, who was the Chief Guest for the event.

Shri Ganta Srinivas, Hon’ble Min. of HRD, Govt of Andhra Pradesh inaugurated the NSE Investor Fair. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Ganta Srinivas said “Investor Fair 2019 – Visakhapatnam’ has spread awareness among students, owners of Small and Medium Enterprises and financial advisors on the significance of financial resources for a better future. I believe that all participants of the Investor Fair will support the development of Visakhapatnam with the help of guidance the gained on the topic of financial planning. (Tentative quote from the minister)’’

On this occasion, Mr. Ravi Varanasi, Chief Business Development Officer, NSE, said “NSE Emerge has gained tremendous momentum in recent years. We are confident that entrepreneurs in SME clusters in Visakhapatnam and surrounding areas will be able to benefit immensely, by listing on NSE’s platform. We are here to explain benefits of listing to entrepreneurs in the State’’.

Visakhapatnam is at the 13th rank in centre’s smart city rankings and is on the verge of becoming a hub for digital education. NSE organised numerous Investment Awareness Programs in more than 20 Colleges in the city. The winners from these colleges were felicitated today at the event.

The NSE Investor Fair focused on three comprehensive themes- Career in Financial Markets, SME Funding and Indian Growth Story & Financial Markets. The NSE Investor Fair received an overwhelming response, with active participation from member brokers, Asset Management Companies, Merchant Bankers, Chartered Accountancy firms.

In the august presence of Shri Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Honourable HRD Minister, Andhra Pradesh and Shri Pravin Kumar, IAS, Collector and District Magistrate winners of quiz competition were felicitated with ‘Medals and Certificates’.

The event began with session on ‘Career Opportunities in Financial Markets’ catering to the students from various colleges and institutes from the Management and Commerce streams. This session highlighted the importance of Finance in one’s day to day life and also provided the students an understanding of how to create a career in financial markets for a sustainable future. Prof. K. Siva Rama Krishna, I/c Vice-Chancellor, GITAM Deemed to be University, emphasized on the fact that financial Literacy is a key life skill, which is as important as mathematics or languages. More than 1,000 students participated in the Quiz competition conducted in colleges of Visakhapatnam as a pre-event activity, to create awareness about the financial markets. Students and faculty members from 26 prominent colleges of the State were familiarized with the kind of courses being offered to students by NSE’s subsidiary, NSE Academy , to equip them with knowledge of the markets , to make them job ready and give them good career opportunities in the financial sector.

This session was followed by a session on ‘SME Funding: Role of Capital Markets’. This session was attended by entrepreneurs in the city in large numbers and was supported by VCCI and FTAPCCI. The objective of the session was to help the business eco system of Visakhapatnam to understand how they can explore capital markets as a viable option for their funding requirements. This platform provided an opportunity for the business community to interact with the exchange, merchant bankers and other professionals. NSE officials pointed out that NSE hand holds SMEs through the process of listing, thereby facilitating capacity building for the SMEs. More than 190 high quality companies are currently listed on NSE’s SME platform.

The next and concluding session focused on Indian Growth Story & Financial Markets and was attended by a large number of investors. During the session, participants were sensitized on topics like financial planning, benefits of long term investment in equity market and the importance of diversified asset allocation, to reduce risk. Investors were informed about ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds), which are ideal for retail investors as small investments and systematic investment plans can yield good long term returns, with lower risk than other products. Member brokers had also put up stalls outside the venue to familiarize investors on indirect ways to invest in the markets like Mutual Funds.

NSE conducts nearly 2500 investor awareness sessions in every district of India, apart from SME conferences in different SME clusters.