Financial education, an essential tool in the life of Brazilians
The verb “educate” can have several meanings: to teach, to inform, to prepare. Education also encompasses developing critical ability, creating a sense of the collective, and raising awareness of risk and of the consequences of attitudes, for example.
In our view, the world of financial education means continuously educating people so that they can free themselves and be in control of their own financial lives.
In this context, the Brazilian exchange B3 and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil (CVM) partnered up to hold Investment Week, as the institutions share an important goal: an evolution of our market that can only happen if the investor has access to quality financial education.
Market agents, brokerage houses, banks, managers, influencers and opinion makers participated in Investor Week, which sought to cover all investor types: from those who wish to begin their financial journey to those who want more guidance on how make their investment marathon even more secure and to make the best decisions among the myriad alternatives, and among equity and fixed-income financial products.
As proud custodians of a long tradition of financial education among Brazilian investors, CVM and B3 provided a wide-reaching, free, live online programme that facilitated the democratisation of access to the many subjects covered.
There were 30 lectures and more than 80 speakers during the three-day event, with more than 10,000 registrations and more than 7,000 views. And everything was thought out with the goal of inspiring and teaching people to save, to understand risk and potential investment gains, to understand the importance of well-regulated and inspected markets and, finally, to understand mechanisms for protecting the investor.
The initiative was thus an extremely positive and exemplary demonstration of all these actors’ capacities in the market as they work together for financial education in Brazil.
Today, we are close to reaching the mark of 4 million accounts at Brazil’s exchange. About 80 percent of investors arrived between 2019 and 2021. Investor profiles show the need for ever more initiatives like this. Today, exchange investors are predominantly younger, understand risk better, begin creating their own portfolios with lower value investments and end up benefitting from and are attracted by the tech revolution when investing.
We therefore want to strengthen education as a fundamental tool to attract new investors who put money into solid histories, who choose to expand knowledge about the Brazilian market, and who contribute so all can evolve.
CVM and B3 see Investor Week (part of World Investor Week in Brazil) as a significant part of their ongoing efforts to demystify the world of finances for thousands of Brazilians so that, in time, they can take control of their financial lives.
Continuous education
In addition to holding Investor Week, CVM and B3 are involved in continuous efforts to disseminate financial education in Brazil.
B3 provides investors with an Education Hub, which now has more than 158,000 registered users and more than 360 classes, videos and articles. This is part of a strategic decision by the exchange to operate a model focused on the digital. Institutions and individuals with a high level of credibility in the world of investments are partners in this initiative, producing financial and capital market-related content.
CVM, for its part, has a series of educational initiatives that seek to encourage savings and conscious investment in the capital market. In this regard, it operates specifically with small and mid-size investors, students, families and other parties who want to find out more about the Brazilian capital market.
Brazilians are becoming more interested about the world of finances and new investors on the market are more concerned about the long term, about diversification and about education. We see this as a consequence of our wide-ranging and in-depth work.
People are becoming ever more familiar with new products and are taking advantage of new opportunities. This shows us the path investors need to take to feel more secure about remaining in the world of investments.
It is our responsibility to keep guiding investors so that they feel more secure about remaining in the world of investments. When we use financial education to familiarise Brazilians with the world of finance we add to an equation where everyone is a winner.