Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Can town councils invest their funds into the stock market??

Seems like Creative Technologies has revealed something that we were not aware of. It seems like one of the top 10 shareholders of Creative is Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council. For those who do not know, Creative's market value has dropped by almost half since the beginning of this year.

My question is are town councils allowed to invest their funds into risky investments like stocks? To my knowledge, sinking funds are meant for renewing the estate, and further improving it. If there are any excess, the owners who paid should have a say in it on how it is being spent, be it a covered walkway from the MRT to somewhere, repair work, lift replacements, etc etc.

Why are they allowed to invest in the stock market? Who will be responsible for any lost of money in these risky investments? There's a difference between a fund manager and a town council member. The fund manager is given the authority to invest the funds for a higher return. The town council members do not, and should not, have such authority. Fund managers at least have the necessarily certificates, the town council members? Investments is no easy walk in the park. Look at Temasek's investment to Shin Corp and you'll know the reason. Risk management especially is important for any investments.

I think the Singapore government owe us an explanation on this.

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