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SCMP Reporter

Taking a ride on a Hong Kong minibus more typically provides a high-speed, hair-raising experience than a source of investment advice.

But all that is about to change with the  new Cantonese-language television drama series, All About Stock Investing, which will make its debut on ATV Home and TVB Jade tomorrow.

The nine-part series - jointly produced by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) -  aims to provide local retail investors  with information on how to invest their money wisely.

The series involves six main characters who meet regularly on the same minibus route.

The media was given a sneak preview of the show yesterday.

Bus banter among the characters typically revolves around such topics as investing in initial public offerings, pooling risk of margin accounts, interpreting market information, corporate governance, shareholders' rights and custody of stocks.

The scene on the bus are spliced with real-life interviews.

One character - a 'student' who has obviously not yet learned enough about the pitfalls of the market - boards the bus tries to convince a goateed  'teacher' wearing braces to buy an IPO share which the student claims is 'bound to rise'.

The end of the episode was not shown at the launch, but it is safe to assume that the over-eager student learned a costly lesson.

Caution was the SFC's watchword at yesterday's launch.

'No matter what your objective - whether you're in it for the long or short term - you should do your homework first,' SFC's executive director and chief operating officer, Peter Au-Yang Cheong Yan said.

Although local retail investors have  become more sophisticated, there was an ongoing need for investor education programmes, said Henry Chan Ming-yun, chairman of the Hong Kong Stockbrokers' Association, who also makes an appearance in the series.

'Some housewives know their stuff better than analysts. But since there are new investors all the time the programme has to be ongoing,' Mr Chan said.

All About Stock Investing will air on nine consecutive Sundays, starting tomorrow, at 11am on ATV Home and 6.20pm on TVB Jade.

Even if you don't see it on TV, the magical mystery minibus tour of investing will be hard to miss - each of the five-minute episodes will also be broadcast on New World First buses throughout next month.



SFC's unlikely TV minibus series offers investors value for money