Keri Neo, head of the Singapore Exchange's securitised products business, is the recipient of this year’s Personality of the Year award, after securing the most votes from market participants in SRP’s Asia Pacific awards 2020 survey.
She is currently the Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) head of securitised products, focusing on product development and management for listed products including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), structured warrants and daily leverage certificates (DLCs). She started her career at SGX in 2007.
I am proud that SGX is the first and only Asian market to have offered DLCs so far
What is (are) your proudest achievement(s) career-wise?
Keri Neo: I have been at SGX for 13 years now – it’s a long time but it’s been amazing!
I have largely been focused on product and business development, so throughout my career, there are several things that have made me very proud. I am very pleased about the range of products that have flourished under my care.
Seven to eight years ago, I was managing equity futures contracts, and at that point, liquidity on-screen for some new contracts was low. But we overcame them and managed to build liquidity for our nascent products.
After that, I transitioned to leading the ETF business – it was a lot of ‘entrepreneurial’ work, and there were inherent challenges in various steps of the product lifecycle. We kept at the daily grind, continuously solving problems hand-in-hand with products issuers, and at the same time educating investors about how ETFs work. I am glad that it brought in results, and the number of ETF investors in our market has grown fivefold since.
Did you always know you wanted to work in the structured product field?
Keri Neo: I joined SGX through the management associate programme. In the first two years, I rotated between the market development, operations and regulatory functions, and grew my appreciation of the end-to-end exchange business.
In last decade, I have been primarily been focused on product development, first in derivatives and later in securitised products. I’ve had the opportunity to pick up knowledge in various asset classes.
Finally, in the past three years, I have been looking at warrants and DLCs as well – these are closer to SRP’s core subject area. I am proud that SGX is the first and only Asian market to have offered DLCs so far.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to work in this market?
Keri Neo: As the structured products and the financial industry is so dynamic and ever-changing, learning fast and adapting is critical in this line.
At the same time, my high-achieving colleagues in the industry are those who maintain humility and a great attitude, and are on the constant lookout for opportunities even in the smallest of things.
Lastly, being organised is very important. There are always more opportunities (and sometimes issues) than one has time for, and being organised will help you deal with all of that.
How has the Singaporean market changed since you started your career?
Keri Neo: Looking back at least decade, the financial industry has been through tremendous changes, including shifts in regulation, the growth of the Asia Pacific region and advances in technology. The centre of gravity has also shifted to Asia, led by growth from emerging markets in the region.
Globally, we have become more connected but also more complex.
In the past 10 years, I have witnessed how SGX, as a core infrastructure of the Singaporean financial markets, has grown in our relevance for a global audience, and expanded our role from being a stock exchange back then to a multi-asset exchange today.
Singapore’s standing as a financial safe haven has also been built over a long time. If you think about notable events such as the various financial crises (both global and regional), epidemics such as SARS and now Covid-19, where a lot of turmoil has happened, investors have looked to Singapore for support. This is because of Singapore’s stability, in terms of politics, policies and economic environment.
What many of these events have taught us is that financial markets are critical to managing risk and safeguarding the resilience of our economy. With news and information moving rapidly, investors must be given the opportunity to react with confidence and manage their portfolio risks efficiently. This role has intensified with Covid-19 and SGX continued to maintain access around the clock for investors.
Where is Singapore heading in the next 12 to 18 months?
Keri Neo: SGX’s focus has been opening access to Asian markets in a trusted and efficient way that global institutions have come to recognise us for.
A lot of the current and future growth comes and will continue to come from emerging markets in Asia. These are younger markets that are growing tremendously fast. As such, we have to position our portfolio of products accordingly, to serve needs of these investors.
SGX’s goal remains the same – to be a global multi-asset exchange that is horizontally and vertically integrated, covering all major asset classes in the Asian time zone, certainly including that of structured retail products.