Points to ponder: Rebranding the PSE for a new generation

Sixty six years ago, Theodore Levitt of Harvard Business School wrote the famous essay “Marketing Myopia,” whose central thesis was that institutions often fail when they define their business too narrowly.

“What business is the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) really in today?”

That may be the most important question facing the PSE because the challenge today is about staying relevant in a rapidly changing financial world.

The competition is no longer just other stock exchanges. The competition is attention.

A generation ago, if Filipinos wanted to grow wealth outside of property or business, the stock market naturally became part of the conversation. Today, a young Filipino can just as easily open a crypto account, an online gambling app, a forex trading platform, a digital bank or even a mobile game promising “earnings.”

Capital has almost always moved emotionally before moving rationally, which means the PSE’s challenge is no longer merely about systems, disclosures or listings. It is about relevance. And relevance, in today’s world, is partly a marketing problem.

The PSE may have spent too many years feeling like a club when today’s market demands an institution that can inspire a movement because, ultimately, investing is not just financial. It is about people believing they can build a better future.

These are, of course, merely suggestions—reflections on how the Philippine capital markets ecosystem may continue evolving in a rapidly changing world.

1. Reposition the PSE from ‘trading’ to ‘ownership’

For years, stock markets around the world were marketed around trading and speculation. But younger generations increasingly look beyond simply making money.

The messaging, therefore, cannot simply be: “Trade stocks.”

It has to become: “Own part of the Philippines’ future.”

That is a completely different emotional proposition because the great strength of the stock market is not speculation. It is participation.

A Filipino who owns shares in leading banks, retailers, infrastructure firms, power companies or food businesses participates in the country’s growth story itself.

The United States understood this well. Former US President George Bush popularized the idea of an “ownership society,” where ordinary citizens became stakeholders in economic growth through home ownership, savings and investing.

This kind of messaging cannot live only in annual reports, trading terminals or formal investor briefings. It has to appear where younger Filipinos actually consume information today—social media, short form videos, podcasts, campus events and digital communities.

Ownership becomes easier to understand when people realize they are not buying symbols on a screen, but small stakes in businesses that shape daily Filipino life.

2. Make the market feel human again

One of the PSE’s biggest problems is that many listed companies feel distant and impersonal to younger Filipinos. Many recognize the brands but not the stories behind them.

That is a missed opportunity because a modern exchange should not merely facilitate trading. It should tell stories.

Nasdaq became synonymous with innovation partly because it constantly highlighted entrepreneurs, founders and technology companies.

Meanwhile, the Tokyo Stock Exchange spent years rebuilding investor confidence by emphasizing governance reforms and corporate transformation. The narrative became simple: “Japanese companies are changing.”

Narratives matter.

Imagine if the PSE regularly produced founder documentaries, CEO interviews and “how this company built the Philippines” features. People invest more confidently in businesses they emotionally understand.

3. Make investing feel more accessible

For many first time investors, the stock market still feels intimidating because of ticker symbols, disclosures and financial jargon, while crypto platforms simplified everything into mobile first participation.

The lesson is not that the PSE should become speculative. The lesson is that accessibility matters.

One area the PSE may need to emphasize more aggressively is the exchange traded fund (ETF). The PSE itself does not create these products; rather, it provides the marketplace where ETFs are listed and traded.

Globally, ETFs transformed investing because they simplified it. Instead of choosing individual stocks, investors could buy exposure to an entire economy or index through one investment.

In the United States, millions of firsttime investors entered the market through broadmarket ETFs linked to the S&P 500.

The question changed from: “Which stock should I buy?”

to: “Do I believe in longterm economic growth?”

That distinction lowered fear and widened participation.

A stronger ETF culture would allow ordinary Filipinos to participate in the country’s broader growth story without pretending to be market experts.

The Singapore Exchange and exchanges in countries such as Sweden and Denmark invested heavily in investor education designed for ordinary citizens, not financial insiders.

The PSE may need to do the same through simpler language, clearer explanations and more educational storytelling—even using vernacular or Taglish when necessary to make investing feel less intimidating and more accessible to ordinary Filipinos.

4. Build a retail investor culture

One major difference between thriving and struggling markets is culture, because successful modern exchanges are not merely trading venues. They are communities.

In the United States, investing became part of mainstream culture through podcasts, YouTube channels, Reddit discussions and investing apps.

In contrast, many Filipinos still view the stock market as something for the wealthy or financially connected.

That perception must change.

The PSE needs younger ambassadors, digital creators, campus engagement and financial literacy campaigns that do not feel like lectures because people join communities before they join institutions.

Another largely untapped sector may be the thousands of cooperatives spread across the country.

Many cooperatives already manage savings and community investments for millions of Filipinos and are among the most trusted financial institutions at the grassroots level.

A long term effort to educate cooperatives about capital markets and disciplined investing could gradually widen participation far beyond Metro Manila and the traditional investor class.

5. Restore trust through visibility

This may be the hardest challenge of all because many retail investors today associate the local market with low liquidity, disappointing IPO (initial public offering) performances and governance controversies.

But another issue quietly hangs over the market: the perception that ordinary investors are not playing on equal ground.

Fairly or unfairly, phrases like “insider trading,” “connected investors” and “the market moves before disclosures” continue to surface in investing conversations.

Perception matters because retail investors will not participate enthusiastically in markets they believe are structurally unfair.

This is not unique to the Philippines. The United States had gone through major insider trading and market abuse crackdowns in the 1980s involving figures like Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken, followed later by sweeping governance reforms after scandals such as Enron.

Japan also spent years rebuilding investor trust through stronger governance reforms and shareholder accountability.

Credibility, in other words, is not assumed. It is continuously reinforced.

The PSE, therefore, cannot rely solely on regulations quietly working in the background. Investors need to see and feel that the market is fair.

6. Create excitement around Philippine growth again

At its core, stock market participation is optimism institutionalized because people invest when they believe tomorrow can be bigger than today.

The challenge is that many younger Filipinos now feel more excitement toward global technology companies, cryptocurrencies and digital platforms than local listed firms. That should concern everyone because a vibrant capital market ultimately reflects national confidence.

To be fair, this is also a difficult period globally for capital markets. Geopolitical tensions, high interest rates, inflation concerns and economic uncertainty have understandably affected investor sentiment almost everywhere.

But the broader point remains valid. Markets eventually recover; cycles eventually turn and younger generations will continue looking for places to put their savings, hopes and ambitions. The question is whether the Philippine market remains part of that conversation.

The PSE, therefore, needs to reinforce a simple but important message: the Philippine growth story is still investable.

Not through slogans, but through visible innovation, entrepreneurial success stories, new economy listings and companies that younger Filipinos genuinely admire and understand.

To be fair, the PSE already has sound vision and mission statements. They speak about governance, efficient markets, capital formation and world-class standards. Those are important foundations and the challenge may not be that the PSE lacks institutional direction. The challenge may simply be that today’s environment demands something more.

Not just an efficient market, but a market people emotionally want to participate in. Not just a trading venue, but a national platform for aspiration, ownership and confidence in the country’s future.

Ultimately, the battle for capital today is also a battle for attention, trust and belief. And perhaps that is the deeper challenge facing not only the PSE, but the broader Philippine capital markets ecosystem itself. – Contributed

(Pet Bautista held top leadership roles as president of San Miguel Brewing, San Miguel Foods, Kraft Foods and PT Warner Lambert Indonesia, as well as managing director of Universal Robina Corp. He is a recent recipient of the Mansmith CEO Lifetime Achievement Award.)