I never fear fighting for the common man: David Gerald
As far as the president and CEO of the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) (SIAS), David Gerald, can remember, he's always liked defending the underdog.
Whether it was in the classroom or on the streets, Singapore's champion for retail investors would hold up his hand to take the side of those at a disadvantage. As president of the Law Society of the University of Singapore in 1968, he represented the cause of employees when the government was proposing laws that would affect employment and trade unions.
In 1999, he didn't think twice about leaving a lucrative career as a lawyer to contest the Malaysian government's freezing of shares owned by thousands of Singaporeans investors in Malaysian companies.
"The plight of 172,000 Singaporeans was forefront on my mind, and the fact that a foreign government would do this to us was rather difficult for me to accept, so I thought justice had to be done," Gerald said in an interview with Yahoo! Singapore.
He then came forward to organise SIAS, which acted as a voice for the beleaguered Singaporean investors.
The organisation stood firm on what it wanted from Malaysia — the return of the shares worth RM17 billion — despite counter-offers and the threat of forfeiture of the shares. Within a week of his announcement that the group would go to the Supreme Court of Malaysia, the matter was settled, he says.
After that success, SIAS, under his leadership, embarked on a comprehensive investor education programme and took up the cause of better corporate governance in Singapore.
For the education programme, SIAS went to the doorsteps of ordinary Singaporeans to teach them how to do financial planning, how to select investments and how to prepare for difficult times. The group also helped so-called savvy investors to appreciate the hidden risks involved in investments and to be reasonable in their approach rather than greedy.
"I always say choosing investments is like choosing a bride for your lifetime. It is very import for you to consider the fundamentals and learn to stay the course and make money," he says.
He believes the best investment he has ever made has been to marry his wife.
"She gave me three wonderful kids, she's been faithful and has stood by me through all these years," he says. "Your home is your castle, and, if it's very peaceful, you live very well."
In the corporate governance arena, SIAS has pushed for several reforms that have been or are in the process of being adopted, such as having stock options expensed, CPF investors heard at meetings and a cap on directorships.
Gerald's latest crusade is to improve the protection of Singapore investors in Chinese companies listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) or so-called S-chips. He notes that there is still the case of $80 million missing from a Chinese firm and the money cannot be traced in China.
"We want SGX to provide a definite safeguard for money raised from citizens from Singapore from leaving Singapore," he says.
The SGX has responded favourably to his request, and changes in listing or other rules could be made shortly, he adds.
At 67, Gerald, who was born in Malaysia but grew up in Sri Lanka before moving to Singapore when he was 13 (he became a Singapore citizen in 1972), says he could retire to Australia, where his three boys are settled, but he likes it in the city-state — even if he is hounded by small investors.
Right now, he is in the thick of the Profitable Plot case. There are 304 complainants alleging that the land banking firm cheated them into investing in various schemes. The total amount of investments involved is said to be $30 million.
"The Commercial Affairs Department is investigating. In the meantime, we have to help (investors) with other issues, the registration of titles and all that," he says.
SIAS, says Gerald, helps him advance his own ambitions of helping the man on the street, helping the underdog."I never fear fighting for the common man," he points out. "I like working with people, with communities. I like being in the thick of things."
He's never gone into politics, because his wife doesn't like politics. The seasoned defender of small investors' rights knows, of course, how to protect his best investment.
David Gerald, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, former MAS managing director and new Education Minister Heng Swee Keat and entrepreneurs Cynthia Chua and Dr Jannie Chan are the nominees in the business category in the Singapore 9, a Yahoo! project to recognise nine Singaporeans who have really made a difference in the past year. Make your vote count here.
