BM&FBOVESPA Launches Financial Education Campaign Under the Slogan 'Wanna Be a Partner?'

SAO PAULO, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BM&FBOVESPA (BM&FBOVESPA: BVMF3), the Brazilian Securities, Commodities & Futures Exchange, presented on August 17 its new financial education campaign under the slogan "Wanna Be a Partner?". The event took place at BM&FBOVESPA Visitors' Center in Sao Paulo, with representatives of brokerage firms attending, and CEO Edemir Pinto and Pele ringing the opening bell. The campaign ads highlight the former soccer player's successful sporting career to illustrate some of the key concepts of investing in the stock market.

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The campaign is part of the Exchange's strategy to increase the number of investors to 5 million by 2015. A wave of ads featuring Pele launches September 8. Initially, they will target the cities of Belo Horizonte, Campinas and Curitiba, covering TV and radio, movie theaters, newspapers and magazines. A warm-up phase starts August 23, with teasers in local media asking "Wanna Be a Partner?"

The focus of the campaign is educational, revolving around the idea that a share is a small piece of a company and that investors in a company's stock are its partners. Enter Pele, with the ups and downs of his sporting career illustrating a company's performance over time.

Pele played in his first World Cup in 1958, when Brazil also became champions for the first time. In 1962, he was injured and missed the final, which made Brazil the champions for the second time. In 1966, he was injured during the Round of 16. In 1970, he played in the final that gave Brazil the World Cup for the third time in Mexico, and was later named Player of the Century. So someone who invested in "Pele, Inc." at the start of the champion's career would have shared in the fruits of his success over this entire period, as does an investor in the stock of a company over the long run.

About the Market Popularization Program

BM&FBOVESPA's Market Popularization Program was launched in 2002 and has already attracted more than 1.6 million people to take part in various free financial education activities designed for different social groups, from children, adolescents and adults to seniors, undergraduates, women and workers, in several parts of Brazil. The number of individual investors in the Brazilian stock market totaled some 85,000 in 2002. Today the number has reached 598,000, according to data for July. The Exchange has also participated in the National Financial Education Strategy (ENEF) since it was launched in 2007, and contributes to the support and development of actions designed to include financial education in the national school curriculum.

SOURCE BM&FBOVESPA