Lower entry costs will open the door to more investors, but understanding what they buy matters more than ever, says Singapore and Regional CEO, Longbridge Securities

SINGAPORE, Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Retail investors can now buy shares of DBS, OCBC and UOB in lots of 10 instead of 100, after the Singapore Exchange's (SGX) smaller board lot sizes took effect on Monday (5 October). The change cuts the minimum capital needed to own some of the market's most traded stocks by 90%.

The first 11 counters to qualify are DBS Group, OCBC, UOB, Keppel, Singapore Exchange, Jardine Cycle & Carriage, Jardine Matheson, Great Eastern, Haw Par, Venture Corporation and Prudential. Together, they accounted for about 35% of SGX trading activity in the first half of 2026, according to the exchange.

Under SGX's revised framework, stocks priced above S$10 and up to S$100 trade in lots of 10 shares, while those above S$100 will trade in lots of a single share. None of the first 11 falls into the single share category. Once a stock's lot size is reduced, it stays reduced even if its price later falls.

SGX will review eligibility every quarter. The next review, based on closing prices from July to December 2026, takes place in January 2027, with changes taking effect in February.

For a stock trading at S$40, a standard lot now costs about S$400 before fees, compared with S$4,000 previously.

Part of a wider push

The move is the latest in a series of measures to strengthen Singapore's equity market following the Equities Market Review Group's final report in November 2025.

As of 29 September 2026, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) had allocated S$5.4 billion of its S$6.5 billion Equity Market Development Programme (EQDP) to 14 asset managers. The latest batch added Amundi, Franklin Templeton, HSBC Asset Management, M&G and Natixis.

MAS has also committed S$20 million under the Grant for Equity Market Singapore (GEMS) to support market making in around 80 small and mid-cap stocks, as well as new listings, until the end of 2028. In its financial year ended June 2026, SGX welcomed 21 new listings.

"Cheaper to access, not cheaper to own"

Industry players say the board lot change addresses a long-standing practical barrier for retail investors, but caution that lower minimums do not change what a stock is worth.

"The cost of access has just fallen by 90%. The cost of a poor decision has not," said Mr Gavin Chia, chief executive of Longbridge Securities Singapore and regional CEO.

"This is not a stock split. A stock that is expensive at 100 shares is just as expensive at 10. What has changed is how easily investors can get in, not the investment case."

Mr Chia, who entered the industry about two decades ago when Singapore shares commonly traded in lots of 1,000 units, said the bigger benefit was flexibility. SGX cut the standard lot from 1,000 shares to 100 in 2015.

With smaller lots, investors with modest capital can spread their money across several companies, build positions gradually and keep cash in reserve, he said. That could matter particularly for those building dividend portfolios around Singapore's banks and blue chips.

But he warned of a new temptation. "Smaller lots should lead to more deliberate portfolios, not more scattered ones. The risk is buying a little of everything without knowing why you own any of it."

Investors should also note that minimum commissions charged by some brokers can weigh more heavily on smaller trades, making costs a larger share of each purchase.

What investors should check first

Mr Chia said five questions still apply whatever the lot size:

What drives the company's earnings, and are they sustainable? How is it valued against its own history and its peers? How reliable is the dividend, and what could put it at risk? What are the key risks, from interest rates to regulation? How does the position fit with the rest of the portfolio?

From capital to judgement

Twenty years ago, individual investors faced two main barriers: limited access to information and high minimum capital, Mr Chia noted. Technology has largely removed the first, and SGX has now lowered the second for some of the market's most traded stocks.

"What remains is understanding," he said. "Investors today are surrounded by earnings reports, analyst notes and social media commentary. The challenge is no longer finding information but making sense of it."

Brokers are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to help investors do that. Longbridge, which is headquartered in Singapore and licensed by MAS through Longbridge Securities Singapore, launched its AI-native investing platform in July. Its assistant, Longbridge AI, analyzes and answers plain language questions about stocks and shows the reasoning and sources behind each answer.

"AI can help an investor work through those questions in minutes rather than days," said Mr Chia. "But the principle matters as much as the technology. AI proposes, and the investor decides. Its purpose should be better judgement, not more trading."

He added that easier access does not remove investment risk, and that the industry has a responsibility to match wider participation with better understanding.

"If the last decade was about lowering the price of entry to Singapore's market, the next should be about raising the quality of participation," he said. "Smaller board lots open the door. Judgement is what keeps investors in the room."

What changed on 5 October 2026

• Board lot: cut from 100 shares to 10 for SGX stocks priced above S$10 and up to S$100, and to one share for stocks above S$100.
• First 11 stocks: DBS Group, OCBC, UOB, Keppel, Singapore Exchange, Jardine Cycle & Carriage, Jardine Matheson, Great Eastern, Haw Par, Venture Corporation and Prudential.
• Not a stock split: share prices and company valuations are unchanged.
• Next changes: SGX reviews eligibility quarterly, with the next batch taking effect in February 2027.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute investment advice. This article is attributed to Gavin Chia, Singapore and Regional CEO, Longbridge Securities

Source: Longbridge Group