The boiling frog syndrome plays a very decisive role not only in biology and natural ecosystem but also in the business, finance and investment. The final investors are human beings and thus the behavioral finance, specially the biases are getting important decision-making factors in the present investment world.
The boiling frog syndrome
The boiling frog syndrome shows how accepting and compromising minor changes may cause catastrophic death. It metaphorically presents the fatal death of a frog but human life or investment is set to suffer if not proactive timely. In our personal and social life, we are taught to adopt situations with little discomfort. We are ready to take some pains to keep as the things are. Compromising mentality is a positive trait in the society too. However, there are situations we need to take proactive steps to avoid greater losses of health or wealth. The boiling frog syndrome warns us from smaller negative changes before turning to the catastrophes.
The boiling frog syndrome explained:
The boiling frog theory is a metaphor describing the failure to react small problems may increase in severity and reach catastrophic consequences.
The boiling frog concept is that if you place a frog in already boiled water, it will jump out but if you place in normal water and gradually heat to boiling water, it will try a little and consequently face death.
The concept is a metaphor presented with a frog but applies to everywhere. It is a story to warn the human community about being cautious to small changes that might bring life-taking consequences. It says that if you put a frog suddenly in any pot with boiling water, it will jump out of the pot if within the capacity.
The reason is that as the sudden boiling water is a threat for its life, it will react promptly with all possible capacity. However, if you put the frog in a pot with normal water, the frog will not feel insecure to jump out as the life is not at stake. Then when you and keep heating gradually, it will feel a bit uncomfortable and try to accommodate the minor changes rather getting out.
If the heating continues, frog tries to accept and compromise. It also tries to get out but not with all power. Then, at one point, the heat turns the warm water to boiling water and the frog tries to get out but fails as it has been week enough to utilize full potential. Thus, the frog suffers a sad death in boiling water that could be avoided when the water started getting hot.
Examples of the boiling frog syndrome
Frog is an element in the metaphor but the theory applies to almost all walks of life including society, person life, investments etc. Let us find some practical aspects and examples that support the boiling frog syndrome.
The boiling frog syndrome in personal life:
We deal with many disturbing and negative people hoping that they will be alright some day and the effects are not so severe. Over the time, they get so much harmful that may hamper our normal life.
We may be dissatisfied with the salary or environment of the office and adopt as the severity is low. We do not look for opportunities when there are scopes. After few years, we will have hardly any scope to leave the job for versatile reasons but the life gets unbearable with the environment.
Our marriage life may suffer from complexities that we compromise and ignore. There comes time when we can not get separated or keep compromising. Life seems hell but we have hardly any way out.
The boiling frog syndrome in personal life
we may have some assets or securities that have not future potential. The price goes down slowly and we do not offload. At a point of time, the price goes so down that we face a brutal loss. We could avoid if proactively sold. As the price did not get down suddenly, we ignored the problem.
We may trade with someone in credit. There might be some gradual accumulation over time. At one time,
The boiling frog syndrome in action
1960 for sympathy towards the Soviet Union during the Cold War;
1980 collapse of civilization anticipated by survivalists;
1990s inaction to climate change, abusive relationships and slow erosion of civil liberties.
1996 novel The Story of B, environmentalist author Daniel Quinn wrote a chapter on the boiling frog
1997 Pierce Brosnan’s character Harry Dalton in the Dante’s Peak warning volcano’s reawakening
2006 Al Gore used a version of the story in a New York Times op ed,in his presentations and the movie An Inconvenient Truth about global warming.
2010 writer/director Jon Cooksey in the title of his comedic documentary How to Boil a Frog.
2003 Law professor and legal commentator Eugene Volokh mentioned that regardless of the frogs in reality, the story is useful as a metaphor, as to the metaphor of an ostrich with its head
2009 Economics Nobel laureate and New York Times op-ed writer Paul Krugman used the story as a metaphor in July column, mentioning that real frogs behave otherwise.
2006 Journalist James Fallows suggests to stop retelling the story, as it as a “stupid canard” and a “myth”. However, after Krugman’s column he was a bit soft.
Is the boiling frog syndrome true?
The boiling frog syndrome is better to take as a metaphor, not literally true. The story about the frog has been ruled out by many and suggested as conceptually accepted.
Behavioral finance holds that financial decisions are not always data or information-driven, sometimes psychology and behavioral biases affect financial decisions greatly.
Behavioral Finance
Behavioral finance studies the psychology of financial decision-making and assumes that most people know that emotions affect investment decisions.
Behavioral Finance Biases
Behavioral finance biases are the emotional influences on financial decision-making in addition or opposed to logical and data-driven factors.
Behavioral finance takes the insights of psychological research and applies them to financial decision-making. There are lots of classifications of the biases under behavioral finance. Some of the most common and decisive biases are explained below:
Bias #1 Overconfidence Bias
This is an emotional bias, where investors have an inflated faith in their own judgment, decision-making, and analytical abilities. Examples: 1). Investors overconfidently trade their accounts too frequently. 2). Investors ignore diversification concentrated stock positions. 3). Investors refuse to save or invest, and even ignore developing their investment plans.
Bias #2: Loss Aversion Bias
Investors focus more on loss mitigation than making a profit. Holding losing their investment position for a longer period in the expectation that they get back to even, regardless of the poor future prospects for security. The bias also prompts the investors to sell very lucratively with lower appreciation. Opportunity costs are ignored most of the time for this bias.
Example: BDT 1.00 bears more pain than the gain derived from a profit of BDT 1. Profitable securities are sold quickly and losing securities are held for a longer time.
Bias #3 Endowment Bias
Endowment Bias is an emotional bias where investors value their own security or asset more. The ownership may come from purchase or inheritance. Such overvaluation may underweight the others’ assets and thus fails to benefit from opportunity cost.
Examples: 1) Investors tend to hold on to what they own. 2) They do not want to sell because of:
Inheritance,
Commissions, and
Purchased assets/securities.
Bias #4 Anchoring and Adjustment Bias
This is an information bias using a default number as benchmark/anchor. The pre-existing or first piece of information affects as anchor in both limited and overloaded information.
Example of anchoring and adjustment bias:
(i) Stock market of Bangladesh set an anchor index of 7,000 a few months back and now it is set for 8,000 index points as the BSEC sets some policy issues to 8,000.
(ii) If a stock price sells for 100 and slips for reasonable grounds, many will not offload below 100 despite the strong probability of not returning to that price. The reason is that they anchor the price at $100 and are not ready to accept lower than $100.
(iii) 52-week high/low stock price is another example of anchoring bias. 52-week high stock price works as resistant and leads to undervalue stocks whereas 52-week low stock price works as supports and induce purchases.
(iv) Sometimes, companies opt for stock splits to avoid the 52-week high stock price bias. When stock price approaches 52-week high, resistance comes and undervaluation occurs. Even reasonable grounds fail to break the resistance backed by 52-week high stock price bias. Some companies go for stock splits to break the resistance and downward direction.
(v) We analyze stock price technically or fundamentally but the stock price available in the market works as an anchor.
Bias #5 Outcome Bias
This is a cognitive and information processing bias for which the investors decide on the basis of ends or outcome not means or process that led to that result.
Example of outcome bias: We may select an investment manager focusing on his/her performance(track records for a few years) rather than the process that leads to that performance. Such bias takes higher risks as the decision has not been with proper analysis of fundamental and technical aspects.
Bias #6 Mental Accounting Bias
Mental Accounting bias happens when people categorize assets to different mental accounts and value them differently. The same amount of money does not have different values but Mental Accounting bias values differently.
This tendency of mental buckets also causes us to focus on the individual buckets rather than thinking of the entire wealth position.
Examples of Mental Accounting Bias : 1). People spend more money with credit cards than cash. 2). Employee investors overweight equities in their portfolios for their own company stock. 3). Retirement funds are planned for as long-term investments. (Positive effect though)
Bias #7 Snake Bite Effect
The snake bite effect happens if people take very conservative decisions based on past bad experiences and regrets for the poor returns.
Example: If someone avoids stocks for a past fall and consequently invests in government bonds heavily for conservatism. He/she may get upset for lower returns than the stock market.
Bias #8 Illusion of Control
Investors with the illusion of control bias believe they can control investment outcomes but actually, they cannot. It is in most cases true that we can not control our investment outcomes fully whether we admit it or not. The investors have a dependence on a third party or ecosystem but are in the illusion to admit the influence.
Examples: 1). More frequent trade than usual for the illusion of control bias. 2). It often leads to over-concentrated investment portfolios in a single sector. 3). Some correct trades/deals make people overconfident.
Bias #9 Availability Bias
Availability bias impacts the decisions of investors with the familiarity of the outcome in their life. They perceive easily recalled possibilities as the best choices. Examples: 1). A technology company employee guesses tech companies are the best investments. 2). An investor may avoid companies as he can not remember the name easily. 3). Investors tend to invest in best-advertised companies/mutual funds.
4). Investors are eager to invest in or withdraw investment from companies with recent news.
Bias #10 Self-Attribution Bias
Self-Attribution Bias states that investors to credit their success to talent and skill and blame their failures on situations beyond their control or luck. Examples: 1). Sometimes investors do well simply because of a strong bull market. Hence the saying, “never confuse brains for a bull market.” 2). Investors may take too much risk and trade their accounts excessively. 3). Investors create over-concentrated portfolios due to this bias. 4). This bias discourages investors to learn from past errors.
Bias #11 Recency Bias
Recency Bias lets the investors prioritize more on recent events than those in the distance events. Examples: 1). Investors only look at the recent 1-, 2-, and 3-year track record when evaluating investment or manager. 2). Investors will focus on the investment class in favor today. 3). Often investors focus on price and not valuation and can falsely extrapolate future returns.
4). Investors are eager to invest in or withdraw investment from companies with recent news.
Bias #12 Cognitive Dissonance Bias
Investors ignore newly acquired information if it conflicts with previous views due to cognitive dissonance bias. Some people avoid relevant information to keep aside psychological conflicts. Examples: 1). Refusal to take the tax benefit
2). Ignoring reallocation to a better investment 3). Not admitting a mistake. 3). “It’s different this time” is the answer when something goes wrong.
Bias #13 Self-control bias
Self-control bias states that people may not act to ensure their best long-term interest because of their lack of self-control.
Examples:
People prefer lavish life in the present, rather than savings.
People do not invest in equities or take part in the benefits of dollar-cost averaging.
People do more shopping with credit cards.
Consuming lion’s share of income for present lifestyle.
Less priority on retirement planning and saving.
Bias #14 Confirmation Bias
Confirmation Bias encourages people to emphasize ideas that confirm their own beliefs while ignoring ideas contradicting beliefs. Example: The fall of world-famous companies provides examples of how officials suffered for their own company concentration.
Bias #15 Hindsight Bias
Hindsight Bias is the overestimation of one’s prediction power more perfectly than reality.
Examples:
After the market crash in Bangladesh in 1996 and 2010, few people claimed that they could sense the probable stock market collapse. Such people get the confidence that they can predict the future correctly.
Bias #16 Representativeness Bias
Representativeness Bias shows that people categorize assets/investment classes based upon relevant past experiences. Such classifications can often produce incorrect understandings. Example: 1). Interested in IPOs is thought sure profitable but there might be loss too.
2). Assuming that the past performance of an investment is an indication of its future performance.
#17 Paradox of Choice
The paradox of Choice states that information overload creates lower performance, productivity, and satisfaction. Too much analysis makes paralysis of decision making. When there are too many options, people face difficulty in making financial decisions.
The Paradox of Choice is a book written by Barry Schwartz that explains though conventional view tells us that more choice leads to more freedom and more happiness, research shows the opposite Examples: 1). 50 studies show a positive connection between choice and anxiety. 2). A study showed that if 10 mutual funds are added to a retirement plan, participation drops by 2% more.
Bias #18 Affinity Bias
It is an emotional bias where investors purchase or sell a security based on values or a sense of attachment rather than economic consideration.
For example, investors may invest in:
Securities of countries and regions
Securities of companies they shop at
Eco-friendly company stocks
Bias #19 Framing Bias
Framing Bias shows that the narrow frame presents overreactions whereas the broad frame presents a lower reaction of investors on loss.
The phrasing/framing and the way information is presented draw the attention of investors in addition to the information itself.
Bias #20 Herd Mentality Bias
Herd Mentality Bias occurs when investors copy and follow the groups for investment decisions instead of their research, analysis, and evaluation.
Such bias severely affects panicked investors and leads to a market crash.
Conclusive Words
Behavioral finance is somewhat a new concept in the investment and finance sector. However, it has been a very influential and impactful aspect in the present era of the competitive business world. We have discussed 20 Behavioral finance biases to make your financial and investment decisions profitable.
Personal finance matters a lot for arranging necessary funds for personal and family occasions. A holiday Cash Club account is a great way to ensure the best of personal finance when it comes to finance your Eid, Christmas, Holiday spending properly.
What is a holiday Cash Club account?
Holiday cash club account or Christmas Club Account or Vacation Club Account is a special type of saving account intended for the holiday expenses/shopping. You deposit usually automatically throughout the year and get to your desired account during the holiday. It reduces the tendency and dependence on credit card debts.
Features
Competitive interest/profit/dividend rate.
Usually no requirement for minimum deposit
Usually, dividends compounded daily and paid monthly
Multi-channel deposits are allowed through any of our service channels
Payroll Deduction or Funds Transfer may be used
Usually no service charges
Same account can be used for the next years
Goal based savings
Premature withdrawal is discouraged
Celebration financing made easy
History of Club Accounts
The first ever Christmas Club account was offered by the Carlisle Trust Company in 1909. The then innovative treasurer of the company, Merkel Landis, was the man behind the club with roughly 350 members. Each member contributed an average of $28 to their accounts.
Later, such accounts were very popular among the Americans during the 1960s and 1970s. However, the popularity and appeal of the accounts have reduced substantially over the years.
How Club Accounts Work?
Club account participants deposits an amount usually equally each month. Such deposits are generally automated from the payroll or transferred from another account. At year end/maturity, the total amount is transferred to the main accounts of the participants.
The disbursement is usually occurs in first of November and saved until October. However, based on the occasion, the time may vary as per the agreement.
Benefits of Club Accounts
Club accounts or Christmas Clubs play a vital role in the management of personal finance and budget. It is a great tool to plan the vacation or shopping beforehand without taking the extra pressure from large bills. Some of the benefits are written below:
Cash Management: Club accounts make your cash management easy and comfortable. You can manage your cash for both short-term and long-term expenses.
2. Budgetary control: If you participate in such account, your budget management is alright. You save for the large expenditures and do not deviate from the budget to finance the vacation.
3. Peace of mind: As the required fund gets accumulated over the time, you can enjoy the peace of mind without any uncertainty.
4. Saving tendency: Participating to such accounts will create a sense of saving tendency. You will be accustomed to saving few bucks every time you are making some money.
5. Frugality: When you are a part of any club account, you are expected to lead a frugal life. Being frugal does not mean being a miser. Frugality ensures the best possible use of your resources.
6. Debt-free life: Vacations and occasions are obvious in life and they definitely require a lot of fund to handle. You are prone to get in debt trap if there
7. Planned expenditure: As you are saving a specific amount, it is very easy for planned expenditure. You are set to spend the saved amount and avoid any temptation and excitement.
8. Happy family: A great holiday/Christmas means a family happiness. Your single decision creates the opportunity for a great family bondage and happy feelings every time you get paid and spend for the occasion.
9. Forced Savings: Once you are decided and participated, you are set for the forced savings. It is great to save even if it is a forced savings.
Good Credit Score: As you are saving more and taking less loans, your credit score is sure to grow positively. You are at ease to avail any debt in the time of necessity.
Considerations for holiday cash club accounts
Some of the issues must be taken care before participation in the club accounts. Some of them are presented below:
Your interest rate may be less than other accounts
You may be penalized for early or premature withdrawals
It does not guarantee that all your expenses will be covered
The fund may not be as efficient as you think
Look before you leap. Do not commit so much savings that you can not afford.
Club Accounts in Bangladesh
Many banks in Bangladesh provides club accounts to some extent in the form of traveler’s savings under their retail banking services. Some banks provide travel cards at the maturity with more exciting offers for the vacation club account participants.
FAQs on holiday Cash Club account
Can you withdraw money from a holiday club account anytime?
Depositing money into your holiday/Christmas club accounts is permitted anytime but withdrawal is usually between November to January or agreed during the start of accounts. Still, you may withdraw anytime with the permission from the authority. In most of the time, premature withdrawal charges penalty, cuts interest etc.
What type of account is a club account?
A club account is an interest-bearing savings account in nature. The rate is not always very exciting but if you withdraw after the maturity, you will not be disappointed.
The last words
Human life is colorful with occasions, vacations and celebrations. You may not always be ready to enjoy the occasion with sufficient funds. Holiday Cash Club account is a great solution to the problem that takes deposits over the year and pays you when the fund creates the memorable moments for you.
Rubab Dowla Matin is a name with a perfect combination of personality, talent, and beauty. She is a Bangladeshi successful woman entrepreneur and corporate icon who brings digital transformations to the business world.
Rubab has gained every bit of honor, recognition, renown, and reputation correlated with her. But, how? Is her journey of being an entrepreneur smooth or full of hardship?
Rubaba Dowla Biography
This article will explore all her education, profession, the challenges of an entrepreneur’s life, net worth, and so many things. So let’s deep dive into the biography of Rubaba Dowla.
The Early Life of Rubaba Dowla
Rubab Dowla doesn’t like to publicize her personal life; that’s why we don’t like to disclose her birth date and place too. The dynamic corporate queen Rubaba Dowla is one of the high-profile and most successful names in the Bangladesh telecom sector.
Educational Background of Rubaba Dowla
As she is a business-oriented person, her educational background is full of business studies subjects. She obtained her BBA and MBA in Marketing from Dhaka University in 1992-1996. After that, she joined an Executive Management program at Stockholm School of Economics in 2002.
There she gathered knowledge about economics and its good and bad effects on a country’s total GDP. But, she wasn’t satisfied with her education because she felt she should know something extraordinarily to think out of the box. That’s why after 5 years in 2007, she also pursued a Strategic Marketing Program at London Business School. There she found she had many scopes to flourish her talent.
The knowledge she gathered from London Business School, she started to implement in her working sector. Then, in 2012, she got a chance to join the Strategy and Action Program (SIA) at Harvard Business School.
Working Experience
Rubab Dowla is an example of solid working experience in brand management, corporate communications, product innovations, and service delivery. So let’s have a look at her glorious professional life.
Grameenphone Ltd
After passing out from Dhaka University, she first joined Grameen phone as an officer of product development and planning. There she worked hard, so within a few years she got a promotion and took the responsibilities of the marketing department. There she gave her service from 1998 to 2009. Before leaving Grameen phone, she also performed as the head of the brands and customer service division.
At that time, the Grameen phone became the number one telecom brand and market leader in Bangladesh because of Rubaba Dowla’s foresightedness, excellent leading, and profitable decisions.
Airtel Bangladesh
Airtel is another multinational telecom brand. When it noticed Grameen phone’s success under Rubaba Dowla’s leadership, it offered her to join as a chief service officer and head of mCommerce. As a talented lady, Rubaba Dowla grabbed the opportunity and started her new job in 2010. She combined all her knowledge, working experience, and intelligence to grow Airtel as a famous brand. In the meantime, she also worked as the President of the Bangladesh Badminton Federation.
Rubaba Dowla as the President of TiE
TiE Young Entrepreneur (TYE) was built in 1992 by combining mentoring, education, incubating, networking, and funding. And it is a non-profit organization. Dowla worked there as the President of TiE and tried to foster young entrepreneurs to build a strong network with existing entrepreneurs.
Founding Pulse healthcare services
She wanted to work for the healthcare sector for many years as she believes that healthcare is one of the essential areas to serve the country’s people.
When mobile penetration has become widespread, it becomes very convenient to design a digital healthcare platform to deliver healthcare services in rural areas. After thinking this, she founded Pulse healthcare services.
But, why does its name pulse healthcare service?
The math behind this name is elementary. You know, when you go to the doctor’s chamber for any sickness, first doctors check your heartbeat by counting your pulse and then primarily try to define the reason for your sickness.
That’s why Rubaba Dowla took her health care organization name pulse healthcare services. She designed the structure of this telemedicine service to avoid a crowded hospital and the long queue of patience.
That means if you have a smartphone and internet connection, you can take specialist physicians’ advice through video conferencing. It makes taking health services more accessible, faster, and smarter. So no more regional and time boundaries to get the best health service from the best doctors.
Rubaba Dowla as the Country Manager And Director of Oracle
Right now, she has been working as a country managing director for Oracle in Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan since 2019. It is a cloud-based software company that offers computing infrastructural help to many businesses to unlock their efficiency and effectiveness. Oracle is trying to boost cloud adoption across industries.
Oracle selected Mrs. Rubaba as a country manager and detector because of her seventeen years of successful working experience in the telecommunications sector. Here she worked to encourage people to grow and learn how to solve any problem with digital skills.
Rubaba served as the Independent And Director of DSE
They were chosen on the basis of their expertise, experience, and integrity, and will serve as independent voices on the board, said the BSEC in its official letter sent to the managing director of the Dhaka bourse. Earlier, the DSE had sent a list of some 18 people to the regulator for the post of independent directors of the bourse.
Rubaba Dowla in the Sports Arena
Rubaba Dowla has made a remarkable mark in Bangladesh’s sports administration, blending her corporate leadership with a passion for athletic development.
Rubaba Dowla joins the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) board as a director on 07 October 2025. She will become only the second woman in BCB’s history to serve as a board director, following Monowara Anis Minu, who held the position in 2007.
Appointed as a director of BCB, she stands out as one of the few women in such a high-ranking position in the country’s cricket governance. Her inclusion signals a progressive step toward greater gender diversity and professionalism within the board.
Before her BCB role, Rubaba served as the President of the Bangladesh Badminton Federation (2009–2015), where she played an instrumental role in promoting grassroots participation and organizing national-level tournaments. Additionally, she has been involved with Special Olympics Bangladesh, supporting athletes with intellectual disabilities and advocating for inclusive sports opportunities.
Her corporate experience — spanning leadership positions at Grameenphone and currently Oracle — has complemented her sports management career, bringing strategic thinking, sponsorship insights, and organizational discipline into sports governance. As a long-time supporter of cricket through corporate sponsorships, Rubaba’s transition from the boardroom to the cricket board reflects her deep-rooted commitment to advancing Bangladesh’s sporting landscape. Her new role at the BCB is expected to strengthen women’s cricket and foster more structured, sustainable sports development nationwide.
Specialties of Rubaba Dowla
Rubab Dowla is a famous and established telecom personality in this industry. She is a highly professional and experienced leader. She has been working hard to build Grameenphone as a premier brand.
The areas of her specialties are
Management of Marketing and Commercial operations
Business and Marketing Strategy development and implementation
Brand, communication strategy management, and development
Management of customer experience, Corporate Affairs, CSR, CRM
Significant Accomplishments
Rubab Dowla established Grameenphone as the number one Brand in Bangladesh. It has also been recognized by Informa Telecom Report 2008 as top 100 telecom brands in the world.
Rubaba successfully managed 300% subscriber growth over 2.5 yrs with more than 65% market share. She introduced many innovative services in Bangladesh. Some of her innovations are utility bill pay, WAP portal, banking transaction details through SMS, WAP portal, juice lifestyle product for the youth segment, etc.
Some Quotes
Here we like to share some of her best quotes. She found those words work like magic behind success.
“If you work toward gender equality, then that takes care of empowerment, discrimination against women, violence against women, and all of the other related issues.”
“Demanding equal opportunity for everyone and equal rights for everyone, I believe is the right area to focus on.”
“I think that is not just something you choose; you have to focus on equality because that is extremely important, if not most important.”
Additional Honors and Awards of Rubaba Dowla
She has received many recognitions for her bold performance in the telecommunication sector. She leads the industry from the upfront. Here are some of her awards and recognitions
Rubab has Enlisted in Who’s 100 women leaders in Bangladesh.
She became Top 50 Women in mobile content.
Mobile Entertainment Forum listed her in the top 5 most powerful women in mobile in Asia.
She got the Begum Rokeya Shining personality award in 2006.
Not only that, but some of her successful product innovations also gained World GSMA awards and acclamations.
Success Tips to the Youth from Rubaba Dowla
This soft-spoken lady shares her success tips with the youth to become successful in their life.
She suggested the youths have common sense and have strong faith in their guts. They need to develop their skills such as Excel, PowerPoint, and other essential IT skills.
Never confine yourself to the Bangladeshi context for expanding your knowledge level; go global.
Not only your skills but also your attitude helps you to bring success in your life.
Balance your professional and personal life to have a successful career.
Glamor Life of Rubaba Dowla
The charismatic lady, Rubaba Dowla, is an internet sensation. That’s why don’t you think all the time she deep dive into her corporate works and is a down-to-earth lady. Besides her corporate life, she also has a glamorous and personal life. In her family life, Rubaba Dowla is happily married and blessed with a son.
She has extensive interests in music. In her free time, she loves to sing. So that in 2008, she sang two songs in a mixed album featuring Taposh named “Jabi Jodi Chol Chol.” Her two songs titles are “Smriti Gulo Khone Khone” and “Rateri Nirobota.”
Net Worth of Rubaba Dowla Matin
She is a successful corporate lady and entrepreneur, making a handsome amount every year from her job. As a country managing director for Oracle in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan she earns a very handsome amount. Besides it, she also gets profit from her business, Pulse healthcare services. There is hardly any dependable data about her income. So now you are to speculate how much her net worth can be!
Final Words
Rubaba Dowla is a role model among the young generation, and she is the perfect example of women’s empowerment. Not only in the corporate industry but also she puts her footstep in many sectors and becomes a strong woman. So we can say – she is an excellent asset to Bangladesh. Find one of the well-known businesswomen in Bangladesh.
But, yes, she doesn’t get all those successes in a day like magic. She dreamt and worked to fulfill her dream. If you can hang with your dream, one day you can also reach it. So today is the day to take your baby steps towards your goal.
Visit if you want to know about another iconic businesswoman Rubana Huq?
Apex is a famous footwear brand in Bangladesh, and Mr. Syed Manzur Elahi is the founding Chairman of this Group. He is one of the prominent business figures in our country because of his multiple businesses.
But, do you know Apex is not just a footwear company. It combines the seven most prominent companies, including Apex Tannery, Mutual Trust, Pioneer insurance, etc. Apex started its journey with only Tk. 15,000. At that time, Mr. Manzur was an employee of another company.
However, today our arrangement is about Mr. Syed Manzur Elahi and the real story of his Apex. So be with us to know more about this business hero.
Early Life of Syed Manzur Elahi
He was born in 1942 in Kolkata. His father’s name was Sir Sayem Nasim Ali, and he was Chief Justice of Kolkata High Court. His mother’s name was Sharifunnesa Begum, and she was a housewife. But, she liked to read books and listened to Rabindra Sangeet.
They were four brothers, and among them, Mr. Manzur Elahi was fourth. But, unfortunately, his father died when he was only five years old. So that’s why his elder brothers brought him up. But, unfortunately, at present, two of his elder brothers are no more.
Educational Background
Manzur Elahi passed his study period in almost one institution. He studied primary grade to graduation in St. Xavier’s College, established in 1860.
In 1962 he came to Dhaka after passing his BA degree. Then he got admission to the University of Dhaka, and from there, he completed his MA Degree in Economics in 1964.
Marriage Life of Manzur Elahi
He established Sunbeam English Medium school in Dhaka in 1974 with Niloufer. When they were working together, they found they were excellent friends, and their ideologies matched. So they decided to get married. Now they have a son and a daughter.
However, Mr. and Mrs. Manzur have tested Corona positive, and Mrs. Niloufer Manzur died on 26th May 2020.
About Apex
Apex is an English word that means the peak. Mr. Manzur was fond of being first in every section from his childhood.
Apex is highly famous only because of its footwear presentation all over the world. It produces around 3 million pairs of shoes only to meet the demand of our country. It has more than 550 outlets in Bangladesh. And, it exports approximately 5 million pairs of shoes in more than 40 countries along with 130 outlets.
Syed Manzur Elahi & Apex
Like any other youth, Mr. Elahi was puzzled about what to do at the beginning of his career. So he decided to prepare for the CSP exam of the Pakistan Service Commission to get a govt. Job.
But, his luck led him to get on the right track to be today’s Mr. Manzur Elahi. It was a story of one afternoon that changed his life. Let’s know what happened that afternoon.
The Exclusive Afternoon Of Manzur’s Life
One afternoon, he walked near a building named Jinnah Avenue. Now it is known as Bangabandhu Avenue. At that time, one of his senior brothers, Humayun Khan Kurni, wanted to know what he was planning to start as his profession. So while he shared his thoughts on CSP Exam preparation, Humayun Khan suggested not doing so.
Mr. Humayun said that doing a Govt job would bring a limited and specific amount of money at the end of the month. Mr. Manzur also found that it was right. Then he applied to a Multinational Company named British American Tobacco. After that, he went to Karachi to sit for the interview.
The Funniest Moment of Interview Board
During the interview, one of the interviewers asked about Manzur’s demanded salary. Manzur claimed 900tk. The interviewers started to laugh a little. He got scared at that time and thought he claimed much.
So, he said again, “It is okay too if you pay me Tk. 600”. Interviewers couldn’t stop themselves from laughing aloud at that time. He then got confused.
They said that “Our starting salary is 1900tk”. After hearing that, Manzur became extremely happy, and he continued his job there for six years and six months in total.
Beginning of his Business Career
26th February 1972 was Manzur’s 30th birthday. He chose that day to start his new journey to begin his own business. So, he left his job at only 30 years old. Then he planned to establish a business.
The Struggle of Convincing Family Members To Establish a Business
Manzur met Lemon Cleric in 1972, who was the tannery business exporter and importer. His tannery business influenced Mr. Manzur. He began to think about the tannery business.
But when he shared his idea with his family members, they opposed him because he was the son of a family that conveyed a liberal attitude towards the law. Not only that, five of his generation were lawmakers in their careers. In that sense, Mr. Sayed didn’t get any support from his elder brothers.
However, while he told his plan to begin a business, his elder brother asked him-“How much do you know about business? Nobody in our family is a businessman.”
His wife Niloufer Manzur also opposed his decision. But Syed Manzur was determined to follow his business plan. Later his father-in-law supported him mentally and convinced his wife.
How Was His Journey Towards Tannery?
Mr. Manzur was utterly new to the business field. So, he had to pass a lot of difficulties. Finally, however, he started to export all his products to Japan when running his business.
But, in 1993-1994, Japan fell into great economic difficulties. As a result, many of the business organizations in Japan stopped importing tannery from him. At that time, he fell into serious trouble.
The Beginning of Apex Footwear
While he got his tannery business lost, he went to Italy and met the top business persons in the country. They offered him to make footwear. So he tried from 1993 to 1996 but continuously faced business losses in terms of the footwear business.
His footwear production began to decrease as he couldn’t catch the customers’ needs. Then he found footwear is also a fashionable item like garments products. So, he needed to improve the quality and models.
The demand for footwear models is continuously changing depending on the season. But, unfortunately, trouble caught him top to bottom.
Problems Became Greater
He exported his footwear to a renowned Italian factory. Suddenly it started denying ordering a significant amount. When he tried to find out the reason, he faced a brutal reality.
China grabbed the global market with less price to export their products. However, the Italian company found it was highly competitive to compete with China. So it shifted to those companies to get its products. This is why the company stopped ordering from him.
The Turning Point of Mr. Elahi
He proposed to the Chairperson of that Italian company to come to Bangladesh and start working with him. Unfortunately, first, the company’s shareholders didn’t show him any interest. But later, he could successfully describe his plan. Lastly, due to his determination and long-time business relationship, they agreed.
Then he proposed a joint venture which was the turning point for him. And, he started the real journey of his Apex Footwear Company.
Manzur Elahi Idol
In his early life at university, he got inspired by Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata. Mr. Elahi read many books of Tata and got encouraged by his ideology. Jamsetji Tata was his only hero to decide between being a businessman.
Conclusion
Mr. Manzur Elahi is not only a successful business figure in Bangladesh. Instead, he has a good personality in terms of his character.
To be today’s business person for Sayed Manzur Elahi was not that easy. But, although he didn’t get mental support from his family to start a business, he had a strong passion.
He wanted to be the top Businessperson. And he proved that if you have a strong wish for anything, you can attain the peak.
We hope Mr. Syed Manzur will be your pioneer in making the right decision based on your potentiality. Explore another industrialist in Bangladesh.
The effective bond market plays a vital role in the economic development of a country and presents long-term financing opportunities to the issuers by creating an alternative source of finance and provides a stable source of income to the investors. The bond market in Bangladesh will be presented with every bit of information you need to know.
In Bangladesh, most of the debt financing need is fulfilled from the banking sources, which burdens the overall banking sector while presenting significant systemic risk. Therefore, the development of a well-functioning bond market would ensure financial stability by enhancing the ability of financial institutions to manage risks.
Government Security:
Government Security is a tradable instrument issued by a sovereign Government. It acknowledges the Government’s debt obligation. Such securities are short-term (usually called treasury bills, with original maturities of less than one year) or long-term (usually called Government bonds or dated securities with an original maturity of one year or more).
The Government borrows funds from domestic sources by issuing tradable and non-tradable securities to finance the budgetary deficits.
Tradable T-Bills:14-day, 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day T-Bills;
Non-tradable securities include Sanchayapatras and Prize bonds.
Eligible Investors: Resident Individuals and institutions, such as banks, NBFIs, insurance companies, corporations, provident funds, pension funds, etc., can purchase and trade T-bills and T-bonds. However, foreign/non-resident individuals and institutions can invest only in T-bonds.
As per the agreement between The Government of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Bank in 1985 (Treasury rules-1998 (Appendix-1, Section-3) and Bangladesh Bank (BB) Order-1972, article 20 empowers BB to issue new loans and manage public debt for the Government
Features of Treasury Bills
The market determines the price
They are issued at a discount and redeemed at face value at maturity.
Tradable in the secondary market.
Issued in scriptless form.
The Central Bank releases a monthly calendar through the BB website.
Features of Treasury Bonds
A risk-free fixed coupon-bearing debt instrument
Maturities are available within 2-20 years.
It carries a half-yearly coupon payment, and the principal is repaid on maturity.
The market determines yield.
Tradable instruments in the secondary market.
Issued in scriptless form.
Participation in Auctions and Trading
Weekly (usually on Sunday) auctions of Treasury Bills are held following a pre-announced auction calendar with a specified amount. Bidders quote their prices. The Auction Committee determines the cut-off price from the offered prices.
Weekly (usually on Tuesday) auction of BGTB of a particular tenor is held following a pre-announced auction calendar with the specific amount. In case of a new issue, bidders quote their expected yields, and in re-issue auctions, they have to quote price.
Primary Dealers (PDs) can place bids in the auction. Other commercial banks and Non-Bank Financial institutions, Insurance companies, corporate, individuals, provident funds, etc., can also participate in the auction through PDs.
The minimum bid amount is Taka one lac, and its multiples.
Scheduled Banks and financial institutions maintaining accounts with Motijheel Office of Bangladesh Bank will take the initiative to open Business Partner Identification (BP ID) in favor of their individual/institutional customers. BP ID holders can access the Market Infrastructure (MI) Module of Bangladesh Bank to participate in the auctions. Individuals may also buy or sell government securities in the secondary market over the counter (OTC)/Trader Work Station (TWS) of the MI module.
Benefits Can you derive by Investing Treasury Bonds
It is a risk-free investment since the sovereign Government issues it.
One can get an attractive rate of interest since the yield is determined in the market.
Since these bonds are tradable in the secondary market, one can obtain instant liquidity by selling them in the market.
All receipts of interest and maturity are fully repatriable in case of foreign investment.
One can get the best services from the Central Bank of Bangladesh, which maintains a fully automated scriptless depository system named Market Infrastructure (MI) Module.
Evolution of the Government Securities Market in Bangladesh
Year
Initiatives/Events
1972
Introduction of the issuance of 90-day (3-month) treasury bills (T-Bills) in August on a tap basis
1995
In October, treasury bills started being sold through auction at the market-determined rate
1996
Introduction of 30-day and 180-day treasury bills in February
1997
In March, the auction of 1-year treasury bills was introduced
1998
Issuance of 30-day, 90-day, 180-day, and 1-year bills through weekly auctions In September, existing T-bills were replaced by newly introduced 28-day, 91-day, 182-day, 364- day
2002
Introduction of Central Bank Repo facility against T-bills Introduction of IB Repo facility against G-Sec
2003
Issuance of Bangladesh Government Treasury bonds (BGTB) Rules, 2003 in September Introduction of Primary Dealer (PD) system Issuance of 5-year and 10-year BGTBs
2006
Introduction of auction calendar for the first time based on a deficit budget
2007
Issuance of 15-year and 20-year BGTBs Introduction of liquidity Support (LS) to the PDs against government securities (G-Sec) Introduction of bidding commitments and underwriting obligations on PDs for T-bills and BGTBauctions Introduction of underwriting commission for the PDs
2008
Suspension of the issuance of the 28-day T-bills Introduction of mark-to-market requirements under the accounting framework for government securities (G-Sec)
2009
Introduction of automated delivery versus payment (DvP) settlement system
2011
Introduction of the Market Infrastructure (MI) Module for the automation of G-Sec management and operations
2013
Introduction of re-issuance of BGTBs Issuance of 2-year BGTB
2014
Issuance of the circular directing funded pension provident funds of banks to be invested in GSec
2016
Introduction of Government Securities Order Matching Trading Platform (GSOM) in August Introduction of 14-day T-bills
2017
Started publishing report on G-Sec on an annual basis (from FY 2016-17) Publication of Bangladesh Compound Rate (BCR) as a reference rate
2018
Introduction of the secondary market yield curve (on a test basis)
2019
Introduction of 3-Year Floating-Rate Treasury Bond (FRTB) A working committee comprising members of BB, BSEC, and a commercial bank published the ‘Comprehensive Framework on the Development of the Bond Market in Bangladesh.’
2020
A strategic decision was taken to enlist G-Sec on DSE’s trading platform
October 08, 2020
Sukuk Guidelines, 2020‘ circulated by MoF
December 28, 2020
First Sukuk Bond issued
December 02 2020
Hiring Consulting Firm (National) for the Feasibility Study and Development of Guidelines on Green Sukuk for the Shariah Based Banks and Financial Institutions
August 16, 2021
*On June 23, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) granted primary approval for the BEXIMCO Green-Sukuk with some conditions. On July 8, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission gave the final approval to BEXIMCO for issuing a Tk 3,000-crore Shariahcompliant Sukuk. On August 16, Beximco’s Sukuk IPO subscription starts
Types of Bond Market in Bangladesh
Government Securities (G-Sec) Market
Treasury Bills (T-Bills)
Treasury Bonds (T-Bonds)
Bangladesh Government Investment Sukuk
At the end of FY 2019-20, the total outstanding of the Government’s borrowing from the banking sector stood at BDT 279,601.97 crore; Constituted 10.00% of the GDP (compared to 7.86% at the end of June 2019). The total outstanding amount of T-bills was 62,783.52 crore, and T-bonds were 216,818.45 crores.
In FY 2019-20, the banking sector was the leading investor category,
with 73.79% of the total outstanding of G-Sec;
Long-term investors, like insurance companies and provident funds, accounted for 12.39% of the total holding;
Bangladesh Bank held about 12.40% for its monetary operations.
Corporate Bonds
Governed by Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC)
Corporate Bond Market
BSEC governs the corporate bond market in Bangladesh. For issuing debt instruments through private offers, issuers are required to apply under the Securities and Exchange Commission (Private Placement of Debt Securities) Rules, 2012;
The outstanding size of the public, the corporate bond market is insignificant compared to the G-Sec market.
Key Indicators of Corporate Bond Market: Private Offer
For debt instruments through public offers, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (Public Issue) Rules, 2015, Securities and Exchange Commission (Private Placement of Debt Securities) Rules, 2012 apply.
Key Indicators of Corporate Bond Market: Public Issues
The outstanding size of the public corporate bond market is insignificant comparing to the G-Sec market.
Operation of G-Sec Market
Primary Market Operation
Debt Management Department (DMD) of Bangladesh Bank acts as the debt manager of the Government in consultation with the MoF; Cash and Debt Management Committee (CDMC) has been formed for the supervision of the Government’s borrowings chaired by Secretary, Finance Division;
BB is authorized to conduct auctions for raising loans on behalf of the Government of Bangladesh. The process of raising loans involves the issuance of government securities. The Auction Committee, chaired by the Deputy Governor of BB, determines the cut-off rate of the auction of government securities.
Bangladesh Bank has its depository system for the transaction and settlement of Government securities in the Market Infrastructure (MI) Module. In 2011 BB introduced this automated system to expedite the primary auction and secondary market.
Secondary market of Government securities
Bangladesh Bank initiated Market Infrastructure (MI) Module to automate trading and settlement of Government securities transactions in October 2011. The secondary market of Bangladesh’s Government securities comprises Over the Counter (OTC) and Trader Work Station (TWS). Both the procedures are integral parts of the Market Infrastructure Module (MI Module)-government securities’ automated auction and trading platform.
Over-the-Counter (OTC):
Participants must submit a sale/buy order in the OTC platform while the counterparty confirms the order in the OTC market. Once they complete the trading process and the system accepts trades, the data automatically flows to Core Banking System (CBS) to clear and settle funds to achieve the settlement of funds in CBS. Further, the trading securities have been transferred automatically to the buyer securities account in MI.
Trader Work Station (TWS):
Bangladesh Bank has introduced the Trader Work Station (TWS)- an Order Matching system. The TWS is an electronic, screen-based, order-driven trading system for dealing in Government securities. In addition, the platform highlights the existing facility of the Over-The-Counter (OTC) market in Government securities. Further, the TWS brings transparency in secondary market transactions in Government securities. Members can place bids (buy orders) and offer (sell orders) directly on the TWS screen. The system is order-driven that matches all bids and offers, focusing on price/time. In particular, it matches the order on a first-come and first-serve basis among the similar price orders. In addition, the TWS facilitates Straight-Through-Processing (STP) system. In that system, trades are automatically sent to the CBS for settlement.
Treasury/Government Securities (G-Sec) Management and Operational Process in Bangladesh
1.2. Investing in G-Sec via Banks and Financial Institutions
Primary Market of G-Sec
2.1. Auction of New Issuance
2.2. Auction of Re-Issued Securities
Secondary Market of G-Sec
3.1. Anonymous Order-Matching System (OMS)
3.2. Over-the-Counter (OTC)
Open Market Operations
4.1. Repurchase Agreements (Repo)
4.1.1. Repo with the Central Bank
4.1.2. Inter-Bank Repo
4.2. Assured Liquidity Support (ALS) for Primary Dealers
Trade Settlement Process via Core Banking Software (CBS)
Report Generation and Management Functions in the MI Module
Circular on Business Partner ID in MI Module
Mi Module Functionalities
Govt. Securities Order Matching (GSOM)
Govt. Security Trading supports by Banks/NBFIs( Lanka Bangla Finance, for example)
Challenges in G-Sec Market
Proper Cash Management
Introduction of a Medium-Term Auction Calendar
A Large Number of Securities in the Market
Absence of Established Pension/Provident Funds
Proactive Market Making Activities by PDs
Prolonged Approval Period
Lack of Debt Instruments Issued by Different Government Bodies
Bonds Issued By Banks through Private Placement are Not Being Listed
Overreliance on Bank Financing
Absence of a Separate Trading Platform for Debt Securities
Awareness Programs for the Investors and the Issuers
The Prospects of a Vibrant Long-Term Bond Market in Bangladesh
All the aspects discussed below offer a massive prospect for an active, long-term bond market in Bangladesh:
Diversified Investment: A developed and diversified financial system with a sound debt and equity market enhances risk-pooling and better risk-sharing opportunities for investors and borrowers. The fixed-income securities market links the issuers having short and long-term financing needs with investors willing to place funds in short and long-term interest-bearing securities. In addition, it makes the financial market more competitive by generating market-based interest rates.
Flexibility: A well-functioning market offers the Government and the private investors the flexibility to diversify their funding sources and provides them with alternative sources of raising funds having different maturities.
Deficit Financing: An active market allows the Government to finance large fiscal deficits without resorting to financial repression or foreign borrowing. The drive to develop the government bond market typically comes from the Government to facilitate the financing of large fiscal deficits.
Monetary Policy Implementation: The development of a well-functioning fixed-income market supports the efficient implementation of the monetary policy. It offers the instruments needed for the execution of monetary policy and improves the transmission mechanism of the monetary policy. Long-term bonds also facilitate the sterilization operations by the Central Bank as exclusive reliance on short-term instruments tends to drive up the short-term interest rates and encourage further inflows into such instruments.
Inflation Control: Developing a bond market, especially a vibrant G-Sec market, can improve access to local currency financing. An active G-sec market can offer local currency investors, such as retail and institutional investors, a way to invest in the local currency, and therefore, ensure better management of inflation and exchange rate risk. Also, a safe alternative investment compared to local currency bank deposits.
Low-Cost Financing: The long-term fixed-income market, being accessible to foreign investors, increases financial integration by attracting foreign capital, which can lower the cost of borrowing for the Government and improve risk-sharing across countries. Moreover, the local currency government bond market can function as a catalyst for developing corporate bond markets by providing a benchmark yield curve. Similarly, derivatives markets cannot flourish without a well-developed fixed-income market with underlying assets.
Less pressure on the Banking Sector: while the stock market capitalization of about 20% of the total financing requirement, 80% of debt financing comes from the banking sector. The banking sector cannot usually lend for longer than around five years, given that 70% of bank deposits are for one year or less. Funding long-term assets with short-term liabilities create a considerable maturity mismatch in the banking sector.
Conclusion:
With the timely initiatives from Mof, BB, and BSEC, the Bond market in Bangladesh has taken a constructive shape. As a result, the Government can get the lion’s share of the budget deficit from securities. However, we still have miles to go to reach and exceed the international standards regarding the bond market. A vibrant and efficient bond market is crucial for a stable capital market with more comprehensive depth and capitalization. Besides, it shares the pressure on the money market and provides access to finance for long-term projects. Know all about credit cards here.
