ShareInvestor eyes rapid expansion after management buyout

Singapore

NEWLY independent after completing a management buyout of its shares from Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) on Nov 13, financial media and technology company ShareInvestor is looking forward to striking out on its own. It has big plans for regional market expansion in the next two years.

In an exclusive interview with The Business Times (BT), ShareInvestor's chief executive officer Christopher Lee said the company aims to become the dominant service provider in Asean in its three business areas of online investor relations and strategic communications, market data tools, and investor education.

"We see a lot of opportunities in the Asean region, and many exciting markets like Indonesia and Vietnam that are coming up," Mr Lee said.

"For example, when we started doing business in Indonesia about a year ago, we found that even the large cap companies like the banks don't have state-of-the-art technology or websites, or a clear strategy of how to reach out to the global investing community using technology. Some of our services that are really appreciated by our customers here, we've tested them in the market in Indonesia and Vietnam and found that those markets welcome our services."

The S$17 million buyout was financed with internal funds from Mr Lee and chief operating officer Lim Dau Hee, who are ShareInvestor's founders, along with several key managers and private investors. The value was arrived at on a willing buyer, willing seller basis between SPH, which publishes BT, and ShareInvestor's management.

While being part of SPH had its advantages, the due diligence and corporate governance required of a large listed company made it harder for ShareInvestor to seize opportunities quickly to advance its growth, said Mr Lee. Post-buyout, the two founding members and the managers will hold a majority stake in the company, allowing ShareInvestor to be more nimble in making decisions and taking risks. They will be guided by key investors including former SPH deputy CEO and former ShareInvestor chairman Patrick Daniel, who has come on board as a non-executive chairman of the ShareInvestor group.

Founded in 1999, ShareInvestor serves more than 700 listed companies in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Australia through its corporate arm of online investor relations and strategic communications services. One of its key services involves aggregating share price information, recent transactions and other data for listed companies on their respective websites, so that investors do not have to trawl the Singapore Exchange website to find each item. It also provides outreach services to help the companies reach wider audiences through media collaborations.

Its online portal and regular investor education programmes and events such as the annual Invest Fair, which is the largest investment fair in Singapore, and smaller programmes organised by its ShareInvestor Academy, cater to the retail investor and mass affluent groups. For instance, the ShareInvestor website provides data from seven major markets, including the US and China, to users in Singapore and Malaysia via a subscription service, at a lower price point than premium products marketed to high net worth individuals and institutional investors.

Mr Lee declined to share financial details but said that the company has been profitable since 2003 and revenue contribution is roughly balanced between its corporate arm of investor relations and communications, and the non-corporate side consisting of market data tools and investor education.

Listing the company is not on the agenda for now, although he does not rule it out in future.

Going forward, ShareInvestor plans to expand its reach by offering its market data subscription service in more countries, starting with Indonesia, and conducting its investor education programmes outside of Singapore, where they are primarily held.

"What really excites me is that the Indonesian market of some 400 public listed companies are just opening up to some of the services we have to offer," said Mr Lee.

"And in Vietnam, there are talks that two of the exchanges are coming together, Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi. That creates a huge opportunity for the ShareInvestor group to move into those markets. Singapore as a capital market is a relatively stable and mature market, and there are a lot of things we have learned here that can help with the regional market."

ShareInvestor will continue to seek inorganic growth opportunities as it has in the past, with stakes in public relations and investor relations firm Waterbrooks Consultants as well as investing social media platform InvestingNote, said Mr Lee.

The company is also exploring the option of incorporating artificial intelligence and roboadvisory services into its portfolio, as investors look to streamline trading decisions in their busy schedules. Currently, ShareInvestor's products and services still call for some level of analysis on the investors' part but Mr Lee sees growing demand especially from the millennial generation for tools that will help them make decisions more quickly.

"At the end of the day, to run a business, we have to be driven by profit and loss, and we really have to focus on the customers," said Mr Lee.

"Whether you are a digital business or brick-and-mortar, you're here to serve a group of customers that appreciate your service. In return, you get a fee and you return the value to your shareholders. This fundamental concept I learned during the dotcom heydays, and until now, it has not left me."