Sias to revive independent equity research 'a year from now'

RETAIL investor watchdog Securities Investors Association (Singapore) is resurrecting its equity research unit to resume coverage on small to mid-cap Singapore-listed companies, which it had shut down back in 2013 when brokerage-backed research was ubiquitous.

In an interview with The Business Times, David Gerald, Sias founder, president and CEO, says he is eyeing a small outfit and is essentially doing this in response to retail investors' demand.

The outfit will likely comprise one research head with at least eight to 10 years of experience, together with four analysts, one administrative officer and another event management person to run the unit.

It would probably cost S$1.2 million to S$1.3 million a year to operate. Funding is a perennial problem, but instead of relying on subscriptions like the previous time, Mr Gerald thinks this venture s…