Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fwd-group-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:34332:1" rel="noopener">FWD Group Holdings (1828 HK)</a>, a pan-Asian life insurer founded by Richard Li, raised around US$442m in its HK IPO in July 2025.  Its IPO-linked lockup will expire soon.</li>
<li>FWD is a pan-Asia life insurer operating in ten markets including Hong Kong (and Macau), Thailand (and Cambodia), Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia.</li>
<li>In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.</li>
</ul>



FWD Group Holdings (1828 HK), a pan-Asian life insurer founded by Richard Li, raised around US$442m in its HK IPO in July 2025.  Its IPO-linked lockup will expire soon.
FWD is a pan-Asia life insurer operating in ten markets including Hong Kong (and Macau), Thailand (and Cambodia), Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia.
In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.


FWD IPO Lockup - US$1.9bn Cornerstone and Pre-IPO Investor Release

Asia Pac ECM and Index Rebal, Shenton Research

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

Asia Pac ECM and Index Rebal

Asia Pac IPO & Placement Research, China Biotech

DZT Research

DZT Research is an independent Asia Pacific equity specialist. Our quantitative research covers index rebalancing flows, alongside exchange data analytics accross Asia Pacific. On the equity capital markets side, we focus on Asia Pacific ECM, especially biotech and TMT. Our lead analyst is frequently cited by international media.

Quantitative Analysis

<ul>
<li>We analysed the earning revision of component stocks of MS-Japan in the past month.</li>
<li>We tabulated stocks with the top impact on index's EPS, stocks' EPS revision, and revenue revision.</li>
<li>We highlighted EPS revision on Itochu, Toyota Motor, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, SoftBank, Rakuten, Nippon Steel, Sompo.</li>
</ul>


We analysed the earning revision of component stocks of MS-Japan in the past month.
We tabulated stocks with the top impact on index's EPS, stocks' EPS revision, and revenue revision.
We highlighted EPS revision on Itochu, Toyota Motor, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, SoftBank, Rakuten, Nippon Steel, Sompo.


MS-Japan Index Earning Revision (Dec): Itochu, Toyota Motor, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, SoftBank

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

<ul>
<li>TSE-Listed companies are asked to file "Management Conscious of Capital Cost/Stock Price" awareness reports/policies. Many have. Some are still working on it. And policies change, and CGR reports are updated.</li>
<li>There were case study updates published 26 December. Interesting, but not ground-breaking. 475 companies filed CGRs in December 2025 after 262 companies filed in November.</li>
<li>The most recent set of documents has some really disappointing comments and questions from companies and their executives. It makes one wonder...</li>
</ul>


TSE-Listed companies are asked to file "Management Conscious of Capital Cost/Stock Price" awareness reports/policies. Many have. Some are still working on it. And policies change, and CGR reports are updated.
There were case study updates published 26 December. Interesting, but not ground-breaking. 475 companies filed CGRs in December 2025 after 262 companies filed in November.
The most recent set of documents has some really disappointing comments and questions from companies and their executives. It makes one wonder...


[Japan CorpGov] TSE "Mgmt Conscious" Reports (Jan26) - Disappointing Set of Case Studies

Index Rebalance

Pan Pacific International Holdings / Index Rebalance

Pan Pacific International Holdings (7532 JP)

<ul>
<li>The March 2026 review for the Nikkei 225 is turning out to be a little more interesting than one might have expected a few months ago. </li>
<li>As of the end of August, the 3mo ADTV for Kioxia (285A) was ¥18bn despite expectations it would go into M _ _ _. The 1mo average today? ¥383bn.</li>
<li>That means it has rapidly climbed into the top echelons of 5yr trading history. Importantly, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/jx-advanced-metals-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:44346:1" rel="noopener">JX Advanced Metals (5016 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kokusai-electric-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:40152:1" rel="noopener">Kokusai Electric (6525 JP)</a> are not far behind.</li>
</ul>


The March 2026 review for the Nikkei 225 is turning out to be a little more interesting than one might have expected a few months ago. 
As of the end of August, the 3mo ADTV for Kioxia (285A) was ¥18bn despite expectations it would go into M _ _ _. The 1mo average today? ¥383bn.
That means it has rapidly climbed into the top echelons of 5yr trading history. Importantly, JX Advanced Metals (5016 JP) and Kokusai Electric (6525 JP) are not far behind.


[Quiddity Index] Nikkei 225 Mar26 - Kioxia (285A) On the Menu, Others Not Far Behind

<ul>
<li>Today we saw the culmination of the ridiculously wrong-way Nikkei 225 Sep25 rebalance. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/shift-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7266:1" rel="noopener">Shift Inc (3697 JP)</a> looked like a classic deletion, not addition.</li>
<li>93.3% of the observation period has now passed, which means we can look at the March 2026 Periodic Review with a fair bit of accuracy.</li>
<li>It is likely to be the runner-ups in the Sep25 review from the Consumer Goods sector, though the second-runner-up ADD needs a stock split to have any chance. More below.</li>
</ul>


Today we saw the culmination of the ridiculously wrong-way Nikkei 225 Sep25 rebalance. Shift Inc (3697 JP) looked like a classic deletion, not addition.
93.3% of the observation period has now passed, which means we can look at the March 2026 Periodic Review with a fair bit of accuracy.
It is likely to be the runner-ups in the Sep25 review from the Consumer Goods sector, though the second-runner-up ADD needs a stock split to have any chance. More below.


[Quiddity Index] Oct25 Leaderboard for Nikkei 225 Mar26 Review; One In One Out Likely

Japan

The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd. underwrites and sells life, health and annuity insurance to groups and individuals. The Company offers a wide variety of insurance products to suit different needs, ranging from children's school tuition to emergency funds for the elderly.

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Dai Ichi Life Insurance (8750 JP)

FWD IPO Lockup - US$1.9bn Cornerstone and Pre-IPO Investor Release

FWD Group Holdings (1828 HK), a pan-Asian life insurer founded by Richard Li, raised around US$442m in its HK IPO in July 2025. Its IPO-linked...

Sumeet Singh

MS-Japan Index Earning Revision (Dec): Itochu, Toyota Motor, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, SoftBank

We analyzed MS-Japan's consensus for Dec 2025 and highlighted changes of EPS in Itochu, Toyota Motor, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, SoftBank, Rakuten,...

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

[Japan CorpGov] TSE "Mgmt Conscious" Reports (Jan26) - Disappointing Set of Case Studies

The TSE's "Management Conscious of Capital Costs and Share Price" filings continue. 475 CorpGovReports filed in December. Exedy has a new plan. TSE...

Travis Lundy

[Quiddity Index] Nikkei 225 Mar26 - Kioxia (285A) On the Menu, Others Not Far Behind

The Nikkei 225 Mar-26 rebalance is shaping up to be something different than one might have predicted just a month ago. High volume has trumped the...

Travis Lundy

[Quiddity Index] Oct25 Leaderboard for Nikkei 225 Mar26 Review; One In One Out Likely

The Sep 2025 Nikkei 225 Rebal was not a "right-way" event for the ADD (Shift (3697)). The March 2026 rebal looks also to be a 1 IN 1 OUT affair,...

Travis Lundy

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