Fintech & EM-focused Analyst, KT Capital Group

Alec Tseung

Fintech & EM-focused Analyst

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

This Original aims to identify the key investment opportunities among the listed brokers in the three major East Asian countries - China, Japan, and Korea. By looking at the development of the brokerage sectors in these three countries, we observe a general trend where upstart online brokers first compete against the more established brokers based on their cost and technological advantages. This then pushes the more established brokers to either focus on more lucrative wholesale businesses or adopt and invest in tech initiatives in order to stay competitive in the retail market.After further establishing themselves in the retail market, these upstart online brokers then also diversify and expand into the more lucrative wealth/asset management or even wholesale businesses.  By gauging at which phase the broker is in this cycle, investors can have a good understanding of its future outlook.In our opinion, Korean brokers currently offer the best value, while the Chinese pure-play online brokers offer the highest growth potential. As such, our pecking order, in terms of investment attractiveness, is <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kiwoom-securities-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20418:1" rel="noopener">Kiwoom Securities (039490 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/east-money-information-co-a" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8075:1" rel="noopener">East Money Information Co A (300059 CH)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/futu-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27858:1" rel="noopener">Futu Holdings Ltd (FUTU US)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/monex-group-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:14211:1" rel="noopener">Monex Group Inc (8698 JP)</a> / <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/huatai-securities-co-ltd-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:449:1" rel="noopener">Huatai Securities Co Ltd (H) (6886 HK)</a>.  <h2>What is Original?</h2>In this Original, we look into the competitive landscape of the brokerage sectors in China, Japan, and Korea. 55 listed brokers from these three countries are included in this Original as the company universe for regression analysis. Among them, a total of 8 brokers are chosen, with their company profiles separately presented, to further showcase and contrast the impact of competition and technological disruption. Based on this, a pecking order is then developed, both on a country and a company basis.

This Original aims to identify the key investment opportunities among the listed brokers in the three major East Asian countries - China, Japan, and Korea. By looking at the development of the brokerage sectors in these three countries, we observe a general trend where upstart online brokers first compete against the more established brokers based on their cost and technological advantages. This then pushes the more established brokers to either focus on more lucrative wholesale businesses or adopt and invest in tech initiatives in order to stay competitive in the retail market.After further establishing themselves in the retail market, these upstart online brokers then also diversify and expand into the more lucrative wealth/asset management or even wholesale businesses.  By gauging at which phase the broker is in this cycle, investors can have a good understanding of its future outlook.In our opinion, Korean brokers currently offer the best value, while the Chinese pure-play online brokers offer the highest growth potential. As such, our pecking order, in terms of investment attractiveness, is Kiwoom Securities (039490 KS), East Money Information Co A (300059 CH), Futu Holdings Ltd (FUTU US), Monex Group Inc (8698 JP) / Huatai Securities Co Ltd (H) (6886 HK).  What is Original?In this Original, we look into the competitive landscape of the brokerage sectors in China, Japan, and Korea. 55 listed brokers from these three countries are included in this Original as the company universe for regression analysis. Among them, a total of 8 brokers are chosen, with their company profiles separately presented, to further showcase and contrast the impact of competition and technological disruption. Based on this, a pecking order is then developed, both on a country and a company basis.

Asian Brokers: A Competition Between Value and Growth

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>Pre-Open on February 1 2024, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/aozora-bank-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6483:1" rel="noopener">Aozora Bank Ltd (8304 JP)</a> announced writedowns and a forecast revision, lowering full-year net profit expectations from +¥24bn to -¥28bn.</li>
<li>Shares which had been trading relatively richly (and heavily shorted) fell sharply over the following days, then noted activist Murakami-san started buying in. Then he bought more and went silent.</li>
<li>Today, Aozora reported full-year earnings - much worse than expected and Mar25 guidance lower than already low Street estimates. And they are selling 15% stake to Daiwa Securities Group. Oof!</li>
</ul>


Pre-Open on February 1 2024, Aozora Bank Ltd (8304 JP) announced writedowns and a forecast revision, lowering full-year net profit expectations from +¥24bn to -¥28bn.
Shares which had been trading relatively richly (and heavily shorted) fell sharply over the following days, then noted activist Murakami-san started buying in. Then he bought more and went silent.
Today, Aozora reported full-year earnings - much worse than expected and Mar25 guidance lower than already low Street estimates. And they are selling 15% stake to Daiwa Securities Group. Oof!


Aozora (8304) - Daiwa Securities Group (8601) Tie-Up - Daiwa To Buy 15+%

APAC IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Ethan Aw

APAC 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.

Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>In this note, we will take a look at broker performance for Japanese IPOs and placements in 2023. </li>
<li>The following dataset includes all Japanese IPOs and placements above US$100m, which amounted to a total of 32 deals. 
</li>
<li>The deals you see in this note are based on our historical IPO and placement tracker. Feel free to drop us a message for additional information.</li>
</ul>


In this note, we will take a look at broker performance for Japanese IPOs and placements in 2023. 
The following dataset includes all Japanese IPOs and placements above US$100m, which amounted to a total of 32 deals. 

The deals you see in this note are based on our historical IPO and placement tracker. Feel free to drop us a message for additional information.


Aequitas Japan IPOs + Placements Broker Performance 2023

Research and consultancy, Tabbush Report

Daniel Tabbush

Research and consultancy

Tabbush Report

We provide research and consultancy on Asian banks. Our focus is on what we call “Asian bank research, without the noise.” We are interested in the most critical swing-factors for banks, the NPL and credit cycle, and where we believe there is a gap between perception and reality. We often focus on the less studied components of bank financial statements.  Our research is highly thematic, sometimes examining unlisted banks and companies as a window on mainstream banks. 

Being independent allows us to look at smaller banks, often overlooked by others. Analysis of BIS bank guidelines in the context of Asia, is also a focal point, while we also analyze global banks operating in the region. We use what we believe is the most comprehensive, reliable financials database, SNL Financial. S&P Capital IQ augments our database, with corporate data and CEIC, with economics. 

Asian bank research, without the noise.

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sbi-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10928:1" rel="noopener">SBI Holdings (8473 JP)</a> may not be the easiest company to analyze with its many pages of affiliates, but at the least, it's profit momentum is strong.</li>
<li>Securities Group profit is key to the company where growth is excellent in earnings and in the number of new accounts, across many businesses.</li>
<li>Its two banks in Japan are doing well, growing faster than others, but still <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sbi-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10928:1" rel="noopener">SBI Holdings (8473 JP)</a> is more of an alternative financial company to a traditional bank.</li>
</ul>



SBI Holdings (8473 JP) may not be the easiest company to analyze with its many pages of affiliates, but at the least, it's profit momentum is strong.
Securities Group profit is key to the company where growth is excellent in earnings and in the number of new accounts, across many businesses.
Its two banks in Japan are doing well, growing faster than others, but still SBI Holdings (8473 JP) is more of an alternative financial company to a traditional bank.


SBI Holdings - Pages of Affiliates | Strong Securities | Banks Doing Well | Accelerating Profit

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/integral-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:40028:1" rel="noopener">Integral Corporation (5842 JP)</a> raised around US$123m in its Japan IPO.</li>
<li>Integral is a private equity management company advising funds that invest in both listed and unlisted companies in Japan, with a focus on mid-sized companies.</li>
<li>In our previous notes, we looked at the company’s past performance and valuation. In this note, we talk about the trading dynamics.</li>
</ul>



Integral Corporation (5842 JP) raised around US$123m in its Japan IPO.
Integral is a private equity management company advising funds that invest in both listed and unlisted companies in Japan, with a focus on mid-sized companies.
In our previous notes, we looked at the company’s past performance and valuation. In this note, we talk about the trading dynamics.


Integral Corporation IPO Trading - Low Demand but Somewhat Cornered

Japan

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. is a holding company. The Group provides a comprehensive financial services including dealing, brokerage, underwriting, and distribution of securities.  Other services are research & systems development, custody service, and asset management. Daiwa has subsidiaries in US, Europe, Asia, and Middle East.

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Daiwa Securities Group (8601 JP)

Asian Brokers: A Competition Between Value and Growth

The Original looks into the current competitive landscape of the brokerage sectors in China, Japan, and Korea, with a view to developing a list of...

Alec Tseung

Aozora (8304) - Daiwa Securities Group (8601) Tie-Up - Daiwa To Buy 15+%

Aozora wrote down more, sold more, and had worse results. Guidance to Mar25 is still weak. Now Aozora is issuing shares to Daiwa Securities Group...

Travis Lundy

Aequitas Japan IPOs + Placements Broker Performance 2023

In this note, we will take a look at broker performance for Japanese IPOs and placements in 2023, which includes all Japanese IPOs and placements...

Ethan Aw

SBI Holdings - Pages of Affiliates | Strong Securities | Banks Doing Well | Accelerating Profit

Earnings are very strong now, especially from mainstay securities business, but also from affilates. It is an interesting alternative financial...

Daniel Tabbush

Integral Corporation IPO Trading - Low Demand but Somewhat Cornered

Integral Corporation (5842 JP) raised around US$123m in its Japan IPO. In this note, we talk about the trading dynamics

Sumeet Singh

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