Smartkarma Press Releases

Smartkarma responds to increasing global demand for collaborative investment research platform with key European hire

Singapore and Frankfurt, Germany, September 5, 2016 – Smartkarma, the premier collaborative marketplace for Asian investment research and analysis, announced today that Tim Bruenjes has joined its growing team in Europe. Following the completion of another successful funding round, which brings total investment to date to USD 7.5 million, this key European hire will help Smartkarma continue on its mission to deliver much needed change to the global investment research industry.

Tim joins Smartkarma in a newly created role based in Frankfurt, Germany, reporting to the Head of Business Development. He will focus on driving the company’s further expansion into European markets, utilising his experience running multi-asset trading desks across Asia. Tim’s background as Head of APAC Equity Trading at PIMCO and before that at Deutsche Asset Management Asia makes him uniquely qualified to recognise the strength of the Smartkarma business model and the opportunities it brings to investors and research analysts alike.

“The role of research in the investment model is changing. Not just because of regulatory pressure, but because the market is demanding change,” says Tim Bruenjes, Global Business Development, Smartkarma. “Smartkarma has a unique offering that brings together investors and insight providers to deliver a higher quality of research, to a wider market, at a transparent and realistic price point. I’m thrilled to be joining such a dynamic team that has acted on this need.”

“Europe is a natural market for Smartkarma as European asset managers grapple with the new MIFIDII requirements,” says Jon Foster, Chairman and Co-Founder, Smartkarma. “Currently, 35% of our clients are based in Europe, a number which is expected to grow significantly with the enhanced focus on regulation. Tim brings a deep understanding of the asset management industries in Asia and Europe and this unique vantage point makes him the perfect person to champion Smartkarma’s growth across the continent.”

Smartkarma is radically changing the way global institutional investors create, distribute and consume investment insights. Through a single subscription, clients gain unlimited access to a large, fast growing pool of Insight Providers, which together make up the widest range of analysis on the Asian markets available. The company came out of closed beta in April 2016 and is now used by over 140 global professional institutions, with over 70 Insight Providers delivering insight onto the platform.

For press and analyst inquiries please contact:
Articulate Communications for Smartkarma
[email protected]
+1 212 255 0080

To request a demo, please contact us at [email protected].
To download the Smartkarma Press Kit please visit press.smartkarma.com.

About Smartkarma

Smartkarma is an independent financial research platform that is radically changing the way market participants create, distribute and consume investment insights. As a trusted and unbiased information source, we provide differentiated research and transparency into the Asian markets that global institutional investors need to confidently drive their investment strategies. We combine intelligence from the world’s premier analysts, academics, data scientists and industry experts in one collaborative marketplace to help investors improve efficiencies, enhance returns, and optimize their research spend while accessing the widest range of global analysis of the Asian markets available.

We are on a bold mission to change the way market participants engage with research. By creating a new model for investors to collaborate, add and extract value from our tested and uniquely positioned global community, we are changing the research landscape for global investors. For more information visit us at www.smartkarma.com.

Latest investment brings total raised to $7.5 million USD

New York/Singapore, June 1, 2016 – Smartkarma, the premier collaborative marketplace for Asian investment research and analysis, has closed its second strategic funding round, raising $4.7million USD to further expand its unique investment research offering.

Smartkarma’s platform officially launched from closed beta in April 2016. This funding will be used to build on a number of key milestones already achieved during its first year of operations. These include usage by 140 global professional institutions, a 267% year on year growth in platform activity, and a sharp acceleration in the number of Insight Providers joining the platform.

The latest round brings the total capital raised to $7.5million USD, with investments from five institutions including Wavemaker Partners, Jungle Ventures, an arm of the Singapore government, an investment group led by Mr. Koh Boon Hwee, former Chairman of Singapore Telecommunications, as well as several prominent industry leaders such as Mr. Tan Chin Hwee.

“Smartkarma’s global client base is expanding rapidly and our relevance in today’s investment research industry is undeniable given the final MiFID II rules announced this year,” says Raghav Kapoor, CEO and Co-Founder of Smartkarma. “We are thrilled to be driving industry change by providing a radically different approach for the creation and consumption of investment insight. The success of this funding round is testament to our model.”

“In Smartkarma, we see the makings of a global leader looking to positively transform an industry that is in need of profound change. We are very excited to be working alongside them in supporting their mission and achieving long-term success,” said Mr. Koh Boon Hwee, former Chairman of Singapore Telecommunications.

Smartkarma intends to build on its global momentum by further growing its ecosystem of Insight Providers and expanding platform offerings. These would include the addition of sophisticated research applications, complementary data services and engagement tools. “We like to invest in businesses that fundamentally change the economics of an existing industry,” said Amit Anand, Founding Partner of Singapore based Jungle Ventures. “We are very excited about partnering with the team at Smartkarma as they look to reshape the financial research industry in Asia and beyond.” Smartkarma is also working with government agency International Enterprise (IE) Singapore to further its expansion into overseas markets.

Smartkarma is radically changing the way global institutional investors create, distribute and consume investment insights. Through a single subscription, clients gain unlimited access to a large, fast growing pool of Insight Providers, which together make up the widest range of analysis on the Asian markets available.

“Smartkarma is positively impacting the global research paradigm. Smartkarma not only provides better research, as it is able to access a broader intellectual base, but it also assures its ultimate end users that the content is free from any biases and conflicts,” said Paul Santos, Managing Partner of Wavemaker Partners.

For press and analyst inquiries please contact:
Articulate Communications for Smartkarma
[email protected]
+1 212 255 0080

To request a demo, please contact us at [email protected].
To download the Smartkarma Press Kit please visit press.smartkarma.com.

About Smartkarma

Smartkarma is an independent financial research platform that is radically changing the way market participants create, distribute and consume investment insights. As a trusted and unbiased information source, we provide differentiated research and transparency into the Asian markets that global institutional investors need to confidently drive their investment strategies. We combine intelligence from the world’s premier analysts, academics, data scientists and industry experts in one collaborative marketplace to help investors improve efficiencies, enhance returns, and optimize their research spend while accessing the widest range of global analysis of the Asian markets available.

We are on a bold mission to change the way market participants engage with research. By creating a new model for investors to collaborate, add and extract value from our tested and uniquely positioned global community, we are changing the research landscape for global investors. For more information visit us at www.smartkarma.com.

Unique platform enables seamless access to world’s widest range of Asian financial markets analysis, all for a single subscription

New York/Singapore, April 12, 2016 – Smartkarma, the premier collaborative marketplace for Asian investment research and analysis, has officially launched from closed beta. Smartkarma is radically changing the way global institutional investors create, distribute and consume investment insights. Through a single subscription, clients gain unlimited access to a large, fast growing pool of Insight Providers, which together make up the widest range of analysis on the Asian markets available.

Having started operations in a closed beta in January 2015, Smartkarma now has over 70 contributing firms, 400 individual insight providers and over 100 institutions using the platform. It combines intelligence from the world’s premier analysts, academics, data scientists and strategists, all in one unique ecosystem. At its core lies a predictive search engine that curates every piece of research and matches it in real-time with investor mandates. This helps clients manage portfolio risk and stay abreast of evolving, complex financial issues without having to subscribe to every voice on the street. It also provides tools to facilitate real-time public or private discussions between clients and Insight Providers that build additional value around insights via collaboration and conversation.

Scott Burns, Global Head of Asset Management Solutions, Morningstar comments, “The way professional investors access and consume research is undergoing dramatic change. Platforms like Smartkarma are leading the way and facilitating this change by creating new, technology driven avenues for research consumers and producers to connect. Being on the Smartkarma platform will give our existing clients a new way to search and find our research while also helping us gain exposure to new clients utilizing the platform.”

Smartkarma enables investors to take advantage of an unrivalled focus on content, a diverse range of global authors, and powerful search and sort features on a cloud based platform that enables access from anywhere, anytime. By creating a community of research analysis and end users, Smartkarma customers are better able to impact alpha generation, meet new regulatory requirements around unbundling and drive higher investment returns.

“The Smartkarma community is on a mission to challenge conventional thinking and change how we view, value and drive idea generation to foster a new standard of industry dialogue and cooperation,” says Raghav Kapoor, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Smartkarma. “Smartkarma has proposed a whole new business model to change industry economics. Through Smartkarma, clients pay a single subscription to get unlimited, yet personalized access to a large, fast growing pool of high quality diverse insight providers that are predominantly based in-country and collaborating real time. Insight Providers receive transparent, monthly payments based on their quantified value-add. In this manner, Smartkarma breaks down traditional silos, and brings efficiency to a global industry that has long suffered from opaque pricing and bloated cost structures.”

In just over a year since inception, Smartkarma has already published over 2,300 individual insights, representing an average of over 16% month-on-month growth in published research. A testament to the success of Smartkarma’s unique subscription model, this body of work has been viewed over 375,000 times. Platform activity is up threefold in the last 12 months, and growing 50% quarter-on-quarter.

For press and analyst inquiries please contact:
Articulate Communications for Smartkarma
[email protected]
+1 212 255 0080

To request a demo, please contact us at [email protected].
To download the Smartkarma Press Kit please visit press.smartkarma.com.

About Smartkarma

Smartkarma is an independent financial research platform that is radically changing the way market participants create, distribute and consume investment insights. As a trusted and unbiased information source, we provide differentiated research and transparency into the Asian markets that global institutional investors need to confidently drive their investment strategies. We combine intelligence from the world’s premier analysts, academics, data scientists and industry experts in one collaborative marketplace to help investors improve efficiencies, enhance returns, and optimize their research spend while accessing the widest range of global analysis of the Asian markets available.

We are on a bold mission to change the way market participants engage with research. By creating a new model for investors to collaborate, add and extract value from our tested and uniquely positioned global community, we are changing the research landscape for global investors. For more information visit us at www.smartkarma.com.