Korea / Special Sits, Pairs, Index Rebalancing, Clepsydra Capital

Sanghyun Park

Korea / Special Sits, Pairs, Index Rebalancing

Clepsydra Capital

Investigate special situations, pairs, and index rebalancing trades in Korea.

Equity Capital Markets

What was the real reason for the Financial Supervisory Service's request to Kakao Pay to revise the securities report? At first, we all thought it was a price adequacy problem due to excessive valuation. However, Kakao Pay revised down the price band by only 4-6%.<table class="table table-striped">
<colgroup>
<col width="100">
<col width="100">
<col width="100">
<col width="100">
</colgroup>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Indicative price band revision"}'>Indicative price band revision</td>
<td style="text-align: right;" data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Previous"}'>Previous</td>
<td style="text-align: right;" data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Revised"}'>Revised</td>
<td style="text-align: right;" data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Change in %"}'>Change in %</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Lower end"}'>Lower end</td>
<td style="text-align: right;" data-sheets-value='{"1":3,"3":63000}' data-sheets-numberformat='{"1":4,"2":"\"₩\"#,##0","3":1}'>₩63,000</td>
<td style="text-align: right;" data-sheets-value='{"1":3,"3":60000}' data-sheets-numberformat='{"1":4,"2":"\"₩\"#,##0","3":1}'>₩60,000</td>
<td style="text-align: right;" data-sheets-value='{"1":3,"3":0.047619047619047616}' data-sheets-numberformat='{"1":3,"2":"0.00%","3":1}' data-sheets-formula="=(R[0]C[-2]-R[0]C[-1])/R[0]C[-2]">4.76%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Upper end"}'>Upper end</td>
<td style="text-align: right;" data-sheets-value='{"1":3,"3":96000}' data-sheets-numberformat='{"1":4,"2":"\"₩\"#,##0","3":1}'>₩96,000</td>
<td style="text-align: right;" data-sheets-value='{"1":3,"3":90000}' data-sheets-numberformat='{"1":4,"2":"\"₩\"#,##0","3":1}'>₩90,000</td>
<td style="text-align: right;" data-sheets-value='{"1":3,"3":0.0625}' data-sheets-numberformat='{"1":3,"2":"0.00%","3":1}' data-sheets-formula="=(R[0]C[-2]-R[0]C[-1])/R[0]C[-2]">6.25%</td>
</tr>
<tr><td colspan="4" rowspan="1" data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Source: DART"}'>Source: DART</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>If the FSS really requested a price revision, this level (4-6%) of price revision doesn't really make sense. In fact, in terms of valuation, Kakao Bank caused more serious controversy. Nonetheless, the Financial Supervisory Service requested only Kakao Pay to revise the securities report, which, of course, is quite questionable. All this implies that the real reason shouldn't be valuation.Surely, including Paypal and Square in the valuation peer group is absurd. Therefore, Kakao Pay excluded them and selected two new companies as valuation peers. However, that still leaves the question of whether these new valuation peers are suitable as valuation peers. This is because they are not free from the controversy over whether the business and financial similarities are sufficient.If there were a meaningful level of price adjustment, the FSS's request for correction would have been more understandable, but it was not the case. So we should come to one conclusion. The valuation issue was secondary, and the key reason was something else. And this is also the general view of the local street at this point.<section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/227/830/original/Screen+Shot+2021-09-04+at+2.08.04+AM.png?1630739968" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="227830"></figure></section>

What was the real reason for the Financial Supervisory Service's request to Kakao Pay to revise the securities report? At first, we all thought it was a price adequacy problem due to excessive valuation. However, Kakao Pay revised down the price band by only 4-6%.








Indicative price band revision
Previous
Revised
Change in %


Lower end
₩63,000
₩60,000
4.76%


Upper end
₩96,000
₩90,000
6.25%

Source: DART

If the FSS really requested a price revision, this level (4-6%) of price revision doesn't really make sense. In fact, in terms of valuation, Kakao Bank caused more serious controversy. Nonetheless, the Financial Supervisory Service requested only Kakao Pay to revise the securities report, which, of course, is quite questionable. All this implies that the real reason shouldn't be valuation.Surely, including Paypal and Square in the valuation peer group is absurd. Therefore, Kakao Pay excluded them and selected two new companies as valuation peers. However, that still leaves the question of whether these new valuation peers are suitable as valuation peers. This is because they are not free from the controversy over whether the business and financial similarities are sufficient.If there were a meaningful level of price adjustment, the FSS's request for correction would have been more understandable, but it was not the case. So we should come to one conclusion. The valuation issue was secondary, and the key reason was something else. And this is also the general view of the local street at this point.

Ant Group's Regulatory Risks in China Must Be Reflected in Kakao Pay's IPO Valuation

Fintech & EM-focused Analyst, KT Capital Group

Alec Tseung

Fintech & EM-focused Analyst

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

This Original aims to showcase the leading Insurtech companies in the three insurance markets with the highest growth potential in Asia - China, India, and Southeast Asia.Insurtech companies can be broadly divided into three categories - full-stack Inustech, Insurtech marketplace, and Insurtech enablers. As such, the Original also presents the Insurtech companies based on these categories by showing their company overview, how they leverage tech to do things differently, their product offerings, and financial information (capital raise and valuation in case of no financial information).The Insurtech companies presented are:<ul><li>Full-stack Insurtech: ZhongAn Online (China), Acko (India), SingLife (Singapore)</li><li>Insurtech marketplace: Waterdrop (China), Huize (China), Policybazaar (India), Coverfox (India), Turtlemint (India), PasarPolis (Indonesia), PolicyStreet (Malaysia)</li><li>Insurtech enablers: eBaoTech (China), Turtlemint (India), CXA Group (Singapore)  </li></ul>By analyzing the key Insurtech companies and their development in these countries/regions, we have further identified the following key trends/themes in the sector:<ul><li>In the near future, Insurtech is unlikely a threat to traditional (re)insurers who have also been actively investing in Insurtech themselves.</li><li>Insurtech marketplace is expanding offline and will likely embrace a hybrid model, especially in less developed insurance markets.</li><li>L&amp;H full-stack Insurtech companies are yet to be common in less developed insurance markets.</li><li>Insurtech is going to promote differentiated growth in insurance markets of different maturity.</li><li>“ReInsurtech” is currently still a blind spot.</li></ul><h2>What is Original?</h2>A deep dive into 12 (mostly private) leading Insurtech companies, under each Insurtech category from China, India, and Southeast Asia, is presented in this Original. Key investment thesis and risks are also developed for each company.  Based on the company analysis and the broader insurance and Insurtech development in these countries/regions, five key Insurtech trends and themes are further identified.

This Original aims to showcase the leading Insurtech companies in the three insurance markets with the highest growth potential in Asia - China, India, and Southeast Asia.Insurtech companies can be broadly divided into three categories - full-stack Inustech, Insurtech marketplace, and Insurtech enablers. As such, the Original also presents the Insurtech companies based on these categories by showing their company overview, how they leverage tech to do things differently, their product offerings, and financial information (capital raise and valuation in case of no financial information).The Insurtech companies presented are:Full-stack Insurtech: ZhongAn Online (China), Acko (India), SingLife (Singapore)Insurtech marketplace: Waterdrop (China), Huize (China), Policybazaar (India), Coverfox (India), Turtlemint (India), PasarPolis (Indonesia), PolicyStreet (Malaysia)Insurtech enablers: eBaoTech (China), Turtlemint (India), CXA Group (Singapore)  By analyzing the key Insurtech companies and their development in these countries/regions, we have further identified the following key trends/themes in the sector:In the near future, Insurtech is unlikely a threat to traditional (re)insurers who have also been actively investing in Insurtech themselves.Insurtech marketplace is expanding offline and will likely embrace a hybrid model, especially in less developed insurance markets.L&amp;H full-stack Insurtech companies are yet to be common in less developed insurance markets.Insurtech is going to promote differentiated growth in insurance markets of different maturity.“ReInsurtech” is currently still a blind spot.What is Original?A deep dive into 12 (mostly private) leading Insurtech companies, under each Insurtech category from China, India, and Southeast Asia, is presented in this Original. Key investment thesis and risks are also developed for each company.  Based on the company analysis and the broader insurance and Insurtech development in these countries/regions, five key Insurtech trends and themes are further identified. 

Asian Insurtech: The New Golden Child in Town?

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Event-Driven

Hang Seng China Enterprises Index / Event-Driven

Most Chinese companies will announce their half yearly results in the next couple of weeks. Some will announce their interim dividends as well.With most of the dividends for 2021 having already gone ex, we see little upside/downside in the HSCEI 2021 dividend futures contract.The HSCEI 2022 dividend futures are another story though. There are a lot of potential events that could change the fair value of the futures. Taking into account all the changes expected to take place by the December rebalance, we see the current dividend futures market trading around 6 index points higher than our fair value. In terms of future events, we find a lot more potential negative catalysts as compared to positive catalysts.We recommend selling the HSCEI 2022 dividend futures at 245 or higher (equivalent to around -25 on the HSCEI 2021/22 dividend steepener) and buying the dividend futures at 230 or lower. These estimates will change as the CNYHKD fx rates move around and some of the catalysts come to pass.

Most Chinese companies will announce their half yearly results in the next couple of weeks. Some will announce their interim dividends as well.With most of the dividends for 2021 having already gone ex, we see little upside/downside in the HSCEI 2021 dividend futures contract.The HSCEI 2022 dividend futures are another story though. There are a lot of potential events that could change the fair value of the futures. Taking into account all the changes expected to take place by the December rebalance, we see the current dividend futures market trading around 6 index points higher than our fair value. In terms of future events, we find a lot more potential negative catalysts as compared to positive catalysts.We recommend selling the HSCEI 2022 dividend futures at 245 or higher (equivalent to around -25 on the HSCEI 2021/22 dividend steepener) and buying the dividend futures at 230 or lower. These estimates will change as the CNYHKD fx rates move around and some of the catalysts come to pass.

HSCEI Dividend Futures: Fair Value & Catalysts Point to Downside for 2022

IPOs and Catalysts/Events, Global Equity Research Ltd

Arun George

IPOs and Catalysts/Events

Uncompromised, Independent, Conflict-Free Research

Global Equity Research Ltd

Global Equity Research was started in 2017 by a group of experienced research professionals. It was founded on a passionate belief in the importance and the need for uncompromised, independent, conflict-free research. We aim to provide differentiated and actionable primary and bottom up fundamental research.

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/paytm-mobile-solutions-pvt-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26149:1" rel="noopener">Paytm (PAYTM IN)</a>, formally known as One97 Communications, is India’s largest payments platform based on the number of consumers, number of merchants, number of transactions and revenue as of 31 March 2021, according to RedSeer. Paytm has an overall payments transaction volume market share of 40%, and wallet payments transaction market share of 65-70% in India as of FY21, according to RedSeer. Paytm’s shareholders include <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ant-group-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:24240:1" rel="noopener">Ant Financial Services Group (6688 HK)</a> (29.6% of outstanding shares), Softbank Vision Fund (18.3%), <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/alibaba-group-holding-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:787:1" rel="noopener">Alibaba Group (BABA US)</a> (7.2%) and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/berkshire-hathaway-inc-cl-b" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8635:1" rel="noopener">Berkshire Hathaway Inc Cl B (BRK/B US)</a> (2.8%).  Paytm plans to raise up to Rs166.0 billion ($2.2 billion) with a primary/secondary split of 50%/50%, according to the DHRP filing. The Indian Government is highly supportive of digital payments and in 2016, introduced demonetisation efforts through the launch of Unified Payment Interface (UPI) to reduce the reliance on cash. However, India continues to be a cash-driven economy which underscores the opportunity. Due to government initiatives, improving technology, growing awareness, digital payments by value in India are expected to more than double from $20 trillion in FY21 to $40-50 trillion by FY26, according to RedSeer. <div class="content-highlight">As India’s largest payments platform, Paytm is well placed to benefit from this structural tailwind. The advent of UPI has increased competition (Google Pay, PhonePe, MobiKwik) but Paytm is also leveraging its dominance in digital payments to build a synergistic ecosystem of complementary services, resulting in a strong claim to the “super-app” tag. While the COVID-19 pandemic was disruptive particularly to the non-payments business, Paytm should return to growth as the impact of the pandemic wanes and vaccination rates rise in India. Overall, we think that Paytm's fundamentals are attractive. </div>

Paytm (PAYTM IN), formally known as One97 Communications, is India’s largest payments platform based on the number of consumers, number of merchants, number of transactions and revenue as of 31 March 2021, according to RedSeer. Paytm has an overall payments transaction volume market share of 40%, and wallet payments transaction market share of 65-70% in India as of FY21, according to RedSeer. Paytm’s shareholders include Ant Financial Services Group (6688 HK) (29.6% of outstanding shares), Softbank Vision Fund (18.3%), Alibaba Group (BABA US) (7.2%) and Berkshire Hathaway Inc Cl B (BRK/B US) (2.8%).  Paytm plans to raise up to Rs166.0 billion ($2.2 billion) with a primary/secondary split of 50%/50%, according to the DHRP filing. The Indian Government is highly supportive of digital payments and in 2016, introduced demonetisation efforts through the launch of Unified Payment Interface (UPI) to reduce the reliance on cash. However, India continues to be a cash-driven economy which underscores the opportunity. Due to government initiatives, improving technology, growing awareness, digital payments by value in India are expected to more than double from $20 trillion in FY21 to $40-50 trillion by FY26, according to RedSeer. As India’s largest payments platform, Paytm is well placed to benefit from this structural tailwind. The advent of UPI has increased competition (Google Pay, PhonePe, MobiKwik) but Paytm is also leveraging its dominance in digital payments to build a synergistic ecosystem of complementary services, resulting in a strong claim to the “super-app” tag. While the COVID-19 pandemic was disruptive particularly to the non-payments business, Paytm should return to growth as the impact of the pandemic wanes and vaccination rates rise in India. Overall, we think that Paytm's fundamentals are attractive. 

Paytm IPO Initiation: A Payments-Led Super-App

Xpeng (9868 HK) listed in Hong Kong on 7 July was added to the Hang Seng Composite Index (HSCI) at the close of trading on 20 July. However, being a WVR security, the stock will not be eligible for Southbound Stock Connect till early 2022.Subject to passing the velocity test, we see Xpeng (9868 HK) as an inclusion in the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hang-seng-china-enterprises-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22900:1" rel="noopener">Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI INDEX)</a> at the December rebalance, replacing <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-evergrande-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:479:1" rel="noopener">Evergrande Real Estate Group (3333 HK)</a>.With Hang Seng Indexes treating the stock as a primary listing, HSCEI passive trackers will need to buy a large part of the stock that was offered in Hong Kong. This could push Xpeng (9868 HK) to trade at a premium to <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/xpeng-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29217:1" rel="noopener">Xpeng (XPEV US)</a> and there will be arb opportunities which could result in conversion from the ADS to the HK listing.The inclusion of Xpeng (9868 HK) in the index will push the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hang-seng-china-enterprises-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22900:1" rel="noopener">Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI INDEX)</a> 2022 dividend futures lower. With the recent changes in China to companies looking to list on a foreign exchange, the HFCAA, and other structural changes to the index, we prefer a short position in the HSCEI 2022 dividend futures.

Xpeng (9868 HK) listed in Hong Kong on 7 July was added to the Hang Seng Composite Index (HSCI) at the close of trading on 20 July. However, being a WVR security, the stock will not be eligible for Southbound Stock Connect till early 2022.Subject to passing the velocity test, we see Xpeng (9868 HK) as an inclusion in the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI INDEX) at the December rebalance, replacing Evergrande Real Estate Group (3333 HK).With Hang Seng Indexes treating the stock as a primary listing, HSCEI passive trackers will need to buy a large part of the stock that was offered in Hong Kong. This could push Xpeng (9868 HK) to trade at a premium to Xpeng (XPEV US) and there will be arb opportunities which could result in conversion from the ADS to the HK listing.The inclusion of Xpeng (9868 HK) in the index will push the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI INDEX) 2022 dividend futures lower. With the recent changes in China to companies looking to list on a foreign exchange, the HFCAA, and other structural changes to the index, we prefer a short position in the HSCEI 2022 dividend futures.

Xpeng (9868 HK): Potential HSCEI Inclusion & Impact on 2022 Dividends

China

Ant Group Co., Ltd. develops online payment platforms. The Company produces credit system and financial services platforms which provide consumers and small businesses with safe and convenient inclusive financial services globally. Ant Group provides its services worldwide.

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Ant Group (6688 HK)

Ant Group's Regulatory Risks in China Must Be Reflected in Kakao Pay's IPO Valuation

This post explains why Ant Group's regulatory risks by the Chinese authorities must be reflected in Kakao Pay's IPO valuation.

Sanghyun Park

Asian Insurtech: The New Golden Child in Town?

A deep dive into 12 Insurtech companies in China, India, and Southeast Asia is presented in this Original. The key Insurtech trends and themes in...

Alec Tseung

HSCEI Dividend Futures: Fair Value & Catalysts Point to Downside for 2022

We see around 6 points of downside on the HSCEI 2022 dividend futures from the last traded price. There are more negative catalysts for the 2022...

Brian Freitas

Paytm IPO Initiation: A Payments-Led Super-App

Paytm plans to raise up to Rs166.0 billion ($2.2 billion) with a primary/secondary split of 50%/50%, according to the DHRP filing. Overall, we...

Arun George

Xpeng (9868 HK): Potential HSCEI Inclusion & Impact on 2022 Dividends

Xpeng (9868 HK) could be added to the HSCEI in December. Limited liquidity in HK could create arb opportunities with XPEV US. Xpeng index inclusion...

Brian Freitas

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