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.

Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/steadfast-group-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8181:1" rel="noopener">Steadfast (SDF AU)</a> is looking to raise around A$225m from its placement to fund the acquisition of Insurance Brands Australia, an insurance distribution firm.</li>
<li>The company had undertaken a similar sized deal last year for another acquisition, that deal did well.</li>
<li>In this note, we will talk about the acquisition and run the deal through our ECM framework.</li>
</ul>



Steadfast (SDF AU) is looking to raise around A$225m from its placement to fund the acquisition of Insurance Brands Australia, an insurance distribution firm.
The company had undertaken a similar sized deal last year for another acquisition, that deal did well.
In this note, we will talk about the acquisition and run the deal through our ECM framework.


Steadfast Group Placement - Another Accretive Acquisition, past Deals Have Done Well

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.

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/suncorp-group-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:4218:1" rel="noopener">Suncorp (SUN AU)</a> agreed to sell its banking business (Suncorp Bank) to <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/australia-and-new-zealand-banking-group-anz" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:443:1" rel="noopener">Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) (ANZ AU)</a> for A$4.9 billion in cash. Completion targeted for 2HCY2023.</li>
<li>Suncorp Bank’s sale price is attractive. We estimate that New Suncorp (ex-banking) is currently valued at a 24% discount to <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/insurance-australia-group-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:712:1" rel="noopener">Insurance Australia (IAG AU)</a> on an FY2023 P/E basis.</li>
<li>Post-Completion, New Suncorp will be a leaner and more efficient business which will be better positioned to close (or even exceed) the valuation gap to Insurance Australia Group.</li>
</ul>



Suncorp (SUN AU) agreed to sell its banking business (Suncorp Bank) to Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) (ANZ AU) for A$4.9 billion in cash. Completion targeted for 2HCY2023.
Suncorp Bank’s sale price is attractive. We estimate that New Suncorp (ex-banking) is currently valued at a 24% discount to Insurance Australia (IAG AU) on an FY2023 P/E basis.
Post-Completion, New Suncorp will be a leaner and more efficient business which will be better positioned to close (or even exceed) the valuation gap to Insurance Australia Group.


Suncorp’s Banking Sale to ANZ Will Unlock Value

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning, Copley Fund Research

Steven Holden

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning

Copley Fund Research

Copley Fund Research provide research and data on asset allocation among Global and Emerging Market equity funds.  The analysis details absolute and relative positioning across countries, sectors and industries together with highly granular data on single stock and single fund allocations.  The data is updated monthly with time series going back to January 2011.

Global Research - Analysis of 165 prominent Global equity funds, combined AUM $335bn
GEM Research - Analysis of 127 prominent global EM equity funds, combined AUM $250bn

Asset Allocation - Global and GEM Equity

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<p>Australian Financial stocks are a lightly held.  Just 17% of the global funds in our analysis hold a position, with managers running a net underweight for the last decade.  They remain the 5th largest country/sector underweight globally.</p><p>However the decline has started to reverse.  Buying in stocks such as <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/australia-and-new-zealand-banking-group-anz" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:443:1" rel="noopener">Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) (ANZ AU)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/zip-co-ltd-3708706d-4978-4e29-acbc-d9702b971da9" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29126:1" rel="noopener">Zip Co Ltd (Z1P AU)</a> has placed active fund ownership on an upward trajectory for the first time in 5-years.</p><p>Compared to Financials positioning in other countries, Australian Financials are lightly held, especially compared to US and India Financials which saw a strong resurgence post COVID.  If we add in to the mix the relatively large underweight and the fact that there is a Value rotation underway, it wouldn't be out of the question to expect Australian Financials to capture further inflows.</p>

Australian Financial stocks are a lightly held.  Just 17% of the global funds in our analysis hold a position, with managers running a net underweight for the last decade.  They remain the 5th largest country/sector underweight globally.However the decline has started to reverse.  Buying in stocks such as Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) (ANZ AU) and Zip Co Ltd (Z1P AU) has placed active fund ownership on an upward trajectory for the first time in 5-years.Compared to Financials positioning in other countries, Australian Financials are lightly held, especially compared to US and India Financials which saw a strong resurgence post COVID.  If we add in to the mix the relatively large underweight and the fact that there is a Value rotation underway, it wouldn't be out of the question to expect Australian Financials to capture further inflows.

Australian Financials:  Big Underweight (Finally) Finding Some Love?

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

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Quantitative Analysis

<div><p>In this Insight, we look at Asian financial pairs that normally trade in a tight band versus each other and are now trading at levels that are close to an extreme, making it likely that there could be a short term reversal. We also recap our earlier ideas and recommend exiting a position where there are gains and the price ratio is near a turning point.</p></div><div><p>These are all large cap financials that trade in excess of US$20m a day, so implementing the strategy should be possible using stock borrow or single stock futures.</p></div><div>
<p>These ideas are based purely off the stock price history and we recommend investors use a fundamental overlay to determine if the price action is reflective of changes in the sector that benefit one company at the expense of the other, or benefit one company more than the other.</p>
<p>Over the last couple of months, our pair trades have returned 2.54% on average.</p>
</div>

In this Insight, we look at Asian financial pairs that normally trade in a tight band versus each other and are now trading at levels that are close to an extreme, making it likely that there could be a short term reversal. We also recap our earlier ideas and recommend exiting a position where there are gains and the price ratio is near a turning point.These are all large cap financials that trade in excess of US$20m a day, so implementing the strategy should be possible using stock borrow or single stock futures.
These ideas are based purely off the stock price history and we recommend investors use a fundamental overlay to determine if the price action is reflective of changes in the sector that benefit one company at the expense of the other, or benefit one company more than the other.
Over the last couple of months, our pair trades have returned 2.54% on average.


<div><p>In this Insight, we look at Asian financial pairs that normally trade in a tight band versus each other and are now trading at levels that are close to an extreme, making it likely that there could be a short term reversal. We also recap our earlier ideas and recommend exiting a few positions, especially where there are gains and the price ratios are at turning points.</p></div><div>
<p>These are all large cap financials that trade in excess of US$20m a day, so implementing the strategy should be possible using stock borrow or single stock futures.</p>
<p>These ideas are based purely off the stock price history and we recommend investors use a fundamental overlay to determine if the price action is reflective of changes in the sector that benefit one company at the expense of the other, or benefit one company more than the other.</p>
</div>

In this Insight, we look at Asian financial pairs that normally trade in a tight band versus each other and are now trading at levels that are close to an extreme, making it likely that there could be a short term reversal. We also recap our earlier ideas and recommend exiting a few positions, especially where there are gains and the price ratios are at turning points.
These are all large cap financials that trade in excess of US$20m a day, so implementing the strategy should be possible using stock borrow or single stock futures.
These ideas are based purely off the stock price history and we recommend investors use a fundamental overlay to determine if the price action is reflective of changes in the sector that benefit one company at the expense of the other, or benefit one company more than the other.


Australia

Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG) is an Australian-based international general insurance group with operations in Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. The Group provides a range of personal and commercial insurance products, primarily motor vehicle and home insurance.

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Insurance Australia (IAG AU)

Steadfast Group Placement - Another Accretive Acquisition, past Deals Have Done Well

Steadfast (SDF AU) is looking to raise around A$225m from its placement to fund the acquisition of Insurance Brands Australia, an insurance...

Sumeet Singh

Suncorp’s Banking Sale to ANZ Will Unlock Value

We estimate that New Suncorp (ex-banking) is currently valued at a 24% discount to key peer, IAG, on an FY2023 P/E basis. The valuation gap can...

Arun George

Australian Financials: Big Underweight (Finally) Finding Some Love?

Australian Financial stocks are the 5th largest country/sector underweight globally. But is their decade long decline starting to reverse?

Steven Holden

Pair Trading Ideas - Asian Financials

We highlight potential trades among liquid large cap Asian financial stocks that are correlated and exhibit mean reversion. We recommend closing...

Brian Freitas

Pair Trading Ideas - Asian Financials

Pair trades on large cap Asian financials that trade in excess of US$20m a day. These pairs trade in bands versus each other and currently offer...

Brian Freitas

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