Smartkarma FAQs

Smartkarma is a network that connects three core audiences of capital markets: Investors, Insight Providers, and Corporates. Smartkarma Solutions provide tailored products to each audience, all on one platform.

No. Smartkarma’s platform is a web-based, digital-first SaaS solution that is accessible via the website on any desktop or mobile device, and Smartkarma’s mobile apps.

No. Smartkarma does not provide such services. Smartkarma fosters a community where Insight Providers, private accredited investors, professional investors, and Corporate IR can connect and collaborate.

There are two product offerings under Investor Solutions according to Investor type. Smartkarma Plus is for private accredited investors and/or parties licensed to provide investment advisory or management services for private accredited investors. Smartkarma Pro is for professional and institutional investors.

Private accredited investors or parties licensed to provide investment advisory or management services for private accredited investors are eligible to subscribe to Smartkarma Plus. For avoidance of doubt, any party licensed to provide investment advisory or management services to institutional investors may not subscribe to Smartkarma Plus.

Professional and institutional investors and parties licensed to provide investment advisory or management services to institutional investors are eligible to subscribe to Smartkarma Pro.

Yes – Preview Pass provides users with a holistic overview of Investor Solutions subscriptions, opening access to unlimited Insight Executive Summaries, customisation settings for platform and email feeds, as well as previews of the other tools and features available. InstaPass allows users to sample the quality of research available by granting access to up to 3 full Insights.

It is a widely held misconception that broker content is free. In order to provide Investors with research, banks have traditionally offset the provision of research with either prices in excess of execution-only levels of commission, and/or ECM business derived from the bank’s research coverage.

Under this bundled model, investors typically pay more commission than necessary, or receive potentially biased research that is less likely to add value to their investment process.

This legacy method of collecting payment for research is struggling in light of recent regulator “clampdown” on the use of end-client money to pay non-transparent fees for so-called “free” research. Smartkarma reinvents the model with a single, transparent subscription.

As of January 2021, Insight Providers publishing on Smartkarma have produced a library of 37,000+ Insights, featuring actionable research on 5,000+ companies across 15 content verticals, with a focus on Asian markets.

Insights span topics deemed valuable by the network, including: actionable sector thematic notes; cross-asset class macroeconomic and asset allocation analysis; data-driven analysis of ECM activity (IPOs & Placements); special situations (M&A, Spinoffs, Discount Arbitrage, Relative Value; Tactical Bottom-Up Long/Short company analysis); and governance and accounting shenanigans analysis.

Our platform encourages collaboration across the network, to give subscribers access to a deeper and more differentiated offering at a fraction of the price. Insight Providers combine their strengths into an integrated offering, harnessing the power of collaboration to provide clients with differentiated and independent views across geographies, expertise, and various layers of research (e.g. fundamental analysis, sector/thematic research, technicals, macro, and more).

Smartkarma Research Solutions supports independent third party research and content providers (referred to by Smartkarma as Insight Providers) who are carefully vetted and selected to publish unbiased Insights on the Smartkarma platform. Insight Providers can be a mix of large independent research house analysts, boutique research operation founders, as well as individual analysts, data scientists, consultants, and academics.

Smartkarma has a stringent onboarding process for Insight Providers involving compliance checks and the completion of  comprehensive regulatory, process and conflicts due diligence. Applicants must also demonstrate they can adhere to the Smartkarma Substantiveness Initiative, resulting in fewer than 10% of applicants being onboarded.

Smartkarma Pro subscribers include professional investors (sovereign wealth funds, long-only asset managers, hedge funds, private equity firms, and venture capital firms). Smartkarma’s top 10 subscribers alone handle cumulative assets under management worth more than US$13 trillion.

Smartkarma Plus subscribers include and private accredited investors and parties licensed to provide investment advisory or management services for private accredited investors.

You can monetise your written content and research as well as bespoke research services such as calls, meetings, and bespoke projects through Smartkarma.

There are six ways to get paid on Smartkarma.

1. Quantified Value Add (QVA)
2. Rapid Response Insights
3. Smartkarma Originals
4. Smartkarma Roadshows
5. Bespoke Research
6. Referral Incentives

Smartkarma does not require exclusivity for content or research published on the platform, unless otherwise agreed. The content or research must, however, not be accessible elsewhere for free.

Apart from content publication, distribution, and monetisation, Smartkarma can provide discounted rates to IPs through an exclusive deal with Koyfin for both their Plus and Pro plans, and can also assist with securing regulatory cover in select markets.

Corporate Solutions subscribers are Corporate Investor Relations professionals and Executives seeking to improve communication with investors and Insight Providers, and in so doing, raise their company’s profile.

Corporate Solutions Starter, Basic, or Pro plans are only available to CEOs, CFOs, Board Members, Corporate Investor Relations or Corporate Communications representatives.

Corporate Solutions allows for Corporate Investor Relations professionals and Executives to directly communicate with participating investors and Insight Providers on the platform via instant chat. It is not just a database of investors with one-way communication like other IR platforms.