Forsyth Barr and Australia’s MST Financial have today announced a New Zealand partnership. Forsyth Barr MST Access Research will enable a greater connection between New Zealand corporates and markets.
The partnership has been established to facilitate investment in mid/small and microcap stocks by providing investors and fund managers with in-depth research and analysis of a quality currently typically only available for mid/large cap entities.
In Australia MST offers independent institutional and issuer sponsored equity research including its MST Access research product. Forsyth Barr has a market-leading research analyst team in New Zealand.
Forsyth Barr MST Access Research will deliver institutional quality research on mid/small and microcap companies, leveraging intelligence and insight from the capabilities of both Forsyth Barr and MST.
Listed companies that sign-up for this service will have the opportunity to present themselves to investors in a more compelling way and to a much broader audience utilising the networks of Forsyth Barr in New Zealand and to the large pool of fund managers and brokers in Australia that subscribe for MST’s research product.
In making the partnership announcement, Forsyth Barr Managing Director Neil Paviour-Smith commented, ‘Our focus in this partnership is not only ensuring that mid-sized and smaller entities get covered, but that the research and analysis is of the same very high-quality that our clients currently receive. We are excited by this initiative which addresses an identified need in the market. It will provide smaller entities with access to potential investors across the full retail to institutional spectrum in NZ and Australia.’
MST Financial CEO Gerard Satur said, ‘It’s clear that there is currently a barrier to investing in smaller entities. Investment skews to larger companies due to the commercial models of brokers. The extensive research coverage the large companies receive provides greater investor confidence. This means valuable opportunities in smaller companies are often over-looked affecting the company and potential investors.’
Forsyth Barr MST Access Research has engaged Zoie Regan as its Research Director. Zoie brings extensive experience across investment banking and funds management research, most recently as a Senior Investment Analyst at Fisher Funds.
The partnership has received immediate support from a number of New Zealand corporates, including NZX.
‘We welcome the Forsyth Barr MST Access partnership’, says NZX Chief Executive Mark Peterson. ‘We see value in the broadening of investment opportunities in promising smaller entities. The availability of quality research and analysis lies at the heart of this. NZX has been working hard to find ways to support the broader listed market and potential new listings so this initiative is welcomed’.
Forsyth Barr MST Access Research will initiate coverage on its first stocks in the first quarter of 2021.
