Global growth markets: the changing face of the world finance
Global growth markets: the changing face of the world finance
Running a market for growth companies is becoming an increasingly competitive business, as well as challenging in the present economic climate. AIM and NASDAQ, the two largest markets, are not only vying with each other to woo prized new listings from emerging economies, but they also face renewed efforts by those economies to build attractive junior bourses of their own. Singapore’s Catalist, previously known as SESDAQ, is a case in point with its potential to list exciting companies from Indonesia and Vietnam, while Hong Kong’s GEM should be well placed to capture Chinese businesses. This is also true for South Africa, where the Johannesburg Stock Exchange operates AltX for growth companies, and in Brazil the domestic players have been largely able to meet local needs. Yet, while the new junior markets in Asia in particular have begun closing the gap in the last three years and can offer impressive liquidity, there is no doubt that AIM and NASDAQ still lead the field. AIM has made itself relevant both to its own heartland of mid and small-cap UK companies and to the more ambitious Chinese and Indian companies. There have been concerns expressed about liquidity on AIM, but fundraising in 2007 was stronger than on any other market. NASDAQ’s performance all round was consistently strong between 2005 and 2007, the period reviewed by this guide.
The 2008 Grant Thornton global growth markets guide looks at these themes and others as it analyses the performance of the eight largest and most important stock markets in the world competing to list growth company stocks throughout 2007, giving an overview of their size, activity and admission requirements. The 2008 Grant Thornton global growth markets guide is part of a series of capital markets guides that Grant Thornton International has compiled over seven years.