SMEs can list in stock market

MANILA, Philippines - Unicapital Inc., currently the country’s leading and most active full-service investment house, is now going around the regions to help promote the idea and erase the misconception that listing in the stock market is only for the big boys.

Unicapital Securities, Inc. president and CEO Leonardo ‘Dong’ R. Arguelles, Jr., who’s also managing director of Equity Capital Markets of Unicapital Inc., said the company is on a mission to contribute in the development of the country’s capital market by perking up the interest of mid-size enterprises to list in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

Right now, Arguelles said, PSI is 95-percent big capital, or covers only firms with capitalization of over P1 billion, which reflects the immaturity of Philippine capital market.

“We have been going around the country and we have confirmed our suspicion that smaller companies are not really aware that they, too, can list in the PSE. I think this is partly because the other investment houses do not talk to them,” Arguelles noted.

In the past few months, however, some smaller companies have made their debut in the stock market, mainly due to Unicapital’s initiative and commitment to that largely untapped segment.

Among the mid-size firms that listed with the PSE recently through the efforts of Unicapital Inc. were Calapan Ventures Inc., Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp., East West Bank.

He cited the reason why other investment houses do not prioritize small and mid-size companies is that while they also eat up as much time, effort and paperwork as the big firms, the yield is definitely smaller, but Unicapital Inc. is of a different mindset.

“Our objective is to be the leading independent financial services provider catering to the emerging growth sector which is the middle market. We are addressing that emerging market, which is not recognized by the big investment houses,” Arguelles emphasized.

He added: “If you look at the economics ofit, to do big deal and small deal is the same in terms of man-hours. Those looking purely at profit, go for bigger deals. But we have the passion for the middle market because that is the segment not addressed adequately. We want to provide the channel for emerging entrepreneurs to accelerate their growth, just like Jollibee before. We want to be the catalyst for the development of the mid-market, which is the market that has not been addressed by the investment banks.”