Trading platform brings transparency and liquidity

Independent trading platform brings transparency and liquidity to direct investment industry

Opens up the world’s fastest-growing forms of investment to New Zealanders

Syndex today announced the launch of New Zealand’s first online exchange for buyers and sellers of proportionally-owned assets. It’s a peer-to-peer marketplace for people who’ve invested in common-interest funds, such as shares in private companies or units in property syndicates.

Syndex provides investors with a marketplace to buy, manage and sell their assets at a price and time that suits them, and enables syndicators and crowdfunders to tap into new investment communities and stimulate trade in secondary markets.

The exchange launched today offering individual investors the opportunity to buy and trade shares in MyFarm’s dairy farms and orchards. Farm investment company MyFarm has $550 million of rural assets under management, and more than 300 syndicate investors in a mix of dairy, sheep and beef farms and kiwifruit orchards across New Zealand.

In addition to MyFarm, Syndex is sourcing opportunities from a range of syndicators to provide investors with a wide choice of investment options spanning commercial real estate, farm, plantation and forestry syndicate markets.

Syndex is also looking for quality opportunities in the private company equity market to enable people who’ve invested in crowdfunded equities to buy and sell shares after the initial issue. That would also provide equity crowdfunders with an independent trading platform and access to new investment communities, to stimulate trade in secondary markets and help generate more interest in crowdfunding and other direct investment opportunities.

The Syndex platform could also provide an independent market for secondary trading in the peer-to-peer lending space.

Mike Jenkins, Managing Director of Syndex, says that the exponential growth of the direct investment industry globally, driven by the crowdfunding revolution, will result in significant numbers of investors owning assets ranging from real estate and farms to equity and debt.

“These assets often outperform more traditional types of investment to deliver well above average returns, but are typically difficult and time-consuming to price and sell,” says Jenkins. “There is often a lack of transparency, liquidity and price discovery.”

“Despite the proliferation of crowdfunding platforms and new syndicate offers, there was previously no exchange on which these shares and units could be traded,” says Jenkins. “Low interest rates and fully priced equity markets have stimulated interest in alternative asset classes, however, they have been constrained by the lack of a secondary market.”

“By offering new investment opportunities on Syndex, companies can tap into the growing demand for alternative assets. Syndex provides them with access to new investment communities, stimulates trade in secondary markets and delivers a full suite of communication and management tools for companies to create, manage and market their offers,” explains Jenkins.

“Syndex provides investors with real time flows of information and greater transparency and visibility of all their investments on the one platform, at any time and any place, helping them to liquidate their positions and research where best to place their investment dollar.”

Jenkins says that Syndex aims to be the first exchange for proportionally-owned assets to launch worldwide, adding that its discussions with selected industry players in the USA, UK, China and Australia have confirmed the global need for this type of exchange.

Des Scott, Chairman of Syndex, says that funds set up by groups of individuals with common interests are growing in popularity to become one of the world's fastest growing forms of investment.

“Interest in alternative investments is on the rise, fuelled by high-profile crowdfunding launches, the promise of returns higher than bank term deposits and investment capital being sought for redevelopment projects and new companies,” he says.

Scott says that New Zealanders have the potential to benefit enormously from these investments, which for the first time will be easily available to investors.

“Syndex provides an efficient, reliable and secure platform that will not only create value for individuals and companies, but also stimulate growth and create wealth for the wider New Zealand economy.”

Scott adds that Syndex’s role is to provide a common, go-to place for investors that have an interest in investing and trading in proportionally-owned assets.

“We don’t create or offer any kind of investment products to the market and are working collaboratively with syndicators, issuers and companies for the benefit of all stakeholders.”

Although the Financial Markets Conduct Act does not currently require exchange businesses to be licensed to operate, Syndex is in discussions with the Financial Markets Authority to complete a licensing process to become a licensed Financial Products Market.

ENDS

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