Bualuang Securities
Bualuang Securities Public Company Limited (BLS) was founded in 2001 and is one of Thailand’s leading securities companies. It provides securities brokerage, investment banking, and equity research services. Bangkok Capital Asset Management Company Limited (BCAP), its wholly-owned subsidiary, is the BLS asset management unit.
In addition to its comprehensive nationwide network of 28 offices in Bangkok and major cities, BLS works closely with Bangkok Bank. The bank refers customers and helps them to open trading accounts while BLS supports bank customers with financial advice and investment opportunities.
The Thai equity market in 2021
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, 2021 was the best year for the Thai equity broking industry as Thai securities companies performed the all-time highest revenue income. The index hit its lowest point, 1,466.98, in January. In the first quarter of 2021, the SET index increased by 9.5% compared to the same period of 2020. By the end of the first 6 months, the SET index increased by 9.6% compared to the end of 2020.
In the second half of 2021, the new variant of Covid-10 “Delta” took place. This resulted in the Thai government declaring a lockdown of the affected provinces including Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand. This impacted the SET index as it declined by 4.1% from the end of last month. The SET index then gradually increased. By end of 2021, the SET index closed at 1,657.62 which was the highest point of the year.
Stock trading increased significantly, with the daily average trading value reaching 88 billion baht in 2021 compared with the previous year. There was also a change in the composition of the local investment market. Retail investors came back strongly, with an increase in both accounts and investments, while investments by local institutions fell. The average industry commission rate remains the same since 2020.
Even though the pandemic continued to create volatility in the capital markets, 2021 was the big year for Thai IPOs since the total number of newly listed companies has increased from 2020, from 26 companies to 38 companies in 2021. The total issued size was more than 88.6 billion baht. Moreover, in early 2021, there was a launch of “OR”, PTT Oil and Retail Plc, which was considered a jumbo IPO (approximately 47 billion sizes of fundraised) that generated a lot of new account opening to retail investors. The number of new accounts in February 2021, the first trading day of OR, ramped up to 225% from December 2020. OR performed an all-time highest record of IPO subscribers which was around 530,000 subscribers.
In 2021, brokerage business accounts for about 51 percent of revenue for securities companies, with 17 percent, 8 percent, and 9 percent from fees and service income, interest, and gain on securities trading respectively.
Key developments
As retail investors significantly increased their trading activities amid the Covid-19 stock volatility, BLS’ customer base grew by 37% percent to more than 650,000 accounts. Its market share also increased and its market ranking in equities improved to 4th place from 6th place the previous year.
The increasing interest in international investments continued to attract investors to the BLS Global Investing service and total investment funds acquired via the service grew by 107% percent compared with the previous year. BLS clients can use this facility to trade individual stocks listed in the US, Hong Kong, and Vietnam via a mobile application or on the internet.
The enthusiasm for foreign investments also extended to BLS’ issued Depository Receipts (DR), a financial instrument that enables investors to gain exposure to foreign equities or Exchange Traded Funds (ETF). E1VFN3001 which tracks Vietnam’s 30 largest listed companies has grown from 600 million baht when it was launched in December 2018 to 7.3 billion baht at the end of 2021. The DR can be easily traded on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, providing convenience for all investors.
In September, BCAP launched two exclusive funds for Bangkok Bank clients, the BCAP Global Multi-Asset Fund and BCAP Global Multi-Asset Plus Fund, with the Pictet Group, a Geneva-based global wealth and asset manager as the investment advisor. The IPO of “BCAP-GMA and BCAP-GMA Plus” were also well-received by retail investors with a value of nearly 6 billion baht. By the end of 2021, BCAP offered a total of 37 mutual funds under its management, with a focus on thematic investments and megatrends. BCAP assets under management rose from 52 billion baht in 2020 to 68 billion baht in 2021, with 25 billion baht generated from mutual funds, 21 billion baht from provident funds, and 22 billion baht from private funds.
To facilitate investment decisions, BLS launched BLS Top Funds which select top mutual funds for customers using both qualitative and quantitative analysis to categorize BLS top fund into 22 groups ranked by risk levels and themes. BLS, as a subscription agent, also facilitated clients with an electronic-rights offering (E-RO) service to help corporates in the rights subscription process which can reduce errors, paper, times and costs. For retail investors, a new feature was introduced to Bangkok Bank Mobile Banking enabling customers to open BLS securities trading accounts via the app on both iOS and Android.
The BLS Stock Master program was organized for the 10th consecutive year with more than 1,000 participants attending this year. Shifting from physical to online due to the Covid-19 situation, the program helped inexperienced investors efficiently access investment knowledge from their homes
BLS has continued to support several communities with programs that include collaborating with Dee Mee Suk Company to develop local products such as dried mangos to help villagers to become self-sufficient, as well as making donations and providing packs with health provisions to needy people during the Covid-19 outbreak. On the environmental front, under a campaign initiative by BLS to collect and recycle plastic bottles, over 264 kilograms in total were recycled during the year. BLS has been recognized for its excellence in the equities business.
BLS won Best Equity House in Thailand of the Year 2021 from Alpha Southeast Asia awards for the 5th time in 10 years. Moreover, BLS also won Best ECM House in Thailand from FinanceAsia awards for 5th time since 2014. Other awards that proved BLS is the best in equity business were Best Equity House from Global Business Outlook awards, Best Capital Markets Thailand and Best Securities Brokerage Firm from International Business Magazine awards, and Securities House of the Year from Asian Banking & Finance
Article received from Bualuang Securities
