Every major Asian market has a Nasdaq-wannabe. Can Hong Kong or Shanghai tech boards close the gap?
- Nasdaq appeals to international investors in a way no Asian tech board may be able to match
- Hong Kong has a big edge over mainland to become Asia’s Nasdaq, analysts say
This is the last in a series of four articles analysing the Hong Kong and mainland stock markets, delving into the reforms, emergence of the Star Market as a solid fundraising venue, upcoming technology champions and the way forward. You can read Part one here, Part two here and Part three here.
If Nasdaq looks in its rear-view mirror, it will see Hong Kong and Shanghai are speeding up behind. Could either become the world’s next top tech fundraising centre – where the next generation of Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google would choose to gather to access the capital and synergy they need?
“There’s a real battle going on,” Jefferies chief global equity strategist Sean Darby said of the race between Hong Kong and Shanghai to become at minimum the Nasdaq of Asia.
“For financial centres, the ability to attract the [initial public offerings ] or secondary listings brings on so many other economic and financial multipliers … the IPOs in a sense are such a big, flashy gun spark for the whole financial services industry to accelerate,” Darby said.
Nasdaq would be hard to catch up to, having dominated the world’s tech public fundraising since its founding nearly five decades ago. Yep, it’s nearing its big 5-0 birthday, underscoring what an amazing ride it has been on.
The Nasdaq has many advantages over Asian wannabes that include Japan’s Jasdaq, Korea’s Kosdaq, as well as Hong Kong’s new Hang Seng Tech Index and mainland China’s Star Market and ChiNext boards.