Mike Jenkins
Despite just launching in New Zealand, start-up online trading platform, Syndex, is already eyeing offshore markets, according to company co-founder, Mike Jenkins. The peer-to-peer exchange for listing, trading and managing “proportionally-owned assets”, is in talks with various parties in Australia and the UK as well as in New Zealand.
Jenkins, the managing director, said: “For Syndex to succeed we need a high volume of syndicates and investors,” he said. “New Zealand is really too small to generate that volume – our play is international.
“While Australia is an obvious place to go, we see big opportunities for Syndex in the UK, US and China.”
For example, Jenkins said the global real estate unlisted syndicate market was estimated to hit about NZ$250 billion (A$225 billion) by 2020. He said currently investors in property syndicates don’t have access to a centralised trading system.
“Even if we captured a small percentage of the [global real estate syndicate] market that would be a significant business,” he said.
As well as property syndicates, Jenkins said Syndex could suit a wide range of proportionally-owned assets including, shares in crowd-funded projects, private companies, racehorse syndicates “and even shipping containers”.
“We want to provide a place for investment communities on the platform,” he said.
In addition to creating a marketplace for primary fundraising and secondary trading, Jenkins said Syndex was also set up to help syndicates administer their investments.
“They can manage their syndicate on the platform,” he said. “We offer governance and administrative services.”
Syndicates would pay an annual fee of $2,500 for the administration service.
Syndex launched last week, luring its inaugural listing – the NZ$550 million MyFarm investment company – across from the rival Unlisted platform.
Jenkins has held various roles in the investment industry in both New Zealand and his native South Africa, including a four-year stint at AMP Financial Services.
In his final position at AMP, he helped create the WealthView, the retail investment platform backed by FNZ technology.
As well as Jenkins, the Syndex board includes chairman Desmond Scott along with directors Michael Chatterley and Trevor Rands.
– David Chaplin, Investment News NZ