Every investor in iFAST Corporation Ltd. (SGX:AIY) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 52% to be precise, is individual investors. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
Following a 5.4% increase in the stock price last week, individual investors profited the most, but insiders who own 29% stock also stood to gain from the increase.
Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about iFAST.
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About iFAST?
Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.
We can see that iFAST does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see iFAST's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
SGX:AIY Earnings and Revenue Growth November 13th 2023
We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in iFAST. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is the CEO Chung Chun Lim with 20% of shares outstanding. With 13% and 6.7% of the shares outstanding respectively, Cuscaden Peak Pte. Ltd. and Wee Kian Lim are the second and third largest shareholders. Interestingly, the third-largest shareholder, Wee Kian Lim is also a Member of the Board of Directors, again, indicating strong insider ownership amongst the company's top shareholders.
A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 25 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.
Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of iFAST
While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.
I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.
Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of iFAST Corporation Ltd.. It is very interesting to see that insiders have a meaningful S$625m stake in this S$2.1b business. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.
General Public Ownership
The general public -- including retail investors -- own 52% of iFAST. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.
Private Company Ownership
It seems that Private Companies own 14%, of the iFAST stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.
Next Steps:
It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand iFAST better, we need to consider many other factors.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content?Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
