The big shareholder groups in Expert Systems Holdings Limited (HKG:8319) have power over the company. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies. I generally like to see some degree of insider ownership, even if only a little. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb said, ‘Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio.’

Expert Systems Holdings is not a large company by global standards. It has a market capitalization of HK$89.6m, which means it wouldn’t have the attention of many institutional investors. In the chart below below, we can see that institutional investors have not yet purchased shares. Let’s delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about 8319.

Check out our latest analysis for Expert Systems Holdings

What Does The Lack Of Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Expert Systems Holdings?

Institutional investors often avoid companies that are too small, too illiquid or too risky for their tastes. But it’s unusual to see larger companies without any institutional investors.

There are multiple explanations for why institutions don’t own a stock. The most common is that the company is too small relative to fund under management, so the institition does not bother to look closely at the company. On the other hand, it’s always possible that professional investors are avoiding a company because they don’t think it’s the best place for their money. Institutional investors may not find the historic growth of the business impressive, or there might be other factors at play. You can see the past revenue performance of Expert Systems Holdings, for yourself, below.

Hedge funds don’t have a many shares in Expert Systems Holdings. As far I can tell there isn’t analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of Expert Systems Holdings

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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. It seems that insiders own more than half the Expert Systems Holdings Limited stock. This gives them a lot of power. Given it has a market cap of HK$89.6m, that means they have HK$63.4m worth of shares. It is good to see this level of investment. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.