icapital.biz - English Vol 28 No 01

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The week of 18 August– 24 August 2016 Volume 28 Number 01
A | Market Opinion
Lay Kean studied statistics and Chun Pengmajored in
economics. Both joined Capital Dynamics as fresh graduates
and at time when the start-up firmwas still financiallyweak.
Both realised the situation the firmwas in. Theywere very
committed, worked very hard, took onmultiple tasks and
contributed. Besides being investment analysts, they assisted
in translating, marketing, managing the library, and did not
receive any pay rise or bonus. As their obligations grew, they
had tomove on after 3 to 4 years. I wouldwish to personally
thank them for their contributions andwish themgood
health in the coming years.
now is like day, back
then, Brickfields was
like night. It was a
cheap, dirty, filthy
and an undesirable
location, even if you
are not a financial
institution like a fund
manager. 3 years
later, the office of Capital
Dynamics got “upgraded”
to another cheapo, Plaza
Warisan in Jalan Tun HS
Lee. This rundown, badly
maintained shopping mall was
subsequently demolished to
make way for a MRT station.
Launch of
Many people said that
I had lost my touch when
we were doing nothing
as investment websites
were mushrooming during
the global dot-com boom.
Perhaps they did not
understand it when I
told them that the
Malaysian market
back then was
not ready for
widespread
usage of
such Internet
websites.
True
enough, within
less than 1 year
of operation,
many such
investment websites
including Malaysiastreet.
com and (which
was 25% owned by The
Star) had to close down.
So, during the depths of
dot-com crash, Capital
Dynamics launched www.
first in English
in 2002 and Mandarin in
2003. The websites were
developed by my 1st year
Computer Science son and
his course mates.
As a truly independent
firm, we do not have the
backing of government or
established institutions;
neither do I have deep
pockets even after 12
years of starting Capital
Dynamics. Each step I take
has to be correct - there
was simply no second
chance.
Listing of Berhad
Berhad (ICAP)
is the only closed-end fund
listed on the KLSE but it is
not your usual listed
closed-end
fund. As
many
potential
investors were unable to meet
the threshold to access Capital
Dynamics’ fund management
service, I decided to set up a
fund for the ordinary investors
so that their hard-earned money
can be properly managed. That
roadshows nationwide
amounting to RM400,000
were absorbed entirely by
Capital Dynamics. I raised
over RM230 mln for ICAP’s
IPO single-handedly and
was entitled to a RM1.8 mln
private placement fee which
I chose to forgo every cent.
These, together with other
investor protection measures
like a black and white IPO
prospectus, the only one in the
KLSE, resulted in the lowest IPO
listing expense in KLSE’s history
and boosted ICAP’s NAV.
Contrary to the many
naysayers, ICAP traded at
a premium on its first day
of listing. It was certainly
a glorious and historic
moment for my family and all
concerned.
I would like to thank Chun Peng (1st from the left) and
Lay Kean (3rd from the left) for their contributions
The second office of Capital Dynamics
Capital Dynamics in Wisma Koponas in 1997
The “upgraded” location of Capital Dynamics at
Plaza Warisan
L
a
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h
i n
g
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a
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d
a
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i n
v
e
r
s
i o
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o
fwww.i
capital.bizin2003.
was how ICAP got started.
Again, we did not know
what we were getting into. The
listing of ICAP in Oct 2005 itself
was a culmination of a lot of
hard work and heart work. The
whole exercise took us 3 long
years because it was difficult
to convince a custodian and
investment bank who hardly
understood what a closed-end
fund was and is not confident
that the initial public offering
of ICAP can succeed. Eating
dinner at 12 midnight became a
prolonged routine affair.
What defines i Capital ?
What defines Capital
Dynamics ? What
defines the people
who work
at Capital
Dynamics ?
Like the
many other
instances, it
is the same.
It is about
hard and
heart
work,
commitment,
dogged
determination,
and most of
all, integrity. In
the process, Capital
Dynamics, its many staff and
I made many sacrifices and
selfless initiatives.
In order for investors of ICAP
to realise the highest return,
expenses for the IPO were
kept to the minimum from day
one. Expenses for conducting
ICAP’slisting on Burs a Mala ysia was a success.
Celebration with family after the successful listing
16 Capital Dynamics Sdn Bhd