The Singapore Exchange strengthened its position as a hub for health-care stocks over the last year and is now setting its sights on fresh growth areas.
It is eyeing regional technology companies and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as major sources of new listings, a top bourse official has said.
SGX listings head Lawrence Wong told The Straits Times in a recent interview that the exchange has been traditionally known for its real estate investment trusts (Reits) and offshore stocks but medical stocks have become another bright spot.
He pointed to stocks such as medical products firm QT Vascular, which debuted on the secondary Catalist board last year.
"The next big thing could be health care. We're also looking at tech and we'll see what else comes," he said.
Mr Wong said Asia's tech sector was diverse, and the exchange would be keeping an eye on all parts of the industry.
Even though Singapore does not have a tech industry as large as Silicon Valley's, the SGX still aims to be the listing location of choice for a wide range of tech companies in the region, he said.
"Tech can be a very long piece of cloth, from the Internet to e-commerce to data. You have companies that invent and those which use, and the hardware portion, such as chips. We do not have a tech base here but the question is, can we be a conduit? We can have a knowledge base and investor base that brings people here."
Another main area of focus for the exchange this year will be helping SMEs in Singapore to go public.
"The SME sector is getting more vibrant because Asia is doing better than other regions in the world... We're trying to see how we can breed tomorrow's champions," Mr Wong said.
He added that he was "very proud" of the bourse's Catalist platform for smaller listings. Nearly two-thirds of the initial public offerings (IPOs) last year took the Catalist route.
Market watchers have raised concerns over the quality of recent listings, citing incidents such as chicken farmer Japfa's sudden announcement of a profit plunge barely two months after its debut. There was also a last-minute cancellation of taxi company Trans- Cab's IPO, after a whistleblower flagged potential problems over insurance payments.
Mr Wong said the exchange has a vigilant regulatory team to investigate possible lapses and to take wrongdoers to task.
"The SGX is there to make sure the work is done but we are not there to 'double-do' the job... If an accountant has signed off, we take it as that because a professional firm has done it and put its name to it."
Staying competitive also does not mean accepting lower-quality IPOs, he added. "If we lower the bar, we are finished."
This article was first published on January 2, 2015.
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