SGX's multi-asset strategy silences its sceptics

IN the last couple of years, Singapore Exchange (SGX) chief executive officer Loh Boon Chye has doggedly pitched his vision of a multi-asset, multi-purpose and borderless exchange.

He failed to convince many.

Sceptics thought his idea was no more than a rather clever distraction tactic by the exchange, just when its traditional cash equities business was floundering and rivals were nipping at its heels.

Its rival, the Hong Kong Clearing and Exchange (HKEx), has entrenched itself as a top destination of initial public offers (IPOs); its former ally in India has soured a 16-year old mutually beneficial relationship in its quest to emulate SGX's success in India-focused products.

Unlike HKEx, which draws most of its IPOs from eager Chinese issuers in its backyard, SGX operates in a smaller market and has a more diversified hinterland in South-east Asia. But instead of wallowing in what it does not have, SGX, led by Mr Loh, has made the w…