New US operations & NYC office to support US fund managers looking to the Asian markets.

Smartkarma, Asia’s largest provider of independent investment research, today announced the opening of its New York City office, headed by 30-year industry veteran Warren Yeh. Smartkarma is well positioned to expand into American markets after recently completing its Series B funding round, led by Sequoia Capital. With a base in New York, Smartkarma aims to bring unprecedented on-the-ground reach and insight into Asian markets for US-based asset managers. Smartkarma has expanded from its headquarters in Singapore to five locations around the world, servicing a global client base comprising of some of the world’s largest asset managers.

By bringing together the best independent insight providers and asset managers in one collaborative ecosystem, Smartkarma is reinventing the way research is created and consumed, with timely insights delivered in an intuitive and engaging way. Smartkarma has demonstrated rapid growth since its launch in April 2016, with its top ten clients alone accounting for US$13.5 trillion of assets under management.

Raghav Kapoor, Co-founder and CEO of Smartkarma comments, “The demand for differentiated and unconflicted research is rapidly rising and US markets are no exception. Our Insight Providers, based in-country, provide US funds with local insight in areas underrepresented in traditional investment bank research, including IPO/M&A analysis, event-driven special situations as well as small and mid-cap company research.”

Smartkarma’scloud based platform brings together:

• Over 400 Insight Providers covering in excess of 2,400 companies across 15 Asia Pacific markets.
• Instant access to analysts, creating on-demand and real-time coverage which is invaluable to investors sitting in a distant time zone.
• A unique Spotify-esque business model that enables asset managers to pay a single subscription for unlimited, personalised access to insight across all providers.

By adopting a model such as Smartkarma’s, US managers are responding proactively to evolving regulatory changes with global impact, such as MiFID II in Europe, which came into effect on 3rd January 2018. This aligns interests as many managers are starting to pay for research services out of their own P&L.

Leading Smartkarma in the US, Warren Yeh brings 30 years of buy-side experience in Asian and the US financial markets. Yeh notes, “As US investors hunt for alpha, many are looking for opportunities outside the domestic market of the US and see the emerging markets of Asia as still cheap, relative to historical levels and other asset classes. Smartkarma is an excellent fit for US funds investing into Asia, providing a level of transparency and independent insight that has not been available until now.”