Vietnam’s primary equity capital markets have been in a slump for the past two years, and the Covid-19 pandemic ensured there was no recovery in the past 18 months. But as in most of Asia’s markets, secondary trading offered plenty of opportunities to firms, as investors wanted to take advantage of bouts of volatility.
In Vietnam, SSI Securities was well placed to capture the increased flow, reinforcing its position as the top securities house in the country.
SSI was the largest securities firm in Vietnam by income last year, with $189 million in revenue and a net profit of $44 million. As of June 30, 2021, its total assets were $1.55 billion.
It’s certainly doing plenty right. In Asiamoney’s 2020 Brokers Poll, SSI was voted the best for brokerage in Vietnam, as well as the best for research, sales, corporate access and execution. Members of the SSI team also took the top spots for best strategist, economist, sales trader, salesperson and various other analyst categories.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, SSI had a 12% share of the brokerage market on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange and 8% on the Hanoi Stock Exchange. Under the leadership of Bui The Tan, managing director of retail brokerage, SSI offers trading in products including stocks, fund certificates and covered warrants.
The team is optimistic about future business, especially in the primary markets. SSI is expecting a revival in ECM deal flow, as well as more offshore bond business. To position itself for those opportunities, it split its team into two last year – one to cover ECM and the other for DCM.
Since June 2020, SSI’s DCM desk completed 16 trades, guided by head of investment banking Nguyen Ngoc Anh. Its equity team pulled off four deals and has five IPOs in the pipeline. Expect more to come from SSI.