New SGX-Nasdaq dual-listing bridge, fresh funds for small caps draw positive analyst response

SINGAPORE – Positive results from February’s reforms have lifted confidence in Singapore’s equities market, and analysts believe new initiatives, such as a Singapore Exchange (SGX)-Nasdaq dual-listing tie-up and deployment of fresh funds into the market, will help sustain the momentum into 2026.

The measures were revealed at a Nov 19 press conference

, where a review group set up by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in 2024 to revive interest in the Singapore stock market also announced the completion of its work throughout 2025.

Analysts largely welcomed the new moves, saying they would hugely improve firms’ access to capital and widen their investor base.

The SGX-Nasdaq partnership – a first of its kind for both bourses – opens up more opportunities to companies with listing ambitions, allowing them to go on two stock exchanges concurrently with a single set of offer documents. This significantly reduces regulatory friction and makes the listing process easier.

Ms Jenny Sofian, chief executive of Fullerton Fund Management, said the new dual-listing option strengthens Singapore’s position as a gateway for Asian and US companies with global ambitions.

By enabling near-continuous trading and smoother price discovery across time zones, the framework lets issuers tap deeper liquidity, secure more competitive valuations and raise capital with greater flexibility, she added.

Access to diversified pools of capital and participation in high-growth, innovation-driven companies will help foster a dynamic, globally competitive environment in which asset managers can grow and thrive, said Ms Carmen Wee, CEO of the Investment Management Association of Singapore.

Ms Jenny Lee, senior managing partner at venture capital firm Granite Asia, said the option to concurrently list on both bourses also broadens investor reach without requiring firms to shift their centre of gravity away from Asia.

Maybank’s head of research Thilan Wickramasinghe said the partnership comes at a time when South-east Asia is seeing unicorns – start-ups valued at over US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) – emerge at an exponential rate, from just five in 2016 to over 60 in 2025.

The framework would support these companies as they enter their public-growth phase and expand SGX’s sector mix with Asian “new economy” stocks that might otherwise list in the US, he said.

He added that the option for these companies to dual-list will enable them to benefit from Nasdaq’s valuations and SGX’s Asian liquidity, while also giving investors extended trading hours in Asian and US time zones.

Mr Nirgunan Tiruchelvam, head of consumer and internet at investment advisory firm Aletheia Capital, said many payments, e-commerce and online-travel firms have reached a more mature stage of growth, and could see dual listing as an attractive next step.

Mr Jason Saw, CGS International’s group head of investment banking, added that the dual-listing option supports SGX’s push for greater global connectivity, giving the bourse an edge over the Hong Kong exchange.

This is not the first time SGX and Nasdaq have formed a partnership – they previously signed a collaborative listings agreement in 2017 and a regulatory cooperation memorandum of understanding in 2020.

Their collaboration also resulted in cyber-security company AvePoint’s secondary listing on SGX in September, making it the first company to be listed on both exchanges.

A Nasdaq spokesperson said: “In an increasingly fragmented world, the partnership will strengthen ties between two major global markets, creating a bridge between major financial ecosystems. It also demonstrates that cooperation, smart regulation, and shared standards can create opportunities at scale.”

Analysts say the option to concurrently list in both Singapore and the US could pave the way for companies that have gone to Wall Street, notably Grab and Sea, to return to the local market.

Mr Tiruchelvam said: “Grab would not have been able to raise the pool of capital it did if it listed on SGX. But at the same time, more people have heard of Grab in Singapore than in New York, so it’s conceivable that the after-market support would have done better on SGX.”

CGS International analyst Lock Mun Yee said that while a dual listing could reinforce Grab and Sea’s positions as leading Asean digital platforms, the valuation gap between US and Singapore markets, as well as SGX’s relatively lower liquidity, may remain near-term hurdles.

Hurdles and complexities expected

Whatever the case, the framework is still in its early days, with more work to be done aligning disclosure rules with US standards. Insiders note this could create compliance hurdles that must be resolved to prevent issuers from falling foul of either exchange’s regulations.

Mr Robson Lee, director of law firm Legal Solutions, said SGX is likely to set up a separate board for dual listings, with issuers required to meet the ongoing compliance rules of both markets. He noted that existing Singapore and US regulations would also need to be aligned before the framework can take effect.

Given the complexities of combining the regulations of both markets into a single framework, Mr Lee expects that the new framework may be established only after the mid-2026 timeframe set by MAS.

Mr David Gerald, CEO of the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), said he hopes the framework will include a settlement arrangement that lets investors trade on both exchanges with peace of mind. “How do we protect the rights of Singaporeans who invest in US stocks, and how they can avail themselves (of) what is available in the US market? That is my concern. We are chatting with the regulatory side of SGX to see how this will work.”

Nasdaq said both exchanges will employ sophisticated market surveillance systems to detect and prevent market manipulation, insider trading and other irregular activities.

Stock market to receive fresh funds

MAS and SGX will launch a “Value Unlock” programme, which will allocate $30 million to help listed companies strengthen investor engagement and sharpen their focus on shareholder value creation.

The regulator also announced the allocation of an additional $2.85 billion to six more fund managers under its Equity Market Development Programme (EQDP) to support the small- and mid-cap segment of the equities market.

The fund managers are Amova Asset Management, AR Capital, BlackRock, Eastspring Investments, Lion Global Investors and Manulife Investment Management.

This comes after $1.1 billion of the $5 billion programme was previously allocated to three fund managers – Avanda Investment Management, Fullerton Fund Management and JP Morgan Asset Management – in July. Both Avanda and Fullerton have already launched funds to deploy the capital.

Analysts were positive, and noted that the earlier liquidity boost is already showing results, with the Straits Times Index (STI) surpassing the 4,500-point mark on Nov 11.

“The first $1.1 billion tranche has clearly moved the needle. We’ve seen the STI reach new highs, market liquidity improve and institutional participation deepen,” said SAC Capital CEO Ong Hwee Li.

“Small- and mid-cap stocks, which have traditionally struggled for visibility, are now enjoying active trading volumes. This signals a positive shift for issuers, investors and the broader ecosystem, and reflects a market that is regaining its competitiveness.”

Mr Wickramasinghe said that “with around 80 per cent of the EQDP’s $5 billion funds now placed with institutional managers, we expect overall market liquidity momentum to rise notably going into the first quarter of 2026”.

Ms Koh Hui-Jian, CEO of Manulife Investment – one of the six newly appointed fund managers – said the firm will draw on almost 20 years of experience investing in Singapore stocks and focus on researching individual companies to deliver stable, long-term returns.

Mr Rajeev Mittal, CEO of Eastspring Investments, also part of the new batch of fund managers, said it has been operating in Asia for more than 30 years with an “established and strong track record of managing Singapore equities”.

With a total of $3.95 billion already allocated to nine fund managers and $1.05 billion under the EQDP remaining, some analysts believe the programme could be expanded in the future with a larger amount of funds and fund manager pool.

Mr Matthias Chan, head of equities research at SAC Capital, said it is still too early for such plans to be drawn. “Beyond the STI 30, the stocks in the Next 50 Index over the last half-year have seen considerable trading activity and price discovery,” he said.

The Next 50 covers stocks that are not part of the STI, with market capitalisations of between $400 million and $4 billion.

“If the trading momentum spills over sustainably to what we term as the Subsequent 100, encompassing stocks with market caps of between $100 million and $400 million, then this current EQDP instalment should be viewed as successful. A wait and see could follow before further instalments.”