Capital markets insights

2022 was a turbulent year for capital markets but the economic uncertainty that characterized last year is beginning to subside with signs of growing investment activity and market recovery. Companies that were hit hard by the economic shock waves of the pandemic are now adapting to the new reality and are finding ways to thrive in a changed world. With the markets on the upswing, financial brokers and dealers are eager to take advantage of new opportunities that have emerged.

We have witnessed several compliance challenges in the crypto space in recent months. These incidents have highlighted the importance of proper regulatory oversight and the potential risks associated with unregulated investing. Traditional investors can learn valuable lessons from these compliance issues to avoid repeating similar mistakes.

Investment advising has undergone significant changes recently, with the rise of self-serve investment services such as Wealthsimple and Robinhood. While these services offer a convenient and cost-effective way for investors to manage their money, they lack the personalized touch and expertise that traditional investment advisors provide. In this article, we explore the current state of investment advising, the role of traditional advisors, and the impact of self-serve platforms on Private Placements.

The Listed Issuer Finance Exemption only came into being in late 2022 with the intention of making capital raises easier for Canadian issuers by lowering the requirements that reporting issuers had to meet for certain raises, while at the same time opening up options for retail investors.

The emergence of innovative Artificial Intelligence technologies such as Open AI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard has made recent headlines as we begin to think about what these new developments in AI may mean for the nature of work and entire industries.

On September 8th 2022, the Canadian Securities Administrators announced the introduction of a new prospectus exemption called the New Listed Issuer Financing Exemption for listed issuers on Canadian stock exchanges, aimed at providing a more efficient way for them to raise capital. National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions (NI 45-106) has been amended effective November 21, 2022 to will allow issuers to distribute freely tradeable listed equity securities to the public for capital raises up to either $5,000,000 or 10% of the issuer's market capitalization to a maximum total dollar amount of $10,000,000.

Our CEO Gord Breese sat down with Martin Gagel of Market Research Radius to discuss Katipult's recent customer milestones, product updates, and strategic opportunities for the company. 

As retail participation in private placements grows, more investors are filling in complex subscription agreements that they are not familiar with.  This leads to back and forth between advisors and investors correcting errors on ‘not-in-good-order’ documents. Existing manual processes are struggling to keep up, and dealers are asking themselves if there is a better way.

Private real estate. Hedge funds. Commodities. Cryptocurrencies. Private equity. These are just a few types of investments broadly classified under the umbrella of “alternative investments”. And it is an umbrella that is quickly growing, with total assets under management in alternatives blowing past the $9 trillion mark in 2021. Just five years ago, this figure was closer to $4 trillion.