“The starting point for the model is AIM,” says Thordur Fridjonsson, president of Icex, speaking on the sidelines of an Icelandic Capital Markets Day held in London that showcased seven leading Icelandic companies to institutional investors (from Bakkavor to Straumur-Burdaras Investment Bank).
“With isec we are seeking to promote quality growth companies with less extensive market requirements but without cutting slack on our fundamental market rules,” added Mr Fridjonsson.
Less onerous requirements extend to the distribution of share ownership, with no minimum size imposed and isec entities not having to publish their financial reports more than twice a year.
The benchmark index, ICEX-15, has risen by 41 per cent so far in 2005 (2004: +59 per cent) – exceeding the DAX, S&P 500 and other Nordic indexes. Investing in the ICEX tracker (ETF) would have brought a tidy 45 per cent return since launch last December.
Jan Altmann, a consultant at Funds@Work AG in Frankfurt who recently made presentations to pension funds in Reykjavik, noted that the tracker is very much “a hidden investment pearl.” And, in terms of equity market capitalisation relative to the economy (GDP), Iceland now has one of the highest globally at around 150 per cent.
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