Scaling private market investment: MyFarm’s Growth on the Syndex Platform
The Syndex platform enables private market issuers to raise capital, manage investors and provide liquidity through a fully digital investment management system. MyFarm Investments, a specialist in New Zealand primary sector investments, has used the Syndex platform since 2016 to scale its capital raising, streamline investor administration and provide liquidity to investors.
Background
MyFarm began in 1990 with an innovative offering for investors wanting greater exposure to the hard to invest primary sector. MyFarm’s initial offering was proportional ownership derived from the purchase and syndication of handpicked dairy farms and in 2015 the company expanded to a broader range of investment opportunities in rural land assets in horticulture, viticulture and their associated infrastructure.
MyFarm is a trusted Issuer with a reputation for offering attractive ROI from meticulously chosen businesses and land-based horticultural assets.
Challenges
By 2015 MyFarm faced two major challenges.
Investor liquidity – investors increasingly expected the flexibility and exit options available in public markets.
Operational scale – investor onboarding, registry management and communications were handled through spreadsheets and manual processes.
MyFarm needed smarter systems and access to more investors in order to realise the forecast growth. The need to streamline all aspects of investor relations was clear and digitisation was the only solution. As the number of investment opportunities grew, these systems became increasingly difficult to manage.
Aware of reaching the full extent of its own investment management capabilities the company began to look for a software solution. Outsourcing was discounted as they wanted to maintain control of the processes, data, and ultimately, the customer relationship.
Implementing the Syndex Platform
MyFarm partnered with Syndex in 2016 to provide the competitive differentiation they coveted by offering liquidity to their investors. With access to the Syndex secondary market, MyFarm investors are able to trade their units simply and efficiently.
“Syndex is a win-win relationship. It helps address one of those frown lines people get when looking at an investment proposition. When you get that tough question, ‘How do I get out?’, we’ve got an answer.” Andrew Watters, CEO.
In opting for the full-service investment management system MyFarm’s engine room has been turbo-charged. The platform offers digital remedies to improve the investor experience and streamline administrative demands. Customer relationships are maintained with a communication system that records interactions and facilitates quick and easy bulk personalised emailing.
“An element that brought significant change to our operations was the move to online investor applications via Syndex rather than paper forms. This has taken away a barrier to investors applying, and also allowed us to fill new schemes with short settlement deadlines”, says Grant Payton, Head of Sales.
Within the investor onboarding process, MyFarm maintain compliance with the regulatory obligations of AML and the FMCA through electronic identification verification, bioverification and wholesale certification functionality - all automated online processes.
The impact of the Syndex platform is reflected in MyFarm’s growth trajectory.
- 2015: 1 new investment issue
- 2016: 2 new issues
- 2020: 12 new issues
Despite this rapid increase in activity, administrative demands remained manageable due to automation within the Syndex platform.
Platform: Syndex private capital platform
Use case: Capital raising, investor management and secondary market liquidity
Sector: Primary sector investments
Growth: 1 issue in 2015 → 12 issues in 2020
Syndex enables companies, co-operatives and funds to raise capital, manage investors and provide liquidity in private markets.
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