Among the most time-consuming and frustrating roles of a CEO or company secretary is maintaining a company’s share register and communicating with shareholders.
For many this involves clunky spreadsheets, manual entries and frustrating delays because communication with shareholders is – by
and large – via snail mail.
Registry Direct, a company started by former UBS and Citigroup banker Steuart Roe, is a new online share registry business that allows both small and large unlisted companies to communicate directly with their security holders via the Internet. Its self-service system is easy-to-use, and does not require users to sign up to a fixed-term contract.
Steuart Roe, CEO of Registry Direct
Registry Direct uses SaaS (software as a service) technology to allow CEOs and company secretaries to maintain their share registers, edit shareholder details, distribute announcements/annual reports/monthly updates, coordinate shareholder meetings, pay dividends, facilitate shareholder votes and issue securities.
Shareholders get online access where they can review company announcements, vote on resolutions, access dividend statements, view their transaction history and maintain their contact and bank account details.
Registry Direct’s chairman is Don McLay (also chairman of Credit Corp and Clime Investment) and Don Sharp (Chairman of Managed Accounts and InPayTech and founder of Bridges Financial Services) is a non-executive director.
Mr Roe says: “Tiny companies can maintain their share registers on their own, but if a company has more than a handful of shareholders administering its share register can be a real headache.
Most are running their share register via a spreadsheet – announcing meetings, running votes on resolutions, distributing announcements, producing dividend statements and creating ABA files for payments.
Doing this well is almost impossible without a system like ours.” Mr Roe has been involved in investment markets for two decades and realised that while large listed companies had plenty of choice regarding share registries, unlisted companies were largely coping on their own.
“With Registry Direct, CEOs and company secretaries can do everything online, so there’s no posting of letters and waiting for replies.
We allow company secretaries to be in direct contact with their shareholders, without needing to use a third party. We streamline the process and we represent a very cost-effective way to engage shareholders. Our SaaS product allows unlisted companies to access enterprise grade registry software at very low cost.”
After three years developing the system, Mr Roe is now offering it to clients. He already has more than 50 listed securities on his books and numerous unlisted securities. Clients include Metgasco, Merck, Nasdaq, Acorns, CBI, Whitehaven, SelfWealth, Diebold, Baker Hughes and Sequoia Funds Management.
Last year the company completed a capital raising of $1.4 million and the board is considering an IPO.
Although Registry Direct will eventually target major listed companies (offering material savings compared to both Link Market Services and Computershare – the two big players in the registry market), its ‘self-service’ software makes it ideal for small companies, including family companies.
With the government’s innovation agenda making equity crowd funding and employee share schemes more accessible for small and start-up companies, Registry Direct sees its product as the perfect tool for unlisted companies to capitalise on these initiatives.
