SGX’s CEO says it doesn’t need a unicorn to win

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) recently hit a daily average value of S$1.8 billion (US$1.4 billion), an 18-year high. But market watchers have the same gripes.

With a lack of marquee IPOs as well as poor first-day performances from recent debuts, the bourse’s equities market has been hard for CEO Loh Boon Chye to enjoy.

Photo credit: Jack Hong / Shutterstock

“SGX needs to be better understood,” he tells The Business Times. It’s an understatement from a man who operates a profitable global financial machine yet is constantly asked why his domestic front porch looks a little quiet.

While the SGX is often judged based entirely on the domestic stock market, the financial reality is broader than that. Net revenue for the full year ended June (FY 2026) hit US$1.2 billion – nearly doubling from a decade ago – as SGX transformed itself into a global risk-management tollbooth, clearing Chinese equity futures, Indian index derivatives, and bulk commodities for the world’s largest investment banks.

On an adjusted basis, which excludes certain non-cash and non-recurring items that have less bearing on the group’s operating performance, net profit climbed 24.6% year on year to US$598 million.

Yet, the SGX continues to be misunderstood, largely because the cash equities market is the most visible part of the bourse. The engine powering the whole exchange is increasingly offshore and diversified across asset classes.

Asking the wrong questions

​​Whenever the SGX reports its numbers, the same question comes up: When will Singapore have its own SpaceX or SK Hynix?

Loh stresses that volume and variety matter just as much as a single blockbuster IPO. In FY 2026, the exchange had 21 new equity listings that collectively raised US$3.2 billion.

“Size is important, but the number of companies and IPOs are also important because they give choices – different sectors, different sizes, different requirements for some investors,” he adds.

See also: Tracking IPOs: Shein knocks on Hong Kong’s doors

He’s also unbothered by first-day share price movements, saying that they do not fully represent the quality of the business. “Sustained liquidity post-IPO, companies growing their businesses, creating value for shareholders – I think that is the holistic way to look at a listed company’s performance,” he points out.

The SGX believes the recent jump in cash turnover is a permanent fixture rather than a passing phase, underpinned by the US$3.9 billion Equity Market Development Programme and the SGX Value Unlock Programme to slowly fix structural valuations.

“It is a structural shift,” Loh says, noting that the market revival is not due to any single factor. “It is the whole ecosystem coming together and looking at ways, measures, initiatives to have a more active, vibrant stock market.”

Tough decisions

No savior needed