"Diversity" Outrage: Time for Mark Weldon to step down from the NZX

Mark Weldon started as CEO of the New Zealand Stock Exchange in the early part of the last decade and his main aim was to revitalise a flagging stockmarket and entice more investors into buying into NZX listed stocks. An aim that no stockmarket watcher would disagree with.

He has failed on those two counts alone with the stockmarket capitalisation less than it was 10 years ago and less Kiwis invested in the local bourse. Add to that a vacant IPO position over the last 2 years and regulatory problems related to dissemination of information to the market as a whole, rather than selected few, insiders trading on tips from mates and conflicts of interest of the NZX overseeing a market they participate in themselves and you have yourself what anyone would call a failure.

What might Mr Weldon be doing to correct these measures?

Work on some of the above? Quit and admit he has failed?

No.

Instead Mark has decided that the answer to the problems the NZX has is to focus on "diversity" on NZX listed companies by making it mandatory that companies hire on the basis of race and sex before the professional and personal qualities of the candidate are assessed, to increase the level of women and "ethnic minorities" in the boardroom.

Weldon is proposing that boards demand direct reporting of "diversity" numbers; and it goes beyond gender to include "diversity" generally, which includes "ethnic diversity".

“We’re a very skinny economy, four and a half million people. If we systematically exclude, or don’t create good pathways or accessible opportunities for large parts of the population, whether women or immigrants, then we are both unduly limiting the size of the talent pool and we are unduly putting a handbrake on growth in a globalised economy, where diversity of views, and experience is really valuable,” Listener, August 22, 2011

He bases his idea on similar "diversity" mandates that are voluntary in Australia and were introduced last year.

Regular readers of mine will know that this sort of nonsense just doesn't work for me. NZX listed companies have a devil of a time attracting quality candidates at present and you only have to look at the poor management of a number of NZX listed companies to see what I am saying has merit.

Mark Weldon's "diversity" ideal is not the answer to attracting quality people to the boardroom. In fact it will actually make things alot worse than it is at present. Putting the racial background and sex of the candidate before the experience, personal attributes and professional qualifications of the individual is a clear recipe for disaster. Not only is it racism and sexism at its grubby worst, it is also a race to the bottom in terms of quality as candidates for positions are hired not because they are the best person for the job but because they have to fill some nut-bag socialist quota.

One only has to deal with a couple of Government departments to find out how Mark's idea of a"diversity" quota has dismally failed - basic English seems to be foreign to many hired under "diversity" schemes operating in various Government departments.

Mark really needs to reassess his position as head of the New Zealand Stock Exchange. He has failed to fire the NZX in his near 10 years as CEO and the "diversity"* idea of his really should be a full-stop on his career.

Staying where he is is an insult to those that work for him, directors on boards of NZX companies that he wants to gerrymander, investors in NZX companies like myself, and the country as a whole.

Avert your eyes now readers...

Bugger off Mark.

* I apologise for the quote marks but this is a word that has lost its real meaning and I cannot use it with any truth of mind in my writing when it doesn't actually mean what it is supposed to.

Mark Weldon @ Share Investor

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c Share Investor 2011

NZX sneaks out embarassing carbon disclosure after dark

In an announcement sneaked out after market close on Friday 12 February (the day traditionally used by companies to hopefully hide embarrassing and bad news) The New Zealand Stock Exchange Ltd [NZX.NZ] has indicated that it has had to write down the value of a "performance payment" from the sale of its carbon registry, TZ1 last year.

Curiously the NZX valued this payment at $ US 37.1 million (seems quite arbitrary considering there is no set "value" for a "carbon credit") but have now decided to write this down to another arbitrary figure of US$21.4 million.

So, the NZX have been winners and losers in the carbon credit lark. They sold to some poor sucker at the height of the scam and lost out by missing on a performance bonus.

An interesting finish to the NZX release today:

In spite of tough operating conditions, the TZ1 registry business continues to lead the field in customer acquisition worldwide. As such it is very well-placed to benefit when the carbon agenda, and corporate willingness to commit voluntary spend in this field, return. The past 12 months was a planned, intensive growth phase for the carbon registry business, and that growth has been slowed by macro headwinds. NZX remains confident around the long-term success of the this business.

They admit that the carbon trading business is an "agenda", it is indeed one of those, a political one used by people like the folk at NZX to make money from thin air but they say they are also confident that the business will be a long-term winner.

I would have to argue again that this statement seems a little confusing because they sold TZ1 in the first place and it also looks to be collapsing into itself in a heap of smelly shareholder losing red ink on the NZX balance sheet.

I have to say, in terms of disclosure by the NZX and Mark Weldon, to be this sneaky about releasing this information, it sets a very poor example for the listed companies that it manages on behalf of shareholders and goes to show when you mess with an "investment" that is based on fraud and when you don't understand that investment, you can quickly come unraveled.

NZX shareholders are the big losers here and there will be more losses to come as carbon trading continues to unravel.

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c Share Investor 2010

Bruce Sheppard: Mark Weldon - "The Sherrif of Nottingham"

Something that I have been banging on about for years is the lack of independence of Mark Weldon and his New Zealand Stock Exchange [NZX.NZ] and the very lose structures built around Mark's fiefdom that are supposed to protect shareholders, mostly smaller ones like me.

Its partner in crime, the Securities Commission, has as much bite as Jaws with dentures and is as hands off as a doctor treating a patient with swine flu when it comes to any enforcement.

In Bruce Sheppard's column this last Wednesday he manages to articulate my feelings with alot more detail, finesse and institutional fact.

"The listing rules allowed NZX to grant waivers, of the rules. Shit, this meant that NZX could enforce its rules on everyone else but waive them for themselves. Worse as NZX investigated breaches and prosecuted them, judged the results of the prosecution and fined the offenders, this too created a terrible conflict. How would NZX treat itself if it were to breach the rules?" Read the full article here.

The waiving of NZX "rules" has been high in stockmarket news of late as they have been so busy waiving their own rules for various capital raisings that smaller shareholders are wondering whether it will be their company next that will dilute their shareholding in favour of bigger shareholders.

Essential reading for every small shareholder.

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c Share Investor 2009

Good Morningstar

News out in New Zealand's Business media today about Morningstar's (incidentally a Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett owned vehicle) ranking of our mutual funds sector and I would argue as a spin-off the NZ financial sector as a whole, should be of surprise to those who only read the sports pages and gossip and perhaps the hapless Mark Weldon, CEO of the NZX.

New Zealand ranked a D minus rating.

As far as my major sphere of interest goes, the stockmarket, I have been banging on about how "wild west" our stockmarket regulation and oversight have been in this respect for 10 years.

The guts from Morningstar for me:

Morningstar researchers evaluated and scored countries in six categories—investor protection, prospectuses and shareholders’ reports, transparency in sales practices and the media, fees and expenses, taxation, and distribution practices. Read full article PDF format

"Investor protection" and "transparency" are two major planks of my rantings and Morningstars.

Recent capital raisings on the NZX have been the latest outrage to be foisted on New Zealand stockmarket investors, with protection for large shareholders managed by the NZX and Securities Commission laws at the centre of capital issues but at the same time leaving smaller investors like my good self drowning in a pool of bile filled anger over being shafted once again.

Mark and his directors down in windy Wellington in that flash building on the waterfront and those not far from him at the Securities Commission should take note.

This time, these are your contemporaries saying this about you, not the investors that keep getting the blunt end of your regulatory axe and perhaps you might listen now that it is your buddies saying this?

One can only hope.

Until then the swirling bile will keep me critical.

The Rankings by Morningstar

United States: A
China: B+

Italy: B
Japan: B
Netherlands: B

Taiwan: B
Canada: B-
France: C+
Switzerland: C+
United Kingdom: C+
Australia: C

Singapore: C
Germany: C-
Hong Kong: C-
Spain: D
New Zealand: D-

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Bruce Sheppard: Explanation Received

Capital raising, company creditworthiness and business viability during these highly unsure and volatile economic times is very important for investors with NZX listed companies in their portfolios and that is why I am following the stoush between Bruce Sheppard and Mark Weldon at the NZX with much interest.


In a post I made this morning I pointed out that I thought Bruce was being irresponsible in blanket accusations over NZX companies defaulting on bank credit terms and the NZX wanted him to explain himself and name names.

I thought he should too.

He has in a general way this morning with a letter addressed to Mark Weldon, NZX CEO:

Mark,

I have thought about this long and hard, read all my blogs. They explain the background to the issue, and they explain the simple matrixes that I have applied and they have explained how I have analyzed the financial statements with this in mind. Either analysts are blind stupid or inefficient, the simple numbers that you need to check reasonable compliance are these and they don't require a detailed breakout of financial statements:

They are these:

1) How much interest are they paying, a bit hard to find sometimes but not hours of work.

2) Continuing EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), not hard to find either but you do have to make some assumptions about what is recurring and what is not, this is explained in my blog.

3) Interest bearing debt, and where it is parked, parent subsidiary, its composition between capital notes, and those notes' terms, bank debt and so on. Currency risk is an exposure, and hedging polices come into play. I have not analyzed hedging as disclosure on this is such a tangled web of crap that it is almost impossible to work out how they have hedged their interest and debt exposures and the issues that go with that. Many have foreign currency debts with no natural hedge.

4) Book Equity... that is easy.

5) Net tangible assets is a bit harder but not to hard.

Read the full article

Bruce gives his reasons and goes into some detail as to why he made his sweeping accusation without further elucidation and it seems generally correct, to the point, accurate and honest and we need to know that detail.

Having said that, I still maintain all the research and detail that he says is coming on particular companies should have been released coinciding with his general release.

Us investors need to know but need to know in full before he slanders the good NZX listed companies among the obvious bad.

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Bruce Sheppard: Please Explain

I am a big fan of Bruce Sheppard and agree with his usual well considered and fully explained point of view most of the time. He is more often than not right, expert at financial matters and blunt to the point appearing rude.

This blog yesterday received many hits with Bruce's name as a search and I didn't have the time to explore why.

The reason for the controversy is in Bruce's blog post published on May 8.

It is explained in this piece in Stuff.co.nz that basically he has put his line in the sand and alluded to various NZX listed companies having problems with debt levels:

According to Mr Sheppard, around half of 47 major listed companies he analysed during a three week investigation are at risk of defaulting on their bank terms. However, he said he will not reveal names until companies have had a chance to respond to letters he has written to them.

He selected companies based on published 2007/2008 debt levels and applied assumed bank terms to their financial metrics. Mr Sheppard added that his research raises questions about exchange operator NZX continuous disclosure regime and its role as regulator.

What Bruce has failed to do, and this is unusual for him, is provide corroborating evidence that backs his May 8 accusations.

Frankly if he does have evidence, he needed to come out with it at the same time he made his claim, and not scare the horses so to speak.

It is highly unprofessional to do otherwise because it taints every NZX listed stock with the same debt brush.

He has received a "please explain" from the NZX and unusually again I agree with the NZX and that doesn't happen often:

14 May 2009 - Shareholders' Association chair Bruce Sheppard has contributed meaningfully to capital markets debate over the years. The broader interests of the market, and market confidence, would be best served at this time if he released his analysis at a very detailed level. Investors can then draw their own conclusions as to the health of the companies in which they are investing.

NZX shares Mr Sheppard's goal of healthy, open and transparent capital markets in which investors can have confidence. Providing detailed and transparent information to support his conclusions will further that goal.

Time to put up or shut up Bruce.

Read the answer to the NZX request

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The NZX continues to lose ground with retail investors

How can you tell if you are important to a business? that is, whether they want your business in the first place and what will they do to keep it.

Lets take a look at the New Zealand Stock Exchange [NZX.NZ] and see how they stack up for customer service.

Lets ask a number of important questions to give the NZX some sort of customer rating.

Do they look after all their customers?

The answer would have to be a clear no.

Why so?

Well the NZX in all its infinite wisdom gift their larger customers with preferential treatment simply because of the financial/old-schoolboy/business connections between those larger customers and with the NZX itself, that is, it is in the NZX' best interests for example give their mates in the same industry as them advantages over smaller shareholders in recent capital raising's; the likes of Kiwi Income Property Trust [KIP.NZ], Fletcher Building [FBU.NZ], Freightways Ltd [FRE.NZ], and Nuplex [NPX.NZ] because of the backscratching and arse licking that has to go on in the financial industry to make the wheels turn in New Zealand simply because of its small size.

One day the favour will be returned you see. Its wrong but it is true but it happens constantly.

Retail customers-small investors like you and me-are clearly shafted.

Are market rules broken to advantage the "big boys" ?

Well yes they are.

Back to the recent capital raising's, we had the NZX waiver several NZX rules to allow companies to buy preferential shares on preferential terms without consulting smaller shareholders who would have their shareholdings diluted through the issue of more shares.

To add insult to injury any offer made to smaller shareholders to buy shares was not on a pro-rata basis and capped at a set dollar rate, to be scaled down depending on demand.

The little guy gets it again.

But wait there is more.

Access to live market news data is unfairly distributed because unless you are lucky enough to have an NZX terminal you get the market news 20 minutes after the big boys get it.

Boy us retail investors are really on the back foot there.

Does the NZX take rule breaking seriously enough?

In my opinion the answer would have to be a big fat NO.

In my 11 years of market watching I have seen stock prices either dramatically rise or fall days before good or bad news about a company is finally revealed to the little guy. Its out there, an individual insider or some broker is trading on it and big money is made.

Surely it would be easy to find the culprit?

Well, yes it would but little detailed investigation is done into this by the NZX except the usual question to the company concerned about "whether you were aware of any company news that would have affected the company share prices, etc. etc.."

The NZX has access to trading records and irregularities in trading could be hauled up for question.

What does all this do Darren?

Well clearly it puts retail investors at a large disadvantage when it comes to investing in the New Zealand stockmarket.

Rules are broken and there are few consequences, favouritism to insiders is rife and ignored when it should be discouraged and in the vain hope that someone might be found guilty of any shenanigans there are usually very light consequences.

No wonder then retail investors or "Mum and Dad" if you like have deserted the NZX in droves for finance companies, term investments, residential housing and ultimately overseas stockmarkets, when you have different rules for different customers then those given the short end of the stick are simply going to go elsewhere.

Mark Weldon was charged with improving such things in our capital markets when he started as the boss of the NZX early this century but he has failed to halt the decline in New Zealanders investing in the NZX and ultimately Kiwi businesses and for that he should be soundly ashamed.

4 out of 10 from me.


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Sweetheart deal for Fletcher Building's friends makes small investors sick

Bruce Sheppard had a go at it yesterday and now it is my turn to have a go at Fletcher Building [FBU.NZ] management for the cavalier attitude they have for small Fletcher investors.

At the heart of that attitude is the recent capital restructuring to raise funds to retire debt and reinforce cashflow.

Institutional investors basically got a sweetheart deal from Fletcher management when they got cut price shares at NZ$5.35 per share on a pro-rata basis. That is, in proportion to the shares they already hold. A deal apparently will be offered to smaller shareholders, but capped at NZ$100 million and not pro-rata, so we got the arse end of the donkey here.

Compounding this favouritism, apparently non-institutional "large investors" (whatever that means) have also got some cream on top of the sweetheart deal for institutions that makes it so sweet smaller investors are bound to chuck up after reading it. This particular deal will give special rights to those large non-institutional investors to ratchet up their holdings to reduce the diluting effects of the placement to institutions.

Now I don't know about you but if you are a small Fletcher shareholder (I am, I have 1000) you might be suffering a diabetic reaction to all this sweet favouritism to the big boys by now and wonder out loud to yourself again why the NZX might be an unfavourable place for New Zealanders to invest considering they are not on a level footing with the big boys that Mark Weldon's NZX has granted a wavier to to snap up more of Fletchers.

According to the NZX website the folk who may have participated in the $405 million placement of shares concluded last week are connected to Fletchers by virtue of the fact that some are "Associated Persons of FBU Directors by virtue of having a common Directorship with FBU and several placees participating in the Placement".

Those people are:

(a) ANZ National Bank Limited, by virtue of Sir Dryden Spring’s and Mr John Judge’s common Directorship;
(b) Westpac New Zealand Limited, by virtue of Mr Ralph Waters’ common Directorship; and
(c) the Accident Compensation Corporation, by virtue of Mr John Judge’s common Directorship.

So it gets even worse when you dig down into the detail. Its like a bloody incestuous Utah Mormon clan!

I haven't got the time to read through the pages of verbose detail but I guess some will be revealed at a latter stage. Most will be lost on the average small mom and dad Fletcher share holder because media are too lazy to do the research - all except Bruce Sheppard, I am sure we will be hearing from him again on this matter.




There is however a solution to this.

Strong demand from those mentioned above for shares in the capital raising aside, Fletcher Building still operates in an environment of weak business prospects and an uncertain future as far as sales go.

Global stockmarkets have raced ahead over the last month or so and there is downside to come.

Shares in the company have ranged from $5.11- $6.50 over the last six months (see chart above) and it is not unlikely scenario that smaller shareholders like me could pick up extra shares cheaper than the proposed $5.35 to stop dilution of their holdings by buying them on the open market. You don't have to participate in this madness and still stay undiluted!

That is just what I am propose to do .

Bugger them.


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Mark Weldon now in two minds about Carbon Trading

The announcement last week by Mark Weldon, CEO of the NZX, that they are going to sell their flash new carbon trading registry business TZ1 Registry to Markit, a global financial information services company, leaves the financial world more than just a little perplexed.

Mark has been banging on about his registry and how much potential for business and I guess profit that this new registry will have.

Then why sell the golden goose?

That is where Weldon either becomes the cleverest man in the world for flogging off this dead horse to a poor sucker, in this case Markit, or the biggest hypocrite New Zealand business has ever seen for turning his back on a growth opportunity akin to the second coming of the tulip bulb craze of the 1600s.

Most sensible people know that this carbon trading lark is based on a lie and eventually it will all come crashing down on itself and that is where Mark becomes a clever little bastard-ditching a no-hoper before it becomes a worthless millstone .

Payment will be made in Markit shares, currently worth around $NZ 60 million, so unfortunately this exposes the NZX to losses further down the line when carbon trading fails.

Lets hope Mark will be smart enough to see that coming and jump ship before that happens.

Mark Weldon's hypocrisy is clearly evident because he has fully backed this TZ1 carbon trading venture with all the rhetoric, pomp and circumstance and the so-called "science" that backs it up and is now leaving the registry services part of it behind.

NZX is left with the relatively insignificant TZ1 carbon trading division.

Prospective and current investors in the New Zealand Stock Exchange [NZX.NZ] will be left wondering, does Mark Weldon believe in the carbon trading business or is he just taking advantage of the ignorant and blind?

Lets hope it is the latter.


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Quote of the Year

"...creating product that is impossible to comprehend..."

Mark Weldon-Newstalk ZB , 17 Sept 2008

Mark was talking about the current market turmoil and some of the dodgy financial instruments that have led to its current shake-up.

Unfortunately for us though Mark and his NZX are putting together financial products that are even harder to comprehend than sub-prime related instruments.

He is helping develop a carbon trading platform that will make the current mess look like a walk in Central Park, during daylight hours.

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Mark Weldon strikes out on Carbon Trading

When Mark Weldon came from a well paid Wall Street job at the beginning of this century to become CEO of the New Zealand Stock Exchange [NZX.NZ] I held much promise for this dynamic, ambitious, innovative and successful young man.

Weldon has fostered the NZX from a economic backwater exchange into a more broad based one with more revenue streams-even though it is still a underdeveloped exchange, but that is another story.

Unfortunately Weldon's latest push for more revenue, in the form of launching a "Carbon Trading platform", whatever that means, is at the risk of ameliorating his good results so far, and more.

Weldon seems to have caught the zealotry nature of the carbon trading Nazis , like Minister for "Climate Change", whatever that means, David Parker.

Mark talks of his TZ1 Carbon Platform as "leading the world" and "innovative".

"The most important thing NZX can do here is get the right CEO, free the business to succeed, and hold a high quality team accountable for results."

No it isn't Mark. Trading a real asset is the most important part of any market. Even if you had the smartest person in the world who fully understood the carbon trading market, you will still find it impossible to make this kind of platform a long term success because of its fraudulent nature.

Mark Weldon goes on:

"Mark Franklin is the perfect CEO for TZ1. He has the right technical background, knowledge, relationships, credibility, strategic skills and drive. Mark chose this position ahead of a number of global roles on offer to him - a choice that reflects his belief in the potential of this market.

Quite frankly we have heard this kind of enthusiasm for business and markets based on nothing for as long as human beings have had a history. The majority of Internet businesses and wild poppies traded in Holland during the 1600s were two similar fake manipulated markets and both of them collapsed with spectacular results.

The carbon trading market collapse will make those meltdowns look like a Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie.

The carbon trading market and the "economics" on which it is based has its genesis in the fraud that is the Enron invented carbon trading market and its associated Al Gore pushed "climate change" movement, scientifically disproved and with a negative economic impact rather than a positive one-which clearly makes it a liability rather than an asset.

To put so much misplaced faith in a market for trading carbon credits simply defies economics 101, something that Mark should have remembered from his 3rd form economic class-an asset has to have a clear value, be easily understood have a real demand based on an intrinsic value, not a demand pent up by politicians and scientists on the State breast-in other words a false market.

When the price of an asset is based on the regulator or principle organiser of trading that asset, TZ1 in this case, or the government setting or influencing the carbon price, then the relationship of trading to the value of that asset is not only artificial but in the long term unsustainable, in the true sense of that word, and will eventually lead to its collapse.

Mark Weldon has forgotten the basics to investing, what an asset is, the fact that a market relies on real assets to have any chance of a long term future and the history of previous economic collapses.

Putting faith in "Carbon Trading", being excited and passionate about it being a huge success is a thin veneer pasted over the reality behind it that it is based on a fraud.

You should be ashamed of yourself Mark.


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c Share Investor 2008