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Discussion with Robert Phillips, Managing Director of in Global Corporate Client Group at Nasdaq and Ian Ball President and CEO of Abitibi Royalties

on 1/26/2020
In our work at Nasdaq, our mission is to help our Global clients maximize their engagement with the capital markets. That includes listings and corporate services, trading, technology and data. We're honored to have over 3,000 on the US listed side, 3,000 companies across the entire spectrum of all market caps and sectors.



Dr. Allen Alper: This is Dr. Allen Alper, Editor-in-Chief of Metals News, interviewing Robert Phillips, who is Managing Director of Global Corporate Client Group, at Nasdaq and Ian Ball, President and CEO of Abitibi Royalties.

Rob, could you give our readers/investors an overview of the services that Nasdaq offers Global Corporate Clients.

Robert Phillips: In our work at Nasdaq, our mission is to help our Global clients maximize their engagement with the capital markets. That includes listings and corporate services, trading, technology and data. We're honored to have over 3,000 on the US listed side, 3,000 companies across the entire spectrum of all market caps and sectors.

Dr. Allen Alper: Well, that sounds great. Maybe you could mention what sort of services you provide and why companies should consider joining Nasdaq.

Robert Phillips: Certainly. Our Company, Nasdaq, is publicly traded and we are a preeminent global provider of services for companies that engage in the capital markets globally. What that means is we own 30 exchanges globally. That includes a stock exchange in Canada that trades about 20% of the average daily volume, no listings business. We also provide public companies with corporate services to help them engage the capital markets and that includes listings, which is the core and heart and soul of what we provide.

We also provide services for governance and investor relations solutions as well as solutions for private companies and companies like Abitibi that are headquartered outside of the United States. And we provide what's known as the Nasdaq International Designation. So that's a program for non-U.S. Companies that are not listed in the U.S. But have level I ADRs, or in the case of Canadian companies, are traded over the counter and not listed. It's a solution for companies looking to benefit from a partnership with Nasdaq without taking on the regulatory burden of a US listing.

Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds very good. You mentioned Abitibi Royalties and Ian will join, I'll be asking him a few questions. Could you mention some of the other mining companies listed on the Nasdaq?

Robert Phillips: Again, when we talk about solutions that we provide to our companies, we're completely agnostic when it comes to sector specific. We're confident that we have a superior value proposition for anybody looking to engage on the market. There are a couple of statistics I could throw out. One is, since 2005, when in the U.S., our counterpart listing in New York Stock Exchange amended their rules that in essence disallowed companies to switch voluntarily. We've welcomed $1.6 trillion of companies that have switched their listing to Nasdaq. And those include companies such as Viacom CBS, Xcel Energy, United Airlines, companies that, when it comes to sector specific, were traditionally not the companies that would focus on Nasdaq. What we're able to do with companies like that, is once we show the value proposition for any company, then our value prop speaks for itself.

Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds excellent. Ian, maybe you could tell our readers/investors a little bit about what has happened in gold in the past year, 2019, and what your thoughts are going forward?

Ian Ball: One of the positive developments that we saw last year was that mining companies started to treat shareholders fairly. When you look at some of the mergers that were announced in 2019, it was really the first year that companies were coming together without a premium being offered. So it was two companies who felt that the combined entities were stronger and that they would make for a good value proposition. I think the industry needs more of that willingness to look out for the shareholders and that was certainly a very good step in that direction. We saw that with Barrick Gold and Randgold, as well as Equinox Mining when they had made their acquisition at the end of 2019. So that's a trend I would like to see continue.

Obviously, with the rise in gold prices from $1,200 to the current level and gold breaking the 1300 and 1400 per ounce levels, we've seen margins open up and that is starting to trickle down now in terms of increased dividends to shareholders. In a number of companies you're seeing larger exploration budgets. Again, it hasn't really hit smaller companies at this point in time, but the health of the industry has certainly improved drastically over the past 12 months.

Dr. Allen Alper: Well that's excellent. What are your thoughts on going forward in 2020?

Ian Ball: Well, a lot of it is dependent upon the gold price. The environment that we find ourselves in looks favorable. I'm sure there will be corrections in the price. Probably investors should watch out for that and if they're a believer in the sector look to take advantage of it. But beyond that, I think another trend you are going to see is that a lot of the merger activity up until this point has been in the larger cap space. I do think you're going to see that trickle down to some of the smaller cap companies who have development projects. Because just on the face of it, those should be more accretive to a large cap gold producer than just buying another producer. Although there's more risk in buying a development project, I think you're going to see M&A activity move down the food chain.

Dr. Allen Alper: Well it sounds very good, Ian. Could you tell our readers/investors a little bit about your experience with Nasdaq?

Ian Ball: We first were introduced to Nasdaq approximately two years ago, and for us it was a way to get exposure to the U.S. Market, without having to become an SEC issuer. So it allowed us to get that exposure, without all the additional costs associated with it. We've been on it for two years now. It's been a very good partnership. Nasdaq has really bent over backwards for us, in terms of any needs that we may have. We've been delighted with it and it's something that I think other companies with similar sized market cap, within that 100 to 200 million space, should consider. We have nothing but positive things to say about our experience.

Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds excellent. Ian, could you tell us some of the key highlights of the year for Abitibi Royalties and what you see happening in 2020 with Abitibi Royalties?

Ian Ball: Sure, 2019 was really a continuation of the business plan, to continue focusing on the core asset, which is a series of royalties at the Canadian Malartic Mine. It was continuing to assess the organic growth at that mine that continued throughout the year. We implemented a dividend in the middle of the year. We continued to buy back shares in the Company, so we have the smallest number of shares outstanding of any mining company that has a market cap in excess of 100 million. Our number of shares outstanding continues to go down. The gold price helped our business as well. We've seen our royalty income pickup, from the Canadian Malartic Mine as that mine continues to move to the East. We think that these trends are going to continue into 2020.

Dr. Allen Alper: Well it sounds very good, Rob. what would you say is the best way for people who are interested in investigating Nasdaq to contact you?

Robert Phillips: My phone is always at my side and you can reach me at, robert.phillips@Nasdaq.com. I’ll expand a little on what Ian said about the international designation. And by the way, thank you for sharing your thoughts on that, we're thrilled to hear it. It's a good example of how we at Nasdaq work to find solutions for all of our clients because, like Ian had said, a full fledged U.S. listing isn't a perfect solution for all companies out there regardless of size and international designation is a perfect example of how we find solutions to help all of our clients and maximize that engagement. At the same time, we are thrilled with our partnership with that Abitibi Royalties.

Dr. Allen Alper: Well, it sounds great.

Robert Phillips: If anybody has any questions, they can always reach out to me and I can connect to my teammates, who work with their specific question, and that can be around listings, corporate services, trading, technology, data, all of it.

Most of our corporate services clients, who use our investor relations or our governance solutions are not listed on our exchange. We help all clients and that’s a statistic we're proud of. On any and any given day, about 12% of New York Stock Exchange listed companies, volume takes place on Nasdaq exchanges. Trading has become highly fragmented globally, but particularly in the U.S. there are multiple exchanges, where stocks trade and clear centrally. We've moved, from a model of 25 years ago where companies were listed where all of their shares traded, to a very fragmented one. We're proud of the fact that we remain the largest pool of liquidity for our listed companies and a significant pool of liquidity for all public companies. Also, finding solutions for all of our clients, like Nasdaq International Designation.

Dr. Allen Alper: Oh, that sounds excellent. Is there anything else you'd like to add, Rob or Ian?

Robert Phillips: Just to emphasize that Nasdaq is here to provide solutions for all of our global customers.

Dr. Allen Alper: I appreciate both of you taking the time and informing our readers/ investors on what's happening in the market, what some of the services are and solutions with Nasdaq. Also some of the key things going on with Abitibi Royalties. So thank you.

Robert Phillips: Thank you. Any questions, Al? Please follow up. Ian, look forward to catching up soon.

Ian Ball: Yes, that sounds good. Thank you, Al.

Robert Phillips: Thank you, Al. Have a good weekend.

Dr. Allen Alper: You’re both very welcome. We’ll publish your press releases as they come out so our readers/investors can follow your progress.

Robert F. Phillips
Managing Director, Global Corporate Client Group

at Nasdaq@Nasdaqphillips



https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-f-phillips-9554556/


Ian Ball President and CEO
Tel.: 1-888-392-3857
Email: info@abitibiroyalties.com


https://www.abitibiroyalties.com/










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