The Korea Independent Research Association (KIRA) officially launched on the 2nd to reduce information asymmetry in Korea's stock market and provide objective investment information. KIRA is a professional association of independent research corporations and is the first privately led research association in Korea.
Lee Chung-heon, chief executive of Value Finder, was elected the first president of the Korea Independent Research Association. Founding member firms include independent research houses GL Research and Aris.
President Lee Chung-heon said, "The Korea Independent Research Association aims to work with member firms to prioritize raising awareness of small and mid-cap listed companies on KOSPI and KOSDAQ that are not yet known to the market."
Lee continued, "Although the government and financial authorities are pushing measures to revitalize KOSDAQ, that alone will not warm up small and mid-cap stocks," adding, "We will take the lead in identifying and promoting promising small and mid-cap listed companies."
The association noted that as financial authorities have recently tightened KOSDAQ delisting requirements and securities firms have reduced small-cap research, the gap in discovering undervalued small and mid-cap stocks is widening. The industry expects the Korea Independent Research Association to play an important role in discovering corporations.
Lee concluded, "If the independent research industry grows and earns market trust, our goal is to propose policies to support small and mid-cap listed companies to the government and financial authorities, including mandating investor relations (IR), and we will expand our work for individual investors and listed companies."