JSE Investor Services’ (JIS) credentials are impressive – more than 100 clients with 2 million shareholders; a R30 million tech investment in the past five years; well-established market relationships with governance and industry organisations; and a wholly owned subsidiary – JIS CSDP is a licensed Central Securities Depository participant and authorised financial services provider.

Carol Crozier, who has joined JIS as its Chief Operations Officer, is well-equipped to streamline the new addition to the JSE family. Crozier, who has been at the exchange for 12 years, started off her career in the JSE in the Market Data space. From there she established the JSE’s Issuer Services entity within Capital Markets (which comprised its Training Academy) and elevated the bourse’s corporate eventing to include annual result presentations and AGMs. Along with JIS MD Iqbal Haniff, Crozier intends to ensure that the speed of JIS’ innovation and decision-making will be improved with the change in shareholding.

‘One of most strategic decisions has been JIS’ adoption of ShareHub as its preferred means of issuer communication to shareholders,’ according to Crozier. ‘ShareHub is a centralised hub that provides a full audit trail of shareholder activity, and which can be tailored to suit individual needs or for targeted campaigns. It lends further support, for example, in terms of education, and provides shareholders with the ability to update their own information.’

ShareHub’s strength also translates into the JIS being able to deepen its support of issuers in terms of their being able to connect shareholders with their unclaimed dividends/money, and retail shareholders.

Another transformative association is that with William Radcliffe, which has a wealth of knowledge and experience in company secretarial services, and significant, proven impacts in the capital-markets ecosystem. This collaboration expands JIS’ offerings to include the training of trustees, trust beneficiaries and employees in an employee share scheme, and support and recruitment of company secretaries.

With these collaborations, the JIS portfolio of services includes shareholder registry; company secretarial, governance and trust services; investor relations services and data analytics; asset reunification and register clean-ups; BEE share and executive administration; corporate actions, custody and settlement services; meeting-arrangement services, including those of virtual AGM hosting and proxy solicitation; and a call/and walk-in centre.

‘JIS services wonderfully enhance JSE operations, particularly because the JSE, as a licensed exchange, has an interest in trying to foster retail trading education and literacy,’ says Crozier. ‘JIS demystifies investing in the JSE through the JSE Training Academy and further guides the overall market with enabling BEE schemes and investment into such vehicles.’

BEE clients also use JIS expertise to ensure BEE verification, and adding further credibility to its focus to assist with transitioning to black ownership is JIS’ recent transaction with Investec Share Plan Services to take over its executive share and BEE plan-schemes business. Proof of JIS’ expertise in BEE registry and listing in recent years includes the successful migration of MTN Zakhele, YeboYethu and Sasol BEE and Sasol Khanyisa share registers.

‘Commentary from JIS clients is that we are able to provide specialist skills and navigate through complex transactions on their behalf, and realise cost-savings for JSE-listed and unlisted companies,’ says Haniff. ‘We are further confident that the JSE’s investment in technology, through the JSE’s transaction last year with a UK-based fintech company, will assist the business in future technological changes.

‘The new talent and resources we have brought into JIS proves the JSE’s commitment to responding to the needs of the market, in support of their operations and, ultimately, to add value to all.’

By Kerry Dimmer
Image by Gallo/Getty Images