Blog Archive

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Rants, Raves & Reviews! Sep 2006

Rants:
  • BARS - Slow immobilisation of shares still plagues the process
  • CFC Bank - No online banking! Cutback on Saturday hours. Main page has a market report dated 25 Sep 2005 (this is Sep 2006)!
  • Francis Drummond - Nice staff/folks but the service could be much better!
  • NSE - Index errors as well as misplaced hubris. Lousy website with outdated info!
  • CMA - Do they even care about the retail investor? Website is an embarassment!
  • Kenyan Politicians
Raves:
  • Kestrel Capital - The best brokers in Kenya. Period.
  • Invest in Africa - Great newsletter, well researched & worth every cent!
  • KQ - My airline of choice for African destinations.
  • NIC Bank - Emerging as the Retail Bank of Choice. Citibank refers all their retail business to NIC.
  • I&M Bank - Great bank for mid-sized businesses. Classy offices/branches.
  • Bankelele - Blog (Financial & Social)
  • Thinker's Room - Blog (Social & Political commentary)
  • Nairobist - Nice website for all things Kenyan
Reviews:
  • KACC - An expensive to maintain but toothless bulldog.
  • GOK - More efficient but needs much more work
  • NARC - Dead
  • NARC-K (NARK) - The "real" incumbent party
  • ODM-K - The "real" opposition
  • KANU - The razor blade has almost felled this once mighty Mugumo tree!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

kestrel capital has biwotts fingures all over it not to say that biwott is not a shrewd businessman of all the moi era politicans he seems to be the only one who started some real enterprises.

as for CMA and NSE im glad soemone said something they need to sttep there game upp seriously. cpaital markets are the first step to attarcting FDI because equity/portfolio investment comes first before the factories and mines

Anonymous said...

Am with you on the rants especially Francis Drummond. They were my first brokers and all I can say is they really suck. They completely lack professionalism as well as any discernable customer service. They are so bad they won't even allow me to sell my shares

bankelele said...

- BARS: still up for sale
- IMHO CFC is the best broker, while Kestrel is best for high networth clients Bank. Francis Drummond has lost the staff who put it on the map and is now a shell bleeding clients t otehr brokers
- NSE: at least they put the price list out daily on their site. but they need a larger premises and more transparency
- KQ: good for shareholders, also my favouritee airline, but their price goughing on some African routes is strarting to rub some people the wrong ways
- Thinker's Room Rules
- Nairobist: in a few years will be africa online and mashada rolled into one

Anonymous said...

I Have a Question...

Since when did Bankelele's blog become a "Social Blog" ???

Baltic Amber said...

I'm surprised my blog is not on the list

aw...shucks

do you take bribes?

coldtusker said...

Anon - Service & trust is what I look for. They provide research!

CFC - They are good but its a madhouse! Huge heft gives them multiple advantages. No research.

NSE & CMA - Even the smaller exchanges do a better job at disseminating information! The price list should be a minimum requirement.

kagz - His insights on the lil' things in life. More "personal" than "social" but I can relate to some of the topics e.g. Banks going shopping for a suit/tux for his friend's wedding..., travails on the job search, etc

KE - Yes.

When I review/recommend/trash blogs, I restrict myself to those I peruse regularly & have ORIGINAL content... I do enjoy blogs that amalgamate info but I am fascinated by the small things in life that "ordinary" people get up to!

Anonymous said...

I say, why Kestrel? What I'd really like is online access to accounts, and a personalized brokerage service.

Actually someone should do a post on the pros and cons of all brokers in town.

Anonymous said...

kestrel is a good brokerage but they mostly deal with big timers-financially.
I agree with Banks about FD- they fired most of their staffs and the ones who are remaining well they suck.
Im speaking from experience- once went there in the morning at around 8.30 to place an order with a huge bankers cheque and the current manager threw us out because it was not yet the opening hours-9 am according to him!
there were no words to express how it felt but you can imagine the horror not only of us clients but of the staff that knew us and well i took my business somewhere else......

Baltic Amber said...

I've been reading the comments below on brokers in Kenya and what you guys have to put up with - it's quite frankly, astounding!

Don't these brokers realize that the more clients they have, the more money they'll make? This is why I'm staying away from the NSE - I don't have that kind of patience.

However, it looks like there might be an entrepreneurial opening for someone who can provide a better service. hmm...

CT:
Have you used Standard Stocks? if so, what do you think about them.

coldtusker said...

No, I have not.
Before I go running all over..

Do they:
- have a decent website?
- have online access to the accounts?
- provide research?

The CMA is not licensing new brokers & apparently the current license "fee" is KES 50 Million!

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

kundriketh:

I don't know why you keep saying that traders are not investors???

the quality of service (esp. speed) is important for everyone!! not just if your investing in the long-term. if you see the price dropping you want to get out quickly. you can always go back in.

just cause you call yourself an "Investor" doesn't mean that you stay in the market even when losses are occuring.

coldtusker said...

Kudri - Short or long-term investor, the service should be there!

I do not want them to "hold" my money for a month while they "slowly" buy shares.

I don't to pay "extra" coz the prices rises while they dawdle.

I want to sell at some point & I want my cash asap not in tranches.

Sometime the price (e.g. KPLC) rises faster than expected for no good reason, I want to SELL then buy again after the price falls... You could have bought KPLC (long-term for 200/-) then cashing out coz of the "bonus" expectation (270/-) & then get back in (222/-).

SERVICE should be excellent REGARDLESS of HOLDING period...

Anonymous said...

Did i just read that "the current license "fee" is KES 50 Million!"

OMG!!!!!!!

Haidhuru, Najivunia Kuwa Mkenya!!!

coldtusker said...

Kagz, the license is free BUT the "value" placed on it is KES 50 Million!

So even a ramshackle broker will not sell for less than KES 50 Million coz the CMA will NOT give more licenses!

There are smart Kenyans who can get together & revolutionise the business if they can get the license for free/cheap! The 50 Million can be used to develop the business.

Baltic Amber said...

kundriketh:

that's just a bunch of useless speculation. with an efficient, electronic database, you can keep checking the prices of stocks at any hour on any day & at any place!

Armed with that information (in real time)...you'd be able to execute your trades (either buy or sell) immediately! ...no need to wait for a companies financial statements (who cares about those?)

Your strategy of "buy on rumour, sell on news" would be eliminated if you had access to high tech tools.

CT:
the 50 million is typical kenya - once the politically connected get in, they do everything in their power to prevent competition. lack of competition leads to lack of innovation and lack of efficiency. the brokers are not worried about competitors beating them. as long as that remains the case, the service will continue to remain poor.

In America, the competition would destroy them.

coldtusker said...

Kudri - the buy on rumours, sell on fact is neither a chartist method not fundamental... that is pure speculation!

Regardless of how you choose to trade, the EFFICIENCY is lacking! The brokers could do better. I have heard good things about Kestrel.

jamaapoa said...

oh how i missed this post. i have hot news about brokers and cma!! anyway let me wait for an opportune post.

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