Capital markets technology firm, PrimaryBid, has appointed Stacey Parsons as managing director and head of fixed income. Parsons’ appointment is expected to accelerate PrimaryBid’s efforts to unlock investor access to high-quality corporate debt and sovereign issuance, using its technology infrastructure and building upon its strategic partnerships and the investor advocacy initiatives PrimaryBid has led in the UK and EU.
With over 25 years’ industry experience, including significant time as a retail gilt-edged market maker (GEMM), Parsons also serves as the founder and chair of the Investor Access to Regulated Bonds working group (IARB) and is a member of London Stock Exchange Group’s Primary Markets Group. She was previously head of fixed income strategy at Winterflood Securities.
This appointment comes as UK policy makers seek to enable and encourage wider investor participation in public regulated markets. The UK’s market regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), recently highlighted that debt regulation designed to protect investors had ‘unintentionally exclude[d] smaller scale participants from the best products’. PrimaryBid says that 1% of current regulated UK debt issuance is accessible to retail, even though debt sits higher in the capital structure to equity. The FCA is currently consulting on reforms in this area to be enacted in 2024.
Speaking with The DESK, Parsons said, “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for capital markets to think differently about how we approach debt capital markets for the future, delivering literacy and inclusion across all asset classes, for retail and wealth intermediaries. Getting retail properly embedded in this market will take a few things: the market has been almost entirely wholesale for over 15 years. There’s a familiarity issue both for investors and for the ecosystem.”
Anand Sambasivan, CEO of PrimaryBid, added, “We are thrilled to welcome Stacey to PrimaryBid. She brings in-depth sector knowledge, an unrivalled track-record, and superb leadership credentials. At PrimaryBid we are committed to delivering more inclusive capital markets that work for everyone. Stacey’s appointment will be pivotal in helping us achieve this goal.
Our infrastructure has turned the historical challenges of including individuals and communities into opportunities, leveraging new technology and partnerships to make investor inclusion not just feasible but seamless and strategic.”
Parsons added, “Debt capital markets remain largely inaccessible to UK retail investors and wealth intermediaries in the UK. However, imminent changes in regulation will bring the UK in line with other regions where we have seen an extraordinary take up of direct ownership of sovereign and corporate debt. These reforms will allow issuers to engage retail capital and offer new listed investment opportunities for investors. PrimaryBid has demonstrated how an innovative platform can deliver fundamental industry change by combining smart client solutions through technology and deep industry partnerships. I’m delighted to be joining such a fantastic team, to champion this investor inclusion and financial literacy agenda in debt capital markets.”
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