Assess SGX Small and Mid-Cap Companies with Gen Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Beyond Blue Chips is a one-day course for retail investors who want a structured way to assess SGX-listed small and mid-cap companies. You will learn to go from a first stock screen to a full assessment of the business, management, governance, financials, valuation and risks, and to use Gen AI as a research copilot along the way.

Many investors stick to familiar blue chips. But the wider SGX market also holds small and mid-cap companies with growth potential, specialised business exposure and less analyst coverage. These opportunities come with more uncertainty, lower liquidity, concentrated ownership and uneven disclosure, so they need a disciplined process.

What You Will Learn:

Good small-cap investing isn’t about tips, momentum or a single ratio. It’s about reading the evidence in a company’s own disclosures. Through guided analysis, case examples and hands-on exercises with public SGX information, you’ll learn to:

• Screen SGX companies by market capitalisation, trading liquidity, growth, profitability, cash flow and balance-sheet strength
• Judge whether a business model is sustainable, its growth drivers credible and its competitive position defensible
• Assess management, controlling shareholders, board effectiveness and related-party risks
• Read the numbers: revenue growth, margins, earnings quality, cash conversion, capex, leverage and return on capital
• Compare valuation against quality, growth, risk and relevant peers
• Use structured Gen AI prompts to work through annual reports and SGX announcements, and check every output against the source

Key TakeAway:

By the end of the day, you will have a repeatable framework to:

• Screen with Focus: Narrow the SGX universe to companies worth deeper study using a short set of financial and qualitative criteria.
• Spot Warning Signs Early: Recognise governance, concentration, financing and disclosure red flags before they become surprises.
• Build a Balanced Thesis: Set out the opportunities, risks, catalysts, key assumptions and valuation in one concise view.
• Research Faster, Verify Always: Use Gen AI to extract, compare and challenge, while tracing every material claim back to the original disclosure.

Who Is This For?

Built for retail investors who want to look beyond the STI blue chips with more discipline, especially:

Physical Class
at Grand Building

8 hours

1 Instructor +
TA supports

Session 1: The Small and Mid-Cap Opportunity

• Growth potential, specialised exposure and less analyst coverage
• The trade-offs: liquidity, ownership concentration and disclosure quality

Session 2: Screening SGX Companies

• Market capitalisation, trading liquidity, growth and profitability
• Cash flow and balance-sheet strength as first filters

Session 3: Business Model, Industry and Competitive Position

• Sustainable business models, credible growth drivers and defensible positions
• Industry structure, cyclicality and customer concentration

Session 4: Management, Ownership and Governance

• Management capability, controlling shareholders and board effectiveness
• Spotting related-party transactions and governance risks

Session 5: Reading the Financials

• Revenue growth, margins and earnings quality
• Cash conversion, capex, leverage and return on capital

Session 6: Valuation, Catalysts and the Investment Thesis

• Valuation against quality, growth, risk and peers
• Catalysts, warning signs and the key assumptions behind a thesis

Session 7: Gen AI Research Workshop

• Annual Report Navigator: map the business model, segments, growth drivers, material risks, related-party transactions and cash-flow issues
• Company Comparison Copilot: score two SGX companies on the same scorecard and flag incomplete or non-comparable evidence
• Investment Thesis Red Team: have Gen AI build the bear case and list questions to investigate before investing
• Source-Verification Challenge: trace AI claims back to annual-report pages or SGX announcements and correct what is wrong

Allen Cheong, CFA

Founder, Kai Asia Advisors — Head of Sustainability & Capital Markets, LMS Compliance Ltd

Allen is a capital markets and corporate finance professional with over 25 years of experience across investment banking, equity capital markets and ESG advisory. He has worked at leading financial institutions including DBS Bank, OCBC and Daiwa Capital Markets, completing deals in healthcare, real estate, consumer, industrials and technology.

Allen founded Kai Asia Advisors, a corporate consultancy on IPO and M&A readiness. He is also Head of Sustainability & Capital Markets at LMS Compliance Ltd, where he leads sustainability strategy and engagement with the investment community. He speaks and trains widely, delivering courses and masterclasses in investments, corporate finance and sustainable finance.

Allen holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) and Chartered Valuer and Appraiser (CVA) designations, and is an Accredited Director (MSID-AD) of the Singapore Institute of Directors.