Secondary / Growth Board IPO Activity - Hong Kong & ASEAN (2025 Indicative)

By John D. Evans, CFA, Founder & General Manager - SEIML

When early-stage Founders think about exits in Asia, attention usually goes to main boards.

But for many growth companies, the more realistic first IPO venue is a secondary or growth exchange. So, what does that landscape actually look like in Hong Kong and ASEAN in 2025? The data is revealing.

When we isolate secondary boards only - excluding all Main Board IPOs - one market clearly dominates. Malaysia’s ACE Market recorded 44 IPOs in 2025. That is not a marginal segment. It is the primary SME listing channel in the region.

By comparison:

• Singapore’s Catalist saw only a handful of IPOs

• Thailand’s mai recorded modest activity

• Hong Kong’s GEM had minimal new listings

• Indonesia’s Acceleration Board and the Philippines SME Board saw very limited flow

Based on actual IPO activity, regulatory clarity and practical usability for growth companies, the Top 3 secondary exchanges in Hong Kong and ASEAN are:

1. ACE Market - Malaysia

2. Catalist - Singapore

3. mai - Thailand

Hong Kong’s GEM currently does not function as a meaningful early-stage exit channel. Why does this matter? Because exit optionality influences valuation. An active growth board reduces structural exit risk. A thin or inactive board increases discount rates. For Founders, investors and policymakers, secondary markets are not peripheral. They are part of the corporate finance equation.

But the above just looks at IPO counts on secondary / growth boards in Hong Kong and ASEAN. But listings are only one measure of activity. The more important question for Founders and investors is: can you actually trade after listing?

So, I looked at two additional indicators:

1. Trading value

2. Turnover velocity (trading value relative to market cap)

Important caveat: exchanges do not publish board-level liquidity data in a fully consistent way. Some provide clean segment breakouts, others report only exchange-wide figures. The summary below should therefore be viewed as a rough guide rather than a forensic comparison.

Here is what the liquidity signals suggest:

Catalist – Singapore - SGX publishes Catalist-specific turnover velocity. CYTD 2025 turnover velocity is approximately 38 percent. That indicates ongoing secondary trading and meaningful churn relative to market cap.

ACE Market – Malaysia - Bursa Malaysia does not always isolate ACE turnover in headline releases, but ACE accounts for the majority of Malaysian SME IPOs and operates within an active domestic equity market. Liquidity appears materially stronger than most regional junior boards.

mai – Thailand - Board-specific splits are less visible in public summaries, but Thailand’s equity market historically shows reasonable turnover. mai activity appears moderate relative to its size.

By contrast:

GEM - Hong Kong - Liquidity is thin and heavily overshadowed by Main Board trading.

IDX Acceleration – Indonesia - Board-level liquidity is not prominently reported and

appears limited.

PSE SME Board – Philippines - Segment-level turnover is not separately highlighted and activity appears minimal.

If we rank by secondary market activity beyond IPO listings:

• Catalist - Singapore

• ACE Market - Malaysia

• mai - Thailand

Final thought

The key takeaway is simple: a growth board without liquidity is not an exit channel. IPO counts tell you how many companies list. Turnover tells you whether anyone can get out.