Desultory showing, lack of liquidity raise questions about alternative board, writes Fifi Peters THE JSE’s AltX alternative exchange, punted as a springboard for entrepreneurs to get the exposure and capital they need to grow their companies, has struggled to make headway, falling sharply from its peak in 2007.The build-up to the 2010 Soccer World Cup saw a flurry of small-cap construction companies list on AltX. However, perceptions changed after the 2008 financial crisis damped investors’ appetites for risk. Scandals surrounding some AltX-listed companies did nothing to improve investors’ perceptions of the exchange.Last year the AltX index fell to a low of 856 points from a high of 5,090 at the height of the pre-Soccer World Cup boom. Despite a 46% rise over the past 12 months, it still sits at a low 1,200 points and is valued at R22bn.The AltX 15 index of the board’s 15 most liquid companies fell sharply from a high near 2,100 in 2007, to just above 300 points in late 2009, and ...
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