‘We’ve got the scars’: SQM Research tightens ratings and turns to AI as clients jump ship
SQM has revised its ratings process and leaned on AI after the Shield collapse, but some fund managers are walking away.
Several fund managers have cut ties with SQM Research, or plan to do so, as the ratings house tries to rebuild confidence following the collapse of the Shield Master Fund and a landmark lawsuit brought by the corporate regulator.
SQM founder and managing director Louis Christopher told Capital Brief the firm had tightened its ratings process, reduced its appetite for risk and introduced an in-house artificial intelligence program to help verify claims made by fund managers and uncover undisclosed relationships.
The changes come after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission sued SQM over allegedly misleading representations and ratings relating to Shield.
It is the first such case ASIC has brought against a research house.
