BankM and SMC Research combine strengths and launch SmartCaps initiative together with finanzen.net

BankM and SMC Research combine strengths and launch SmartCaps initiative together with finanzen.net
 
§ Cooperation between BankM and SMC Research regarding distribution
§ BankM customers benefit from greater reach and proprietary access to retail investors
§ “SmartCaps” initiative on Germany's largest financial portal
 
Frankfurt, May 14, 2025 – Making it easier for investors to access qualified information and creating an attractive offering for issuers in the retail segment is the aim of a cooperation between BankM AG and SMC Research. To this end, the two companies are not only combining their respective strengths in the research sector, but have also launched an initiative for listed SMEs together with finanzen.net, Germany's largest financial portal. The collaboration was officially presented for the first time yesterday evening at the Spring Conference 2025 in Frankfurt.
 
Greater reach through joint distribution

In the first step of the cooperation, both partners will work together closely on the distribution of their research studies. Issuers benefit from the complementary focus on retail investors and institutional target groups. While BankM is particularly well established with the latter, SMC Research focuses much more strongly on experienced private investors. In 2024, SMC's analyses reached around 300,000 readers on the connected financial portals, making it one of the leading providers in the industry.
 
With this cooperation, BankM AG is strengthening its presence among investors and expanding its research support. From now on, SMC will also distribute BankM studies to retail investors with the label “powered by BankM”. Conversely, BankM also distributes SMC studies with the label “powered by SMC” in its own distribution channels. Together, the two partners currently cover almost 50 equity and debt issuers from a wide range of sectors. Interested investors can register to receive the research studies free of charge at www.bankm.de.
 
“The collaboration between SMC and BankM creates a two-pronged distribution model that is unique in Germany to date, combining the strengths of an independent research house and a bank. For the issuers supported by our partner BankM and us, this provides great added value in the form of improved visibility and a greater reach when approaching investors,” explains Holger Steffen from SMC Research.
 
Platform for SmartCaps on finanzen.net
 
The second step is to create a strong platform for second-line stocks in a joint initiative with finanzen.net, featuring listed companies from the SME sector, which have typically received little coverage in the broad media to date. The aim is to provide high-quality and sustainable coverage that focuses on substantial developments and is designed to be multimedia-based.

Under the name SmartCaps, the presence of second-line stocks on Germany's largest financial portal is now being significantly expanded. Every month, finanzen.net records over 241 million page impressions and reaches more than 5 million unique users with data, tools and editorial content. They can now look forward to regular highlights from the world of small & mid caps. Following the conceptual development, work is underway on programming the platform and creating the first content. A go-live is currently planned for this summer. More detailed information can be found at www.bankm.de/smartcaps.
 
“We have been in regular contact with SMC Research for years and are delighted that we are now combining our strengths and have found the perfect partner for our initiative in finanzen.net. By bundling our highly specialized expertise, we are creating a modular offering for issuers attracting attention from the retail segment. A strong presence among private investors strengthens trading liquidity and certainty for the execution of transactions and at the same time contributes to the democratization of the capital market,” comments Thomas Stewens on the new cooperation.
 
 
Contact:
Thomas Stewens
BankM AG
Mainzer Landstraße 61
60329 Frankfurt
Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 69 71 91 838-0
Fax: +49 (0) 69 71 91 838-50  
Email: pr@bankm.de
Internet: www.bankm.de
 

About BankM AG:
Creating viable financing structures, enabling sustainable investments. This has been the goal of BankM AG since 2007. Offering relationship banking for the capital markets with a well-coordinated, interdisciplinary team, BankM is one of the leading providers in the SME segment in the areas of securities settlement, SME bonds and designated sponsoring. The broad range of services also includes capital market advisory, arranging IPOs and capital increases for equity financing, research, debt advisory and debt capital mediation as well as venture capital, private equity and M&A.
 
About SMC Research:
SMC stands for small and mid-cap research, concisely describing its focus as follows: medium-sized companies that often dominate the global market in their niches and thus shape the reputation of “Made in Germany”. On the capital market, however, these silent stars are often overshadowed by DAX stocks, both in terms of investor interest and in terms of coverage with well-founded and independent research. SMC Research has set itself the goal of closing this gap.
 
About finanzen.net:
The finanzen.net Group is an innovative FinTech company that supports private and professional investors in their investment decisions. With more than 41 million visits (IVW 03/2025) and over 241 million page impressions (IVW 03/2025), finanzen.net (www.finanzen.net) is Germany's leading financial portal. finanzen.net offers information on all relevant asset classes as well as on companies and the economy. Tools for chart analysis, sample portfolios and personal news pages make the service customizable. Since the beginning of 2025, the finanzen.net Group has been part of Inflexion, a leading European private equity company in the mid-cap segment.