I walked into the massive hall of the Harbour Point Event Centre to hug my sister, who was being inducted into the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, an institute that I used to be a Member.
What struck me was the huge number of inductees, which gave me a sense of pride that my first constituency was growing and attracting younger members
But as I let that sink in, something hit me.
Only 10 stockbroking firms control between 49% and 55% of the volume traded on the NGX, which, as at full year 2025, amounted to about 233b units traded by firms like Cardinalstone and Chappel Hill, just to mention two
What this means is that, of the 224 licensed stockbroking firms , of which only about 180 are active, only 10 control trading and, as such, the income and earnings power of members of the CIS remains impacted rather negatively despite the rather aggressive market turnover.
Seeing this horde being inducted and the obtuse nature of trading, what came to my mind was the enormous challenge the new Exco of the CIS, led by its first Female President – Dr Fiona Aihime FCS, would be facing as they marched into that hall.
Before Fiona, who is my very good friend, I had written off the CIS as one of those moribund institutions like the NLC that had passed their sell-by date and were just lying there to be thrown morsels as the market roared past.
I hope that Fiona would push for a more inclusive trade dispersion amongst its member corporates aimed at impacting its individual members and ensuring that, as the ASI keeps roaring – its 248.8 mark with a market capitalisation in excess of N164 trillion, we will begin to see its effects on stockbroking firms’ earning capacity so that at least stockbrokers will start wearing better suits and not those ‘coats’ I saw the inductees and full members wore on that day. Thank you.
They will feel like beating me now, o
Kai
Duke of Shomolu
Last modified: November 9, 2026
