Xero to head 'Aussie Nasdaq'

Xero chief executive Steve Vamos with founder and director Rod Drury. Photo / file

The Australian Stock Exchange is set to launch its equivalent to America's tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index today - the S&P/ASX All Technology Index, to be known as the ASX All Tech for short.

Wellington-headquartered Xero, whose shares closed yesterday at A$87.48 for a market cap of A$12.4 billion ($12.42b), will head the new index.

Representatives from all of the so-called WAAAX stocks (Wisetech, Afterpay, Altium, Appen and Xero) will be on-hand for the ribbon-cutting.

At least one Exchange-Traded Fund operator, Betashares, plans a new ETF on the back of AXX All Tech, which will let people buy or sell a basket of hot tech stocks with a click.

The emergence of the "Aussie Nasdaq" as ASX has been dubbed by local commentators, cold make it even harder for the NZX as it seeks to stem the flow of technology companies listing across the Tasman.

The likes of Volpara Technologies and Straker Translations have recently hopped across the ditch for an IPO, while Aroa Biosurgery, Laybuy and Thinxtra are set to follow.

Xero has made hay since delisting from the NZX and going ASX only at the start of 2018, with shares climbing from under A$30 to Thursday's close of A$87.48.

If Xero had stayed on the NZX, its $12.42b market cap would see it rubbing shoulders with the likes of F&P Healthcare ($14.5b), Meridian ($14.4b), A2 ($12.0b) and Auckland International Airport ($10.4b) as one of our largest cap stocks, full stop.

The cloud accounting software company found what it was looking for - more and larger investors - although its transition to the ASX did also coincide with Xero breaking into the black, a development that was always going to drive gains in its shares.

Under new chief executive Steve Vamos, Xero has stepped back from founder Rod Drury's ambition to list in the US.

Still, even as it continues to steal the NZX's lunch, the ASX does, in turn, still have to be wary of its tech darlings departing for the actual Nasdaq - now home to the hottest Aussie tech, Trello-maker Atlassian, whose shares were recently trading at US$149.61 for a US$36.7b market cap.