Strathmore University 2022/2023

Business School First Year

Bachelor’s in Financial Services
BFS 1203
Marketing Financial Services

DYER AND BLAIR:

GOING ONLINE

Name of Participants:
- EWONKEM Janet Mary Ndonkou (152082)
- AKILI Alice Kavira (152224)
- Suhayl MIRZA (152327)
- Daniel MPAKUO (151019)

Lecturer’s Name: Dr. Stella NYONGESA

 INTRODUCTION
According to the website Strategy Watch, an investment bank is a financial
service-providing institution that aims to act as an intermediary in large and
complex financial endeavors. It basically works as a middleman for other large
companies and financial institutions, managing their financial transactions. Large
corporations, startups, and other financial institutions often require financial
assistance. One of the notable investments banks that we have in Kenya is Dyer
and Blair which is a Kenyan investment bank founded in 1954 which still continues
its operation across the whole of Kenya in more recent years.
As time goes by and new inventions and technologies are made and it becomes
extremely important and crucial for financial institutions to keep up with the
emerging trends and their customers’ ever-increasing needs. That is why these
financial institution must find new ways to innovate and keep their customer base
engaged and locked into the business by adopting marketing trends that follow
suit with the several developments that have been observed throughout the
years. Many financial institutions have been affected by this particular issue of
having to constantly propose new products and, of course, investments banks
have had to change some of their practices to adopt to the changes. Dyer and
Blair is no exception to this. In recent years, Dyer and Blair has adopted a new
marketing trend to appeal to nowadays consumers such as opening social media
accounts, putting together an app and web page.
 SOCIAL MEDIA APPROACH
Noticing that most of their clients were vivid users of social media platforms such
as Twitter and Facebook, Dyer and Blair’s marketing team has decided to take
some of their activities online. Which ones exactly? Well, when we look at their
Twitter and Facebooks pages, we can see that they mainly use their platforms as a
way to inform their clients or even potential clients on the investment products
and offers that are currently available for them in their facility. By using social
media, the investment bank is targeting a particular new group of clients; those
who are chronically online and using social media platforms as part of their day-
to-day life. This allows them to have an easier access to any information that they
would like to know without having to go to one of Dyer and Blair’s branches.

The above image has been taken from their Twitter account (@DyerAndBlair). As
we can see, they effectively use this social media platform to communicate about
the share prices fluctuations, the companies or business who have experienced an
increase in their shares and those who have experienced losses.
On their twitter account, we can also see their contact number as well as their
email for further inquiries which overall helps their clients ask their questions in a
much easier way as opposed to having to go to their main facility to ask some
simple explanations or questions.
 Dyer and Blair Edge App
“Trade Online Anywhere Anytime.”
This is the slogan of Dyer and Blair’s Edge App that they have put in place for their
customers who want to trade with them in a more efficient manner. Noticing that
they had to catch up with what is working in nowadays society, the investment
bank decided to create a fully functioning phone application that is available on
the Playstore and AppStore for their investors so that they can follow how their
shares are currently fluctuating in the NSE, if they need to sell them or if they
need to hold onto them. This app has been proven to be quite a success with
more than a thousand downloads, showing that their customers are finding this
new tool efficient as they don’t have to physically go to the bank and do the
trading there.
According to the PlayStore description of this application, this particular
application allows their customers to see real time quotes on equities listed on
the Nairobi Securities Exchange, trading facility, access to research and stock
recommendations across all Android devices.
The features include:
• Market Watch: Real time quotes and volumes on the Nairobi Securities
Exchange (NSE)
• My Watch List: Customizable real time quotes
• Trade Place: Place buy and sell orders across all your Android devices
• Stock Picks: Access our research and stock recommendations
• Statement: Real time access to your account statement
• Portfolio Valuation: Track shares in your portfolio, monitor the market value
and unrealized profit/ loss
• Position: Track trades that have been successfully executed
• Orders Status: Track the status of orders submitted to the NSE i.e. executed,
partially executed, pending etc.
• News: Access business news aggregated from multiple channels
• Payment Request: Request for payment via RTGS, EFT, Cheque and MPESA
• Get in Touch: Get in touch with our customer service team
• Available Funds: Track the free float balance available in your account
statement
 Online Share Trading (OST)
Despite having a functioning application that their customers can use, Dyer and
Blair noticed the importance to also have a web platform that would allow their
customers to keep track of their shares and trading activities that they are
currently doing, in case there is an issue with their phones and they wouldn’t
have any access to it. The web platform, according to the official Dyer and Blair
webpage, is built to increase accessibility to stockbrokerage services.
Their Online Share Trading or OST provides:
 A HTTPS platform allowing for secure e-transactions.
 24-hour access to share trading account.
 Real-time market prices and order placement.
 Real time access to various reports such as portfolio valuations, transaction
statements and stock holding reports
To be able to have access to this service, one must register to it by filling in the
registration form which comprises of the CDS number, the National ID number (or
Passport Number or even the In Corporation Number) and the Email address of
the interested party.
It is important to note that a CDS account or Central Deposit and Settlement
account, in line with the website Kenyans, can be opened directly through the
Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) or through a brokerage firm or a client account
through authorized dealers that include investment banks, commercial banks,
investment advisors, and stockbrokers. It is free to open and maintain a CDS
account if you open it directly through the CBK. As an individual investor, you can
open an account either individually or jointly.
 CONCLUSION
Dyer and Blair is one of the founding members of the Nairobi Stock Exchange
which has greatly evolved throughout the years and which has had many
achievements ever since its creation such as:
- Winning the tender to be the transaction adviser for the USD 840 Million
Safaricom IPO. This was the largest offering in the Eastern Africa region.
- Getting selected as the Sole adviser for the acquisition of a 24.99% stake by
Investment Partners, a private equity firm, in Equity Bank Group of Kenya
for USD 179 Million. This was one of the largest mergers & acquisition
transactions in the Eastern Africa region.
As we saw in our work, this investment bank has adopted several different
marketing trends in order to appeal to a wider range of customers, notably those
who use the Internet more and do not have the material time to go to one of the
branches of Dyer and Blair to effectuate the different trading transactions. By
going online, this investment bank has attracted many new investors and
continues doing so by always updating the different means that they use to get
into contact with their investors.
 REFERENCES
Haque, H., Investment Banks Definition Types, and Functions. Strategy Watch.
https://www.thestrategywatch.com/investment-bank/#:~:text=Investment
%20Bank%20Explained%20An%20investment%20bank%20is%20a,companies
%20and%20financial%20institutions%2C%20managing%20their%20financial
%20transactions. retrieved 7th February 2023.
Owino, A., (2019, March 5th), CDS Account: How to Buy and Sell Shares in Kenya.
Kenyans. https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/37552-cds-account-how-buy-and-sell-
shares-kenya retrieved 7th February 2023.
Dyer and Blair, About OST. Dyer and Blair.
https://dyerandblaironline.com/TradeWeb/
Dyer and Blair twitter account, https://twitter.com/DyerandBlair retrieved 7th
February 2023.
Dyer and Blair Edge application, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?
id=com.dandb.dyerblairedge&gl=US&pli=1 retrieved 7th February 2023.
Dyer and Blair Official Website,
https://www.dyerandblair.com/index.php/component/content/article/11-blog/
design/9-how-to-get-started-stocks?Itemid=101 retrieved 7th February 2023.
Dyer and Blair Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyer_
%26_Blair_Investment_Bank retrieved 7th February 2023.