Institutions’ substantial holdings in Serko implies that they have significant influence over the company’s share price
The top 6 shareholders own 53% of the company
If you want to know who really controls Serko Limited (NZSE:SKO), then you’ll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 49% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).
Given the vast amount of money and research capacities at their disposal, institutional ownership tends to carry a lot of weight, especially with individual investors. As a result, a sizeable amount of institutional money invested in a firm is generally viewed as a positive attribute.
Let’s delve deeper into each type of owner of Serko, beginning with the chart below.
View our latest analysis for Serko
NZSE:SKO Ownership Breakdown January 17th 2026
Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.
Serko already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can’t rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Serko, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
NZSE:SKO Earnings and Revenue Growth January 17th 2026
We note that hedge funds don’t have a meaningful investment in Serko. Our data shows that Harbour Asset Management Limited is the largest shareholder with 12% of shares outstanding. Geoffrey Hosking is the second largest shareholder owning 8.8% of common stock, and Darrin Grafton holds about 8.7% of the company stock. Darrin Grafton, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of the Board of Directors.
We did some more digging and found that 6 of the top shareholders account for roughly 53% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.
While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock’s expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.
Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.
Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Serko Limited. Insiders own NZ$130m worth of shares in the NZ$377m company. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.
The general public– including retail investors — own 11% stake in the company, and hence can’t easily be ignored. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.
We can see that public companies hold 4.4% of the Serko shares on issue. This may be a strategic interest and the two companies may have related business interests. It could be that they have de-merged. This holding is probably worth investigating further.
While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Take risks for example – Serko has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.
If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.