Author: World Finance

Atradius: Innovation will be key to 2021 – but make sure you’re getting paid

Posted on by World Finance

As a trade credit insurance provider, Atradius is very much a first responder to distressed businesses. Andreas Tesch, Atradius’ Chief Market Officer, says the company expects global insolvencies to have only increased by four percent in 2020, thanks to government stimulus packages. However as those packages begin to expire through 2021, it’s more critical than ever that businesses exhibit caution when selecting their customers: because if the business you’re selling to doesn’t survive, neither will yours.

World Finance: Andreas, it’s been an unimaginably turbulent year; how has the crisis looked from your perspective?

Andreas Tesch: Well Paul, you’re right: turbulence is the right way of describing the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on 2020. In fact 2019 already ended quite rocky, with protectionism looming on the horizon. And when the COVID-19 crisis hit, it had a disastrous impact on economic development.

As Atradius, we expect the GDP globally to contract by more than five percent in 2020; and even worse, global trade to contract by more than 15 percent. But there’s also good news, in the sense that governments have been very quick in responding to this crisis. And with massive stimulus packages they avoided an economic catastrophe.

In fact, for 2020 we only anticipate a very small increase in global insolvencies of around about four percent. But that’s mainly due to the stimulus packages that have been put in place, which will expire in the course of 2021.

World Finance: Now, you’ve written about the need for businesses to pair innovation with caution – what do you mean by this, and where is the balance?

Andreas Tesch: Well in fact, what this crisis has told us is that innovation and the ability to adapt to changing situations is key to success. And as a credit insurer, and an insurer of trade receivables, what we mean with caution is always making sure that ultimately you’re being paid by your customer.

So, what’s the right balance between the two? That will differ from industry to industry. When you look at where innovation can be seen, it’s in processes, it’s in products. And looking at the retail sector as one example, we’ve seen a massive shift during this crisis from high street retailers which continue to disappear, to online traders, to ecommerce companies. And those companies are in a lot of instances in place for less than five years, they’re still in a loss-making situation, and their balance sheet is fairly weak.

Still, they have a bright future in front of them, they’re growing very rapidly – which is also where we as a credit insurer had to innovate, and had to adapt our way of assessing such companies using things like artificial intelligence rather than classical financial matrices, balance sheet analysis. Because those would no longer fit this new environment.

World Finance: Finally, what’s your outlook for the year ahead – what will it take for businesses to prosper?

Andreas Tesch: Well, innovation is going to be key for 2021 as well. It’s not going to be an easy year, because the COVID-19 impact will last for a good part of 2021 as well. Still, we expect that GDP will bounce back, and then we will see an increase of more than five percent in 2021.

Nevertheless, as I’ve mentioned before, the stimulus packages will expire, and that will lead to a substantial increase of insolvencies in 2021. So caution is going to be a key theme to be successful in 2021, next to innovation, and making sure that you select the right customers that will survive – even once these stimulus packages have expired.

XSpot Wealth: Democratising wealth management

Posted on by World Finance

In 2014, two investment professionals created XSpot Wealth, a wealth management business at the intersection of flexibility, transparency, technology and fees. Dimitris Kantzelis is one of those co-founders, and XSpot’s current CEO; he discusses the void created at the lower-income end of wealth management as a consequence of MiFID II, and how introducing XSpot’s AI and trading algorithms to the industry enabled the business to offer a convenient, transparent, low cost and flexible wealth management solution for everyone.

World Finance: Dimitris, why did you create XSpot Wealth?

Dimitris Kantzelis: Well Paul, it was a period of rapid regulatory changes in Europe, with MiFID I and MiFID II coming into place. And we knew that if Europe decided to push for those changes, big banks and traditional wealth management providers wouldn’t have any other option than increasing their fees; making it almost impossible for smaller clients – clients with less than €1m in their accounts – to make money in the long term.

At the same time, we had a going momentum of millennials: people who wanted to start with very low amounts, less than €10,000 possible, and they were seeking digital, robust services for an early retirement.

So, XSpot Wealth was built exactly for this: to help people of every level of income, taking ownership of their financial future.

World Finance: So how do you actually achieve that? How does XSpot innovate in order to deliver on that promise?

Dimitris Kantzelis: The key for us was the use of smart technology. We knew that big banks and traditional wealth managers, they were doing everything manually. Whereas on the other hand, us: we were already using artificial intelligence and trading algorithms when working. So we knew that if we apply some of those rules, we could democratise investing, making it available for everyone.

So, this required big investments in technology, long hours of programming, and filtrating investment strategies in order to bring these investment plans, making them available to everyone. Offering great flexibility, big transparency, and some of the lowest fees in the market.

World Finance: Why would someone choose XSpot Wealth over another wealth manager or bank?

Dimitris Kantzelis: Well I would say everything, but this could be summarised down to five key points.

Convenience: it’s so easy to open an account with us, it takes less than 30 minutes, and even if you have a question our excellent support team is there to help you.

Transparency: we’re fully transparent in the entire process, showing every bit of detail someone needs to know before opening the account, but also throughout the entire process.

Diversification: we give a very big variety of investment plans, matching almost every investment and risk profile. This is great and we let someone choose among those.

Low cost: because we believe that with low costs we help you boost your investments and grow your account even more in the long-term.

And, flexibility: flexibility in changing the plans whenever you feel like, or taking money out, because we don’t enforce high or hidden fees in our accounts.

World Finance: So looking ahead, what are your plans for the coming year?

Dimitris Kantzelis: Yes, after the COVID year 2020 being a bit turbulent – but we had great results in all our investment profiles, which makes us really happy. Our next target for 2021 is to enter another two European countries, reach the first target of 10,000 clients.

And from there onwards jump to the second target, which is 100,000 clients and €1bn assets under management. Then it would be natural to expand outside Europe and the Middle East, towards Asia and the US.

An excellent time for commodities: trading through the COVID-19 crisis

Posted on by World Finance

HYCM was one of the first retail forex brokerages to be regulated in the UK. With over 40 years’ experience and representation in the UK, Hong Kong, Cyprus and Dubai, the business has seen a lot of market turmoil; its Chief Currency Analyst, Giles Coghlan, outlines how traders have been responding to this year’s record high volatility, and explains why commodities are a good pick as the world looks forward to a vaccine.

World Finance: Giles, how have HYCM and your traders responded to this year’s crisis?

Giles Coghlan: Well, HYCM already has experience in successfully withstanding some of the biggest market crashes and major volatility over the years, so, our clients can be sure that they’re trading with one of the most solid and secure brokers in the world.

In fact, in terms of traders generally, they do favour volatility; so you do tend to see an uptick in trading activity whenever you get global events like these causing large swings in asset prices. And many brokers have been reporting increased volumes at this time. So generally speaking, it has been quite good for business.

However, the record high volatility also provides challenges. It is a very difficult investment environment, and the kind of uncertainty in markets at the moment favours a much shorter-term horizon, as longer-term investments – particularly early in the year – were crowded with considerable uncertainty.

For traders it actually has been a really good time to take advantage of some of our free online webinars and workshops, that are located on the HYCM website, and hosted by myself every week; in order to really enrich and deepen their trading skills and knowledge.

World Finance: So with your analyst’s hat on, what assets do you think will perform well in today’s environment?

Giles Coghlan: Well this is one topic that I’ve been speaking a lot with HYCM clients about. And this could be a really excellent time for commodities, as global growth starts to get going again on global vaccine hopes.

Now this could also be a very, very good time for gold. The Federal Reserve is set to keep interest rates at low levels right through 2023; the US is on the verge at the moment of releasing a large stimulus package, and quantitative easing levels are at record levels. So one of the key areas that we’ll be looking at is how quickly the Federal Reserve looks at raising interest rates. And as long as they keep interest rates low, you would expect that to be very good for gold, which has grown and gained in value in all of the last major financial crises that we’ve had. So gold long still looks good right now – but we need to keep a careful eye on what the Federal Reserve does.

Copper also looks very good from a medium-to-long term. Electric vehicles are growing in popularity, and they’re thought to account for about 9.4 percent of copper demand by 2030. And the current level is 2.4 percent. So we are over the medium term expecting a good boost in copper prices. So you would expect dips in copper to find buyers in the medium term.

Another interesting commodity is nickel. According to Morgan Stanley, electric car sales are seen to boost nickel the most of all the commodities used in producing an electric vehicle. So they predict that over the next five to 10 years there’s going to be a heavy investment in nickel mining, and a greater demand for nickel itself. So over the next five to 10 years, the commodity nickel could be a great investment.

World Finance: And how about currency trades?

Giles Coghlan: Well I think the currencies that you’d expect to benefit from this environment are currencies that are pro-cyclical in growth. So, typically the Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar would benefit from a boost in commodity prices. If the US dollar weakens, that would further benefit the Antipodean currencies like the Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar. And perhaps an AUD/JPY long, or a NZD/JPY long, could be a great trade over the medium to longer term, as we come out of this medical crisis.

Learn more, and watch Giles’ free webinars, at HYCM.com

More digitisation, at a faster pace: How Baiduri Bank responded to COVID-19

Posted on by World Finance

One year after Ti Eng Hui was appointed CEO of Baiduri Bank, the first Bruneian started experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 – and the world turned upside-down. Six months into the global crisis, Ti discusses how Bruniean people and businesses have been affected, how the financial services industry responded, and how Baiduri Bank’s commitment to ongoing investments in technology and staff training payed dividends this year.

World Finance: Mr Ti, what has life been like for your customers since March? What new financial challenges are they facing, and how is Baiduri Bank supporting them?

Ti Eng Hui: So, COVID-19 has affected Brunei, like other countries. And the industries affected very much are the tourism industry: the airlines and the hotels.

So working together with my colleagues in the Brunei Association of Banks, together with the regulators MBD and also the Ministry of Finance, in early April we rolled out a financial relief package for those companies – businesses and individuals – affected by the COVID-19 situation, where their loan repayments can be deferred until next year for a period of 12 months maximum.

So that has really helped in terms of the financial stress that they’re facing. So yeah, that’s what we did at the beginning, very quickly.

World Finance: And how has Baiduri Bank had to adapt to this extraordinary year?

Ti Eng Hui: So what we’ve done is that we need to make sure that the staff are comfortable coming into work at the bank. So what we’ve done is we activated our business continuity plan, like other banks.

At the same time we need to make sure that staff who need to work in the head office can come in, feel safe to work. So we have done a lot of sanitisation, cleaning, giving them a lot of support in terms of the health packages to strengthen their immunity. Practise social distancing among the staff.

Secondly what we’ve done for those customers who need to come to the bank: we need to do all the scanning, the social distancing, just to make sure that when they come in they see a space that they are comfortable to come in. Obviously we encourage them to go digital. We launched a new mobile banking service in March. So that new channel has really, really helped us, in terms of diverting the traffic away from the branch network.

World Finance: When we talked last year, you spoke about the importance of ongoing investments into technology and into staff training; I suppose this year really has just highlighted the importance of those investments?

Ti Eng Hui: Yes, definitely. You know, our online transactions now account for more than 90 percent of overall banking transactions. And we continue to see that number climbing.

What we also see is that there’s a lot of online payments being made – those we see tremendous growth throughout COVID-19 and also now. So I think the digitisation has really gone a lot faster than before. And we have also rolled out internally more online training for our staff.

So really digitisation is the way to go, online is the way to go, and more and more we see the need to do even more, just to make sure that we are one step ahead. Because we know there could be a second wave, a third wave of COVID-19. You know, we just have to be prepared for it.

World Finance: Finally, on a corporate level, has this disrupted your mission or your strategy at all?

Ti Eng Hui: I think we are very firm, and we are very clear on what we want to achieve. COVID-19 has delayed the pace a bit, but it’s something that we can pick it up. Definitely we think that it has given us a clear idea of what we need to do more – especially online payments, online training. Everything that’s online.

So really I think given the good infrastructure we have in the country in terms of internet access, it’s something that we can definitely do a lot more coming up. So strategy-wise, continue the same strategy. But towards more digitisation, at a faster pace.

Firmenich celebrates 125 years of sustainable, inclusive, innovative business

Posted on by World Finance

Firmenich is the world’s largest privately-owned perfume and taste company. More than half of the world’s population interact with one of Firmenich’s products every single day; but it’s still a family-owned company, with sustainability at its core. Gilbert Ghostine is Firmenich’s CEO; he explains that sustainability has been one of the company’s fundamentals since its foundation, and discusses the three strands to Firmenich’s ‘inclusive capitalism’ business model: people, planet, and society.

World Finance: Gilbert, why is sustainability such an important principle for Firmenich?

Gilbert Ghostine: Sustainability has been ingrained in our history – and at the same time, in our DNA – as an organisation.

When our founding fathers put together the values of the company, sustainability was one of them. It is at the heart of our inclusive capitalism business model. So this is part of our way of doing business.

At the same time it is important for the planet, because you need 3.5 tonnes of petal rose to make one kilo of rose essential oil that we use in your soaps, in your perfumes, in your shampoos. So the only way is to harvest it in a very sustainable way.

World Finance: I’m really interested by this inclusive capitalism concept; and you’ve identified three strands to that – people, planet, and society. Tell me in practice what you’re actually doing: let’s start with people.

Gilbert Ghostine: I’ll give you a few examples. First, Firmenich received back in December 2018 a global gender equality certification. It’s not only about equal pay, it’s at the same time equal opportunities for coaching, for mentoring, for career progression in the organisation.

The other example that I will give you is that over two percent of our colleagues around the world are people with different abilities. In the normal jargon these are disabled people; yet for us, these are colleagues with different abilities, because they bring a different skillset to our organisation. When some people lose a sense, they will develop the other senses. And that’s why we have visually impaired colleagues on sensory panels all over the world. And that’s a way of Firmenich embracing our colleagues in a camaraderie spirit and a different way.

World Finance: And how about planet – how does Firmenich ensure its business is environmentally responsible?

Gilbert Ghostine: We participated as a company at COP21 in Paris, back in 2015; and this is when we realised that incremental actions on climate are not good enough. They need to be exponential. And we took the opportunity to announce from Paris the boldest environmental goals for our industry.

One of the goals that we set ourselves is that we will be running at 100 percent renewable electricity before the end of 2020. And guess what? Before the end of February, we will be able to announce that we are running at 100 percent renewable electricity globally.

Second, we managed to decouple our output growth from our carbon emissions. Since 2015 we have grown our output by 18 percent, while reducing our carbon emissions by 30 percent.

Back in 2018, Firmenich was one of only two companies in the world out of the 7,000 that are assessed by CDP to receive a triple A: A for climate, A for water, and A for forestry. And we are very proud that for the second year in a row, in 2019, we are receiving triple A from CDP.

World Finance: And your third strand is sustainable growth for society; what innovations are you bringing to market here?

Gilbert Ghostine: As a company, we leverage our knowledge in science to help address some of the biggest societal challenges that exist in the world today.

We were approached by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation back in 2014 to help address a serious sanitation issue in emerging markets. You know, 2.5 billion people on this planet have only access to public toilets – and one of the challenges in these public toilets is that most of the time they are dirty and they smell bad.

Who understands the science of smell better than anyone else in the world? It’s Firmenich! Because we have been investing in understanding the receptors in the nose and the science of smell since the 1930s.

We managed to come with breakthrough technologies that could neutralise these malodours; and they are available today in markets like Bangladesh, India and South Africa.

The other example has to do with wellbeing. One of the challenges that our generations face today is this combination of obesity and diabetes. Firmenich came with a new technology called TastePrint that could remove 100 percent of the sugar from the products that you eat, while maintaining the same taste and the same mouthfeel. And the last calendar year, in 2019, we removed one trillion calories from the food that people consume.

World Finance: Firmenich is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year – what’s your vision for the next 125 years of the business?

Gilbert Ghostine: Well, I can’t have a vision for the next 125 years, but I would say, knowing well our shareholders and the way they think, they will always pride themselves on being a role model company in social, environmental, and ethics.

World Finance: Gilbert, thank you very much.

Mexico’s opportunities outweigh tax complexity and regulatory uncertainty

Posted on by World Finance

Luis Gerardo Del Valle Torres is managing director of Mexican Law Firm Jáuregui y Del Valle, and author of The Mexican Federal Tax System – Its review under Economic and Legal Principles. In the book he identifies a number of Mexican taxes that disincentivise investment, and suggest they should be revised – but far from easing the compliance burden, Mexico is making international investment more complex. But so is the rest of the world, argues Luis; and Mexico offers greater foreign investment returns that outweigh the uncertainty.

World Finance: Luis, Mexico’s tax system is notoriously complex – what do international investors need to understand?

Luis Gerardo Del Valle Torres: Well, that is right Paul – but all tax systems are complex in the world. And the bad news is that it’s just getting worse.

The OECD has come up with BEPS – Base Erosion Profit Shifting – and that just makes the rules much more complex everywhere.

But Mexico offers higher returns than many other countries do.

Mexico does offer less regulations than other countries do – and that creates more uncertainty. But if you have the right advice, the system is not necessarily more uncertain, because then you’ve got the experience of people that know and understand how the system works.

World Finance: How do international investors typically approach Mexico? What investment vehicles are popular?

Luis Gerardo Del Valle Torres: We have to consider that Mexico is a civil law country. Certain features exist so that international vehicles – JV, Joint Venture vehicles – may be used for investors to participate in, have non-Mexican law applicable, and so get the internal rate of returns that are expected, and still have foreign law applicable.

Investors generally feel more comfortable applying the law of their own jurisdiction – so generally the idea is to find a jurisdiction that is friendly to the country where the investors are based, and that actually has the appropriate links with Mexico. That is what we generally focus on.

World Finance: In your book you identify a number of taxes that disincentivise investment, and suggest they should be revised?

Luis Gerardo Del Valle Torres: That’s right, Paul. For example, there is this provision in the OECD Base Erosion Profit Shifting actions that disallows interest deductions with related parties when they exceed a certain percentage of EBITDA. Mexico is now disallowing interest deductions – but not necessarily with related parties or when paid abroad, but in any situation. So that just puts companies that are in favour of leveraging in a difficult position.

Mexico is as well frequently revising the tax treatment of foreign vehicles that are treated as tax transparent. This transparency is actually key to create joint venture vehicles that will then invest in Mexico – and when these provisions are revised, sometimes this is not taken into consideration.

So you have to learn to navigate in the tax system, as in any other country.

World Finance: But despite these complications, Mexico does remain a jurisdiction full of investment opportunities?

Luis Gerardo Del Valle Torres: Definitely. There are huge investment opportunities; tax systems are complicated everywhere, and Mexico offers foreign investment greater return than many other countries do.

The US is still the largest economy in the world – that proximity gives us certain advantages.

Mexico still has salaries that are lower than those in the US, and that represents an advantage. But it’s not only that: we’ve created a workforce that is very talented, and that has grown in its technical capabilities. So there is a lot of investment in manufacturing, aerospace, automotive; fintech is quickly growing in Mexico. But also when you see the returns, for example, that you get when investing in real estate projects, hotels, condos; these greater returns make up for that complexity and that uncertainty that you can navigate when you have the right advice.

World Finance: Luis, thank you very much.

Luis Gerardo Del Valle Torres: Thank you Paul.

JIB: A model of ‘honest, sincere, and satisfying’ Islamic banking for Jordan

Posted on by World Finance

For 38 years, His Excellency Mr Musa Shihadeh was CEO and General Manager of JIB, one of Jordan’s oldest Islamic banks. But as of May 2019, he has stepped into the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors for the bank. He discusses the bank’s latest financial results, its commitment to financial inclusion and sustainability, and his vision for the future of the bank as a model of applied Sharia.

World Finance: Mr Shihadeh, talk me through the bank’s latest financial performance.

Musa Shihadeh: Our performance last year was good. Profits saw about 10 percent growth, and deposits was 7.5 percent.

This was because of expanding our technological transactions done through ATMs, phone banking, and branching.

This enhanced our business and led to that success.

World Finance: Now JIB has a real commitment to financial inclusion and sustainability; why is this mission so important to the bank, and to you personally?

Musa Shihadeh: We at the bank have a mission and strategy that we should serve every community person. Therefore we stress and concentrate our business on these transactions; try to help people to get under our umbrella of services. This will help to end poverty and unemployment, keep the economy stable and progress.

This stability will be resulted to our success and benefit as a bank.

World Finance: How does that position JIB in the Jordanian banking sector?

Musa Shihadeh: Jordan’s market has 25 banks. Four of them have Sharia application systems. We are the first in Islamic banks, and the third in all banks in Jordan.

World Finance: As I mentioned, although you are now Chairman of the Board of Directors for the bank, you were CEO and General Manager for 38 years, and saw some quite extraordinary changes in financial services during that time; what are you most proud of from your 38 years of leadership?

Musa Shihadeh: I’m proud of having the bank as a prominent bank in Jordan, with good relations with local and international banking systems. Satisfying every customer’s needs. And being a model for Islamic banking, applying Sharia in our products, that enhanced different banks to go and apply the Sharia principles.

World Finance: And what are you looking forward to in your new role on the board?

Musa Shihadeh: I’m looking that this bank will continue as a model for those who want to apply Sharia, and be honest, sincere, and satisfying the stakeholders.

World Finance: Musa Shihadeh, thank you very much.

Musa Shihadeh: Thank you very much.

Why are cryptocurrencies still so exciting for traders?

Posted on by World Finance

Libertex is a multinational CFD and cryptocurrency broker. Its comprehensive investment platform offers 213 tradable assets to 2.2 million clients across 40 countries, and has won over 30 international awards. Marios Chailis, Chief Marketing Officer for Libertex Group, explains why cryptocurrencies are still such an exciting asset for online traders, their potential future outside of the trading space, and why due diligence is still absolutely vital. You can also watch the other half of this interview, where he discusses Libertex’s more traditional CFD and forex offering.

World Finance: You’ve described crypto as one of the best opportunities for traders in recent years; why is it still so exciting?

Marios Chailis: I think it’s a ground-breaking new technology that has seen tremendous interest worldwide. This has led to excitement among traders that haven’t seen anything like that in their lifetime.

I think we can all agree that it’s something that came out of nowhere, and over a very short period of time was absolutely everywhere – and a very hot topic being discussed among everyday people.

We saw that hype coming into its peak during the crypto hype of a couple of years ago; but since then, the interest has remained very high. That period of time, you know, there was, we need to understand that it’s still in its infancy. And we haven’t seen a lot of the applications that people might have hoped to see in a very short period of time. But we feel over the next few years, as long as technology companies and financial service companies continue to invest into research and development, on blockchain and crypto, very exciting things are going to come, and that’s where we’re going to see the real realisation of this vision of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

World Finance: The crypto ecosystem is evolving beyond simple trading or peer to peer transfers with more business exploring using crypto as a payment method; tell me more.

Marios Chailis: I mean, 100 percent! We anticipate that eventually – and again, without wanting to put extra hype on this! – once the technology is mature enough, and a lot of companies invest into it, we see this becoming… I wouldn’t say a complete replacement of fiat currency, but definitely a much more advanced and popular payment method.

We see all these kind of companies already developing products that are relevant to this. I think the only remaining barrier is getting peoples’ trust and adoption worldwide. But especially in emerging markets, where you don’t have the traditional financial systems and payment systems and banking systems, cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology’s definitely going to be a differentiator, and something that we are going to see adopted very quickly.

World Finance: You raise a very important point of trust, because during the hype that you mentioned, we saw a number of ICOs that were not exactly… trustworthy at all!

Marios Chailis: 100 percent. So, that’s why I mentioned something that’s going to happen over a long period of time. When something, you know, is buzzed and a lot of people are talking about it, unfortunately scammers or untrustworthy individuals will try and profit from it.

What I would advise traders is to adopt a more cautious approach. Actually not even just traders, every person who’s interested in blockchain or crypto. Just do their due diligence, read up on the companies that they’re considering to partner with or to work with, and make sure that they work with long established, trustworthy companies, with the right people, and the technology that they claim they have.

I think that’s the main thing, and, you know, time will tell which of these companies will change the world!

World Finance: Marios, thank you very much.

Marios Chailis: Thank you.

Libertex strengthens one-stop CFD shop with indices, explores equities

Posted on by World Finance

Libertex is a multinational CFD and cryptocurrency broker. Its comprehensive investment platform offers 213 tradable assets to 2.2 million clients across 40 countries, and has won over 30 international awards. Marios Chailis, Chief Marketing Officer for Libertex Group, introduces the company and platform, and explains how Libertex is working with regulators to ensure it’s offering profitable and trustworthy services to its clients. You can also watch the other half of this interview, where he dives into Libertex’s cryptocurrency offering.

World Finance: Marios, introduce us to the company behind those numbers.

Marios Chailis: Thank you Paul. So, Libertex was established more than two decades ago. We operate in multiple jurisdictions, mainly in Europe, Latin America, and Asia.

The company has been enjoying tremendous growth over the last several years. We’ve invested a lot in our in-house technology, developing our own applications and trading platforms, which is something that enabled us to sort of stand out from a crowded marketplace. And I would like to think offer a better product to the many traders who choose to work with us.

World Finance: As you say, it is an incredibly crowded marketplace; is the platform what really sets you apart?

Marios Chailis: Well it’s definitely one of the main things. Credit is due to our founder – he identified that mobile trading is the way to go. So we invested a tremendous amount of money and research into developing our mobile trading applications. And we were, I would say, one of the pioneers of online mobile trading.

Obviously you can trade any kind of CFD, forex, cryptocurrencies; but we’re really strengthening our indices offering right now. We’re also looking into getting into shares, equities, traditional equities. And we’re discussing multiple joint ventures with some high profile partners that unfortunately I can’t name right now! But: very exciting things are on the way.

World Finance: Now I mentioned that you are available across 40 different countries; how are you working with regulators to make sure that you’re offering profitable and trustworthy services to your clients?

Marios Chailis: Well, the industry has changed quite a bit over the last few years. Starting with Europe, ESMA introduced a lot stricter guidelines about how financial service companies need to operate.

We’ve taken that at heart and we positioned regulation and compliance as one of our number one priorities. So across Europe and all our other entities worldwide, we try to adhere to the strictest regulation – even in the places where the local regulation is more lax.

So, all our KYC checks, all our compliance methods, even our back office teams; they all go through the same level of due diligence as our most regulated entities.

We understand that the industry is going to head in that direction globally, eventually – following the example set by ESMA in Europe. We’re really, really pushing for that, and it’s something that we welcome.

We fell it’s going to clear out some of the outfits that are less trustworthy! And allow companies like ours to shine, and continue providing the service that we strive for.

World Finance: And what would you say is most important among the services and support that you offer to your customers?

Marios Chailis: You know, we put a lot of emphasis on education. It’s one of the things that really sets us apart.  We have a tremendous team that works 24 hours a day to produce amazing content in regards to education, training seminars, webinars, all kinds of material that our traders find very interesting, and really helps them position themselves better before they start trading.

So we like to take care of them from the moment they open their trading account, and making sure that they are as knowledgeable as possible before they place their first trade.

World Finance: Marios, thank you very much.

Marios Chailis: Thank you.

How Banco Popular Dominicano makes banking easier for its customers

Posted on by World Finance

“One of our biggest challenges through our digital transformation has been changing the habits and mindset of our clients to adopt digital behaviours,” says Francisco Ramirez, Executive Vice President of Personal Business and Branches for Banco Popular Dominicano. He explains how the bank managed to migrate transactions, become the most downloaded financial services app in the Dominican Republic, and help the country significantly grow its financial inclusion rate.

Francisco Ramirez: Banco Popular Dominicano offers a wide range of digital products and services, that allow our customers to interact with the bank and fulfil all of their financial needs.

Our app Popular, which is the most downloaded app in the Dominican financial system, offers our customers a handful of digital solutions. The app – together with the capabilities provided through our online banking website, which is the most visited of the financial industry in the country – meets our customers’ individual needs, and makes their day-to-day mobility easier.

To migrate transactions, we have deployed the latest generation of smart ATMs. Through these ATMs, customers can make online withdrawals and deposits, as well as pay their loans and credit cards with cash or funding from their accounts. These capabilities are both highly convenient and time-saving for our customers.

We have also opened digital channels, where customers give us their opinions and suggestions, and even ask for information.

Our customers have reacted excellently to our new digital offerings. Today, more than 80 percent of our transactions are digital, and more than 50 percent of our clients are using our digital platforms.

One of our biggest challenges through our digital transformation has been changing the habits and mindset of our clients to adopt digital behaviours. Another challenge has been strengthening our cybersecurity and tech infrastructure, which will enable us to rapidly deliver innovative products, channels, and services, that are better adapted to our changing customers’ needs.

According to the World Bank Global Findex, in 2017, the Dominican Republic surpassed the Latin American average of financial inclusion, with 56 percent of Dominicans over 15 years old with a bank account. This represents significant growth in comparison to the year 2011, where the financial inclusion index in the country was only 38 percent.

We encourage entrepreneurial culture through several programmes. One of them is Challenge Popular, which is a design marathon where participants propose new services or products, emanating from an intense creative process of 48 hours guided by mentors. And after, the best proposals win prizes.

Another programme is Impulsa de Popular, which is a competition that seeks to encourage young entrepreneurs in the growth of their innovative projects, and enables them access to seek capital for their business initiatives.

Last year we also launched another programme to support our SME clients that want to become franchises – as well as those that want to acquire an already established franchise.

Finally, we also have Banquero Joven Popular, which is an initiative from our corporate social responsibility division. This programme seeks to educate young people in school about the functioning of ethical and sustainable banking, while improving their financial education, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills.

Banco Popular Dominicano will continue to focus on promoting digital sales, improving digital experiences, promoting innovation, transforming traditional branches, and strengthening cybersecurity; and we will strive to achieve all of this while adhering to our model of responsible banking.

Mashreq Bank expands innovative digital offering to SMEs with NeoBiz

Posted on by World Finance

In 2017, the oldest bank in the UAE launched the newest. Mashreq Bank created Mashreq Neo: a digital-only bank for retail customers. Now the bank has iterated the highly successful formula to offer the same high level digital service to SMEs. Subroto Som, Head of Retail Banking Group for Mashreq Bank, explains the benefits that NeoBiz will bring to SMes in the UAE, and why he’s so excited to be at the forefront of retail banking transformation.

Subroto Som: Mashreq has been investing in technology, and has been known for its innovation in this market, for a good 50 years. We were the first ones to bring a digital only bank for retail, called Neo. We are the first to bring a digital only bank for the small business called NeoBiz. So we are constantly focusing on bringing new technology for the benefit of our consumers.

NeoBiz is initially aimed at the startups and the small businesses. We have a large number of them coming to life in the UAE, and they particularly find it very difficult to open a bank account for their financial transactions.

Small businesses have had a big difficulty in opening new accounts. They have to visit a branch multiple times, and it could take anywhere between three days to 25 days to open an account.

With NeoBiz, you don’t need to visit a branch, and it could be open between a day, or at most three days.

Once an account is open, for all your transactions, the app NeoBiz is sufficient. You don’t need to visit the branch to transact on behalf of your company.

In NeoBiz – and also for our business banking accounts – we have launched a chatbot called Emma. It assists our customers with their queries. Over time its capabilities and its functionalities will improve and will increase – and hence Emma is going to be the most friendly and useful assistant to our customers.

The second: eKYC. KYC, which is Know Your Customer, for very right reasons is becoming more enhanced and complex. There are more details necessary from a bank’s perspective, and they’re required more often.

To assist this, we have launched an eKYC, where a consumer or a customer can directly upload the details, and may not visit the branch for this activity.

The third thing that we have done a lot in this market is the new digital branch. For customers who are using the digital banking technology for the first time, it’s a prime place to try them out. There are people to help you with them, so that in future you can use them without coming to the branch.

The look and feel of the branch has changed dramatically; once you walk into it, it’s very open, welcoming. There are staff – or as we call them, universal bankers, available in the lobby, and they’re there to assist the customers either to a digital machine that is possible, or take them to a consultation room where they can discuss their specific need.

In the consultation rooms, we also have a video office where you can consult with a specialist, even if the specialist is not present at the branch.

There are specific lobbies available for our Mashreq Gold clients, and for our business banking clients.

The technology that’s coming in now is easy to integrate, easy to use, and much cheaper: that’s a bigger impact. But the technology has been here for quite some time. It’s the mobility through the mobile phone that is specifically bringing in a big value for our consumers. But overall I will say, it’s the consumer adoption that is the key. And we are seeing a big, big change – particularly in the last 18 months – where the consumer is adopting digital applications, digital banks, for their day to day use.

I’m actually quite excited that this is probably the best times for retail banking. While there is lots of challenging news in the world about macroeconomic slowdown, increased or enhanced regulatory requirements, trade barriers and trade wars and geopolitical issues; I think for retail banks this is a really good moment, where the use of technology and the adoption by the consumer, are making impossibles possible. We are able to bring about conveniences to the consumer, transactions are almost instantaneous, and it is no longer a chore to do retail banking. You should almost get to the place where you enjoy doing retail banking. And that change is coming about – not only in the UAE, but across the globe.

‘A symbol of possibilities in Africa’ – Century celebrates FPSO acquisition

Posted on by World Finance

Century Group is the largest indigenous operator of floating production storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs) in sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria is the largest oil and gas producer in Africa, but the industry has endured a long history of political challenges. Century’s Head of Business Strategy, Dr Preye Angaye, explains those challenges and how the group has overcome them; while Head of Corporate Affairs Karl Harris outlines Century’s successes this year and discusses the importance of being a proudly Nigerian brand in the oil and gas industry.

World Finance: I’m with Dr Preye Angaye and Karl Harris from Nigeria’s Century Group. Century is the largest indigenous operator of floating production storage and offloading vessels in sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria is the largest oil and gas producer in Africa, but the industry has endured a long history of political challenges.

Dr Preye, talk to me about those political challenges, and how they’re impacting investment in the oil and gas industry.

Dr Preye Angaye: Well, the political challenges we’ve had are not necessarily particular to Nigeria, but yeah.

They’ve bordered around the policy, taxation, and the operational environment. So if for instance it takes a longer time to arrive at policies that would give confidence to investors, then that would also stand as a challenge.

However, I think the government of the day has not really done too badly in recent times. We’ve had the petroleum industry governance bill passed, and the Deep Offshore Act has also in recent times come on-stream.

We’ve also had policies surrounding the local content, which tries to encourage indigenous participation. And I think on the whole there’s better corporate governance around oil and gas industry operations at the moment. So yes, we’ve had challenges, but I think we’re doing quite well.

World Finance: Have there been other challenges that the industry has faced?

Dr Preye Angaye: We’ve had issues relating to capital. When you think of the oil and gas industry, it’s basically a capital intensive business – especially when you think of gas exploration. So capital has actually been an issue, but Century Group has been able to build partnerships – so we usually have pride in our financial capability in handling problems related to capital.

And then there’s also the issue of a skills gap – so there are certain aspects of the oil and gas operations that need some depth of understanding, and we still find out that there are some gaps. But over time we’ve been able to – through partnerships and further training – bridge such gaps. So I think we’re doing pretty well.

World Finance: So how does Century work with clients to deliver value despite those challenges?

Dr Preye Angaye: We’ve always ensured that activities are carried out efficiently, and safety is always the watchword. So most clients walk up to us and ask that a particular thing be delivered; but we go beyond that. We try to understand exactly what they expect of us, and then we see what other add-ons we can bring onto the table – obviously creating opportunities for ourselves. It becomes a win-win situation for both of us.

Karl Harris: Our secret wand remains our people. Through the years we’ve succeeded in engaging people that understand the vision and drive of the company: enabling people, solving problems, and creating value.

World Finance: Now, Century is proudly 100 percent Nigerian – how important is this to you as a company, and to the future of the local industry?

Karl Harris: Well, it’s very, very important. Through the years we consider our humble beginning and where we are track record, you realise that we’ve come a long way. It took a lot of hard work, commitment, integrity. But here we are: we still don’t know yet where we are going, but we have so much more to achieve.

As an African brand, we’re very proud to be 100 percent Nigerian, because we stand as a symbol of possibilities to several other institutions out there in Africa. Like in recent times a Ghanaian exploration company – fully Ghanaian – did major exploration work off the coast, and discovered oil. The first time an African brand is doing that!

Several other companies or brands within Africa have come to realise that there’s no limitation to their dreams; their dreams are valid.

World Finance: And what does the future hold for Century Group?

Karl Harris: A very beautiful future, I must say. The year in focus now, 2019, has been awesome. Within this year 2019 alone, Century Group has made major strides. We’re talking about acquisition of two floating production and storage facilities. One of them is christened Tamara Tokoni, while the other is called Tamara Nanaye. Very Africa, Niger Delta names.

There’s so much more to achieve; we’re looking at in the future the possibility of going public, and inspiring new things.

Dr Preye Angaye: And we’re equally excited that as a company we’ve continued to encourage health and safety. We organise what we call the Health and Safety Summit; that has actually brought a number of other industries outside of oil and gas together, to discuss safety. We actually want to encourage safety to be a lifestyle. It’s our culture, and we want every other firm to think of it as its own culture as well. So, that’s something we hope to carry on with, and to do greater things: to ensure that Century Group is always out there, being international, welcoming investors, and willing to partner with all those who want to move the oil and gas industry forward.

World Finance: Preye, Karl: thank you very much.

Dr Preye Angaye: Thank you.

Karl Harris: Thank you.

CMB: Future of industry is combining investment banking and private banking

Posted on by World Finance

In the last 20 years, Monaco has seen an inflow of very sophisticated clients – not just millionaires and billionaires, but active ones, seeking help not just with managing their money, but managing their businesses. This is why Francesco Grosoli, CEO of Compagnie Monégasque de Banque (CMB), believes the future for the bank – and the industry as a whole – is to combine private banking with investment banking. He explains how CMB’s participation in the pan-European Mediobanca Group facilitates these services, and his personal ambitions for the future of the bank.

World Finance: Francesco, how does CMB set itself apart in such a highly competitive market?

Francesco Grosoli: Before talking about CMB, I think it’s important we talk about the Monaco marketplace – and how Monaco in the last 20 years has evolved.

We had an inflow of very sophisticated clients. Active entrepreneurs; billionaires – more than 50; millionaires – more than 12,000. It’s a very competitive market. And clients – particularly entrepreneurs – are looking for help in not only managing their money, but also in their different businesses.

We might have clients wanting to buy businesses, or to sell businesses; and having behind us Mediobanca Group, which is a pan-European investment banking group, is a great add to the service that we can provide.

And of course, CMB is there to manage their wealth: not only to invest their money, but also to consult us for the strategy and the future of their families.

World Finance: Mediobanca recently announced its four year plan; how does CMB fit into this strategy?

Francesco Grosoli: It’s very ambitious. So Mediobanca has planned a four percent increase in revenue, to €3bn. A four percent increase in earning per share, from €0.9-1.1bn. And a shareholder distribution over the period of €2.5bn.

And on top of it, CMB has been even more aggressive. Our goal is to reach €15bn of assets under management – so more than 20 percent increase from where we are now.

World Finance: And how do you intend to achieve this?

Francesco Grosoli: We have hired already quite a big team, joining me at the same time. Investment specialists, private bankers, to manage the client assets. But also creating synergies with the group.

The future of the industry is to bring together investment banking and private banking. Creating a private investment banking service that is, and will be, second to none.

This needs highly skilled bankers, technology, the help of the investment bank behind us. But also a lot of passion, of dedication.

Products are more or less a commodity – you can buy them everywhere. But the way you sell them to your clients, the way you are helping them, deciding which solution is the best for them: that’s what it’s all about. And that’s what I want CMB to achieve.

We don’t want to be the biggest bank; we want to be the best bank, we want to be dominant in the principality and beyond.

World Finance: Now you personally joined CMB in May of 2019 – what attracted you to join the bank?

Francesco Grosoli: I’ve been working 20 years for large groups, and the appeal of joining a smaller organisation where I can definitely influence the future of the bank, and be more impactful to bringing to life an organisation that is today very well known and recognised locally. We have very strong Monégasque DNA, but with behind us a very entrepreneurial group with a pan-European footprint.

The fact that most of the decisions are taken locally, in conjunction with our group, makes us faster, more responsive. We are closer to clients, and we are capable of putting the whole organisation for one specific deal, and making it happen very quickly.

It is time today to bring something different, to differentiate ourselves from the usual private banking service that is provided by our competitors.

That’s what we can achieve, and that’s what we will bring them in the next four years.

World Finance: Francesco, thank you very much.

Francesco Grosoli: Thank you.

Alpen Capital exploring opportunities in Myanmar, Indonesia and Africa

Posted on by World Finance

Alpen Capital is an investment banking advisory firm, offering solutions in the areas of debt, M&A and equity, to institutional and corporate clients. It’s been operating across the GCC and India since 2005 – with additional projects in Cambodia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Founder and executive chairman Rohit Walia discusses the business’s recent transactions, the opportunities he’s looking to discover in Myanmar and Indonesia, and the firm’s associate company, Alpen Asset Advisors, which specialises in asset and wealth management.

World Finance: Rohit, let’s start in the GCC; what opportunities are there for investors?

Rohit Walia: There’s a lot of opportunities – the GCC’s going through a major change in the way business is done. I mean, if you look at the UAE, the ownership patterns we used to have, what you were allowed to do, have completely changed.

Saudi Arabia had major reforms. A lot of infrastructure is coming up with their 2030 vision. Similarly, most of the GCC countries have something or the other happening. There’s a lot of interest from the outside to come and do business in the Middle East and GCC specifically.

World Finance: Tell me about some of the recent transactions you’ve been involved in.

Rohit Walia: We did a very interesting one recently. We sold a food company, a large ticket transaction, to a very large listed company in Saudi Arabia called Savola. A very nice transaction, very strategic in nature. So they took a 51 percent stake in the company, and they left the management as-is.

Complicated – it took us one year to the get the documentation done, but yeah!

We did another interesting one in Oman, where we sold a company belonging to one of our clients in Dubai, to another client in Qatar. But the business is in Oman. So yeah, we’ve done some interesting stuff along the way.

World Finance: What other emerging market opportunities are there in the region?

Rohit Walia: In the emerging market we’ve done a lot of work in Sri Lanka. We’ve funded a number of banks there, roughly three-quarters of a billion dollars. We’ve done funding in Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India. So the emerging markets have done well for us.

We’re looking at two new markets I will visit myself now: one is Myanmar, and the other one is Indonesia. We’ll see how that pans out.

World Finance: And what sorts of transactions have you been involved in, in those regions?

Rohit Walia: Mostly financial institutions. So funding financial institutions – and I think one of the things we’ve looked at is impact funding, as they call it. So women, for example: women empowerment is big. Or SME businesses. Things that increase employment, that are good for the economy, sustainable. That’s been some kind of a focus.

Most of our funding has come from development financial institutions, which give you longer-term tenure money. And it’s good for the emerging markets to get funding from the global development institutions.

World Finance: I mentioned at the top your associate company, Alpen Asset Advisors; tell me about its offering in independent wealth management.

Rohit Walia: So it’s an independent asset management offering. We used to offer previously only one bank’s products, which was Bank Saracen. We changed that about five years ago, to have a number of banks: banks like CIC, Credit Suisse, Crédit Agricole, which we are all on-boarded with, and which provide us solutions for our clients.

So each of them has a product offering, which is then tailor-made to what clients really want. So we’ve done custom-made products, we did a very interesting one in Iraq recently, for Trade Bank of Iraq, called Dananeer fund, which buys Iraqi bonds. So bespoke products, depending on what the client is looking for from the solution – we put it together.

World Finance: And you mentioned a couple of new regions you’re going to be exploring; what else is in the future for Alpen Capital?

Rohit Walia: Africa; we’ve started covering Africa, we’ve done a few transactions there. So we’ve done Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria. We’re looking at Senegal. It’s a big continent, huge market, and I think a huge opportunity for growth.

World Finance: Rohit, thank you very much.

Rohit Walia: Thank you.

AFP Confía joins the experience economy with customer engagement tech

Posted on by World Finance

In the first half of this interview, AFP Confía CEO Lourdes Arévalo and board member Robert Vinelli discussed El Savlador’s 2017 pension reforms, and the big picture for Confía’s next five years. In this video, Investment Director Rafael Castellanos and Risk Director Kelvin Mejía explain how the region’s largest pension fund is embracing new technology to more effectively and efficiently engage with its 1.5 million customers.

World Finance: Rafael, we’ve heard about the big picture for AFP Confía; now tell me about your team and your processes. How do you ensure excellent performance?

Rafael Castellanos: Well our team is composed of young but very experienced individuals. Our portfolios are mainly in fixed income securities, and we’ve helped develop the Central American region and El Salvador’s industries through investing in municipal projects: water utilities, electricity, port and airport expansions, and a variety of different industries.

Throughout the years our team has also been a pioneer in regionalising our portfolios through investing in Costa Rica and Panama; a little over $500m in the last few years. With that, and the diversification of our portfolio, we’ve been able to achieve number one performance in the industry.

World Finance: Now Kelvin, you’re currently re-engineering your processes to make better use of technology and automation; tell me more.

Kelvin Mejía: Well, with this re-engineering, we want to guarantee that our customers are our primary focus. We’re using big data analysis and machine learning tools in order to help us be closer to our clients, but resolve their problems remotely.

For instance – Rafael and their team are using Python, R, and Power BI tools to resolve everyday problems within their investment processes. Such tools I think will help us raise awareness of the pension system, help our clients to know their returns in their portfolios, and also to highlight and communicate the advantage of voluntary saving for their retirement.

World Finance: And what changes have you seen in customer engagement or savings rates since you’ve been developing this stronger dialogue with your customers?

Kelvin Mejía: Well, since 2017 pension reform, engagement is rising. Nowadays our customers have new benefits, such as partial withdrawals, which is a huge improvement to our system. So engagement is rising.

But being the biggest pension fund in Central America and the Caribbean means that we have 1.5 million customers – more than 50,000 pensioneers – so rising engagement is actually a challenge. But Confía is stepping up to that challenge, and we’re doing it through technology. Nowadays we’re using biometric identifications to our customers, we’re using self-service stations and artificial intelligence for WhatsApp.

So finally, I think that the engagement will still increase in the following years, because at the end of this year we’re submitting to our local regulator an application for a new, voluntary, savings fund. So that will be a new challenge for us, in order to help our customers to have the best pension that they deserve.

World Finance: And Rafael, how has the investment team been empowered by the new tools that Kelvin mentioned?

Rafael Castellanos: Yeah – in order to find solutions through innovations, we’ve challenged our team to look for everyday processes that can be simplified and done a lot quicker.

Being able to manipulate big data has expanded our horizons; and at the same time we’re able to use data-led approaches to find solutions without having to depend on IT specialists or data scientists.

We’re being able to do this now in a few days or maybe a day, rather than weeks.

World Finance: So getting even closer to the voice of the customer. Rafael, Kelvin, thank you both so much.

Rafael Castellanos: Thank you, Paul

Kelvin Mejía: Thank you.