Find out why Henry Tan was chosen as a judge at the SBR Awards.

Henry Tan is the managing director at Nexia TS Public Accounting Corporation and Chairman of Nexia China serving clients in the areas of mergers and acquisition, accounting and insolvency and taxation advisory in Singapore and the region.

He assists companies in Initial Public Offering, Mergers and Acquisition, business plans and fund raising. He is also on the board of these listed companies: Raffles Education Corporation Limited, YHI International Limited, China New Town Development Co. Ltd and BH Global Corporation Limited.

He was from ACS & ACJC and awarded first class honours in Accountancy from National University of Singapore in 1988 and is a Fellow of Institute of SingaporeChartered Accountants and The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and member of Mensa. Henry is a member of the Singapore Institute of Accredited Tax Professionals (SIATP), Institute of Internal Auditors and Singapore Institute of Directors, a Fellow of the Institute of Insolvency Practitioners of Singapore (FIPAS) and an Approved Liquidator registered with the Accounting & Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), Member of ISCA Corporate Reporting Committee and Chairman of Nanyang Business School (NBS) Dean’s Alumni Advisory Board.

Henry has attended the Advance Executive Management Development Program at Beijing Tsinghua University.

He was past regional chairman of Nexia Asia Pacific and board member of Nexia International Board. He was also President of Entrepreneur Organization and Spirit of Enterprise.

Nexia TS is recognised as an established mid-tier local accounting firm and an independent member firm of Nexia International.

Henry Tan was among the roster of highly esteemed judges at the recently concluded Singapore Business Review Awards. Find out more about him here:

What are your previous experiences and positions held that contributed to who you are as an expert in the business industry today?

Having to start a business from Zero base helped me to think of the unique selling point of a business existence. It helps me also to always think ahead of the industry curve and to be prepared.

What are your key business philosophies?

Integrity, integrity and integrity.

Based on the firms' nominations for the SBR Awards, what can you say about the way companies do business in Singapore?

Singapore companies are always trying to innovate and do things better. They are also expanding beyond Singapore as the market here is too small.

And check out his plans as elected president of Media Publishers Association.

Olivier Burlot's publishing dreams started when he worked at Hachette-Filippachi, the publisher of ELLE magazine. For seven years, he mastered all the basics of publishing at Hachette-Filippachi until he finally co-founded his own publishing firm ADKOM. In 2008, he sold his firm to Singapore Press Holdings.

It took five years of researching regional markets before he managed to find a new opportunity to continue his publishing venture. In 2013, he acquired Heart Media with the help of a pool of investors. In over four years, Heart Media has already grown substantially, with over 20 publications circulating in news and magazines stands in Singapore.

In an exclusive interview with Singapore Business Review, Burlot talks about how his titles are contributing to Singapore's culture, and fashion and art industry. He also lays out his plans as he chairs Media Publishers Association (MPAS) once again.
 

SBR: What were the previous posts you held prior to being the CEO and Publisher of Heart Media Group? How did these help shape you into the leader that you are now?

I arrived in Asia in 1994, and was then working for 7 years at Hachette-Filippachi, the publisher of ELLE magazine. It was there that I had learnt all the basics of publishing. In 2001, I co-founded a publishing company, ADKOM, which was subsequently sold in 2008 to SPH. After researching regional markets for new opportunities in the publishing field, I acquired Heart Media in 2013 together with a pool of investors, a Singapore based publishing company. In just over 4 years, Heart Media has grown substantially and we are today publishing a total of 20 publications in Singapore, in Malaysia and across SEA, we operate 8 websites and we organize high-end events (the SINGAPORE RENDEZVOUS, the PHUKET RENDEZVOUS and soon the PENANG RENDEZVOUS). We now have a team of 70 highly-skilled professionals.

SBR: What are your business philosophies and top three priorities for Heart Media Group?

Stay focused, push creativity and remain open to changes affecting both the media scene and society in general. Along those lines, we keep building on our key brands, L’OFFICIEL, WOW, MEN’S FOLIO and ART REPUBLIK

SBR: Tell us about your move into digital with LUXUO.com and what it is about.

Holding a portfolio of publications ranging from watches to fashion, art, yachts, we felt the need to acquire a digital property that would serve as a content aggregator for the whole group. We therefore made the acquisition in 2015 of the fast growing luxury portal www.luxuo.com, established in Hong Kong in 2007. It has proven a wise business decision and a great success in terms of reaching a new audience. LUXUO today generates close to 400,000 unique visitors per month, over 1 million of page views and is growing rapidly. LUXUO.com first perfectly well in our strategy to focus on the luxury & high-end media market. I now spend every morning close to 30 minutes on my Google Analytics to understand the latest traffic trends!

SBR: What is your new event, the SINGAPORE RENDEZVOUS

The SINGAPORE RENDEZVOUS (www.singaporerendezvous.com) was started in 2016. The next edition will be held at Raffles Marina from October 5 to 8 2017. It is a unique 4-day event in Singapore as it comprises of yachts (25 to 30 on display), classic cars, super cars, watches, champagne & alcohol tastings, photography workshops, etc. A real experience of a high-end nautical lifestyle. This year we are expecting close to 10,000 visitors. And the PHUKET RENDEZVOUS will follow just after (January 4-7 2018, Royal Phuket Marina, Thailand). Exciting events ahead!

SBR: Could you tell us more about your art title, ART REPUBLIK?

I am an art lover and I felt rather surprised when arriving in Singapore in 2012 that there was not a single substantial magazine about the arts. Based on our experience of the publishing market and our extensive network amongst advertisers, we have decided to launch in December 2013 ART REPUBLIK which has generated an amazing amount of buzz in the market amongst art collectors and galleries. We have avoided publishing a magazine perceived as “pedantic” and “arrogant” as it is often the case amongst art publications. ART REPUBLIK has a vibrant layout, is pleasant to read and provides a full coverage of what is hot & happening in the art scene in this part of the world. 20,000 copies of the magazine are printed every issue and we update the related Instagram feed @art_republik on a daily basis. We are exhibiting at ARTSTAGE and love to meet our readers during the annual 2 Affordable Art Fairs held in Singapore.

SBR: Do you see Singapore as an Asian capital of culture? How will it change over the next few years?

Singapore has already changed a lot over the past 15 years, and for the better. Look at the stunning National Gallery that opened in 2015! It is now a city firmly recognized for its art events, museums and galleries on the global map. The art scene is today vibrant. We see Singapore as a great platform to appreciate the best of the region in terms of creation, art, new trends. From Vietnam to Indonesia through Burma and Malaysia, we witness a great deal of artists choosing Singapore to exhibit their latest artworks. This is a major achievement. Through ART REPUBLIK we wish to encourage such creative energy and the emergence of new talents.

SBR: You were also elected president of the Media Publishers Association (MPAS). What insights is that giving you into the direction of the industry?

My ultimate advise to all media owners: not be afraid of exploring new business opportunities. In our case, we went from Publishing to Digital to Events. We now have major 3 lines of business. The example of the Charlton Media group is a similar one with the creation of new lines of business. The Media industry has radically changed over the past 10 years and it will still be a different one in 10 years. Be ready for some turbulences and new challenges. But above all, keep building on your brands and adapt them to a fast changing business environment.

“We are more than just a middleware company,” says Gerber.

The world’s growing interconnectedness and the exponential growth of the digital space are paving the way for massive transformations across markets. In the midst of these physical changes, there are plenty of factors that remain keys to business growth. The success of TIBCO Software Inc. in the Asia Pacific and Japan region hinges not only on expertise, but also on a people-centric and relationship-driven philosophy.

Erich Gerber, general manager for Asia Pacific and Japan, carries with him eight years of rich homegrown experience with TIBCO. Gerber leads sales and go-to-market strategy and fosters deeper customer engagements, strengthens partnerships, and forms a greater network of alliances.

Gerber first joined TIBCO in 2009 as regional vice president of the company's Central, Eastern European, and Nordic regions. In 2014, he was appointed as vice president, global sales operations based at TIBCO's headquarters in Palo Alto, California.

In an exclusive interview with Singapore Business Review at the TIBCO NOW 2017 held in Singapore in March, Gerber provides us with a bigger picture of how TIBCO approaches its Asian market, its achievements thus far, and the prospects of its two major product lines.

Prior to becoming GM for the Asia Pacific region, you had some key roles in TIBCO’s US and European offices. How have your experiences in these positions helped you in your current role and how was the transition to the APAC market?

First of all, I’ve been with TIBCO for a little while. It definitely helps to understand some of the customer situations because ultimately we’re talking to prospects and customers about the success stories that other customers have established. Being in the field for a long time helps.

I’ve been at the headquarters and I would say that is probably one of the single most critical factors to be successful in a remote region, remote from an American software company’s perspective like APJ. Because very often you look at the stepchild that is somewhere out there in APJ and obviously they have their own challenges as we know, and it takes a little while before HQ accepts that there is something different. After all they produce less revenue than the North Americas and they come second or third, now it helps a lot to actually know the individuals at HQ because I’ve been there meeting these people face to face. There’s a trust level that builds up.

The transition question is an interesting one because I’ve never done business in Asia before, so it takes a little bit of boldness for people to send someone there to say go and run that place. I have a background of multi-cultural expertise, and in Europe we do confront those cultural differences.

It was very good to see that there’s a capable team in place who knows a lot about the market. So basically it’s more about enabling them to talk to the market and talk to me about what they want to achieve. I found it very rewarding to come here. It was a smooth transition and records show that there’s a fantastic last 12 months here. I can probably say that there’s a 50% revenue increase. We’ve had tremendous success.

We just encountered a market that is very promising in terms of requiring what we actually do. It feels different than eight, five, four years ago where we had probably done similar things but the market had its sweet spot in another place. Now it’s all about customer experience, it’s all about the digital journey, implementation of middleware, integration or interconnectivity of everything as we call it is still a hot topic. So it plays in our hands.

Since your appointment as GM, what would you say has been the most significant achievement?

It’s always about customers. We want to double the customer base over the next period of time. So as any other software vendor, we always need to do good business with our existing customers and continue to work if they want their journey. And it is typically valuable to our goals to increase the customer base and if you look what we’ve done in the last 12 months in Asia in markets that never really contributed much before like India, like Japan, like Korea, we have done substantial business with new names and I would say this is one of the most critical achievements that I could say.

Another one would be fostering the strength of the team because ultimately doing business is a people to people affair, so it takes the right people to interact with the market. We can have the best value proposition and you’ll probably not be successful if the people who actually represent the company are not up to their cause. But we have established a very strong team and we continue to build it.

What opportunities and what challenges does the APJ region present in terms of banking technology and digital transformation?

APJ is a very big market so the first challenge is to find the right battles that you can fight with your army because there’s too much distraction. Breaking it down to financial services, I think you see a lot of very smartly acting organisations in the financial services area in this market and by that I mean financial services is a traditional industry and traditional industries have a DNA that is a bit slow in adapting change and I generally believe that the market of financial services will change dramatically for the next 10 years.

Meaning, we would probably see some big names disappearing, because of a lot of change, bringing a technology basis that doesn’t make it necessary for an intermediate bank to stand in the middle of a transfer of cash. There’s a lot of digital natives out there who play in that field, and I personally believe that the financial services market is challenged by finding the right balance as they still have a dominant position to adopt these digital natives, not to fight them, but to make sure that they play the game with them. One way of doing that is actually to embrace them as part of their API management strategy.

What would you say are your key business focuses, especially in relation to this new market?

I believe in a long-term value chain of a human relationship. You cannot always win, but it’s extremely important to leave the backfield with an attitude that doesn’t burn bridges. Sometimes, things are coming back in the long run and especially in Asia, I encounter situations where we are being given a chance to play and probably it’s clear from the beginning that the odds to win are not that high. We’re basically being tested whether or not we are willing to play the long term game. So that means it’s about building long term relationships. That would be a very critical one.

The other one is that I believe in leading the team by example. Probably not the best teacher, but I can show what it takes to be successful. I believe in integrity, like any other manager sometimes have to get rid of people. We can do it with a certain attitude that is explaining your actions.

Anything you would like our readers to know that we haven’t covered?

TIBCO is a company that is doing both middleware and analytics, and I say this because we very often drop on the market and the association of TIBCO is we are the middleware company and they don’t know too much about the other side that is actually very well developed. We’re doing a lot more than just middleware.

Its hotel brands are segmented by traveller profiles, not by demographics.

If a scholarship did not come Arthur Kiong’s way, he would not have been able to rise as one of the most accomplished CEOs in the hospitality sector. Perhaps, he would have ended up as an established radio broadcaster instead. However, he grabbed the opportunity to study again when he was given the chance for a higher diploma at Shatec Hospitality School. Flash forward to today, he spearheads Far East Hospitality Holdings, which has a portfolio of eight unique brands of hotels and serviced residences.

Operating more than 10 hospitality assets with a combined portfolio of close to 90 hotels and serviced residences, Far East Hospitality has established its presence in seven countries comprising of Australia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Singapore. Singapore Business Review spoke with Kiong to know how his stint as a radio broadcaster helped him become one of the successful players in the hospitality industry.

How did your venture in the hospitality sector start?

I started my career as a radio broadcaster and entered the hospitality sector when I accepted a scholarship for a higher diploma at Shatec Hospitality School. After completing my scholarship, I dove head first into the industry, making sure that I experienced every facet of the industry from operations to sales and marketing, picking up a wide array of skills along the way.

How did your stint as a radio broadcaster eventually help you in becoming a successful business leader in the hospitality sector?

I would say it is the creative process. Radio helped me hone my abilities to conceptualise what may be of interest to an invisible listener. It also taught me how to craft words and tones effectively to communicate ideas. Today, I constantly challenge myself to not see the market as homogenous, but to create meaningfully different hotel brands that address the specific preferences within the mid-tier spectrum of the market.

Tell us briefly about Far East Hospitality and how it started.

Far East Hospitality Holdings Pte Ltd (Far East Hospitality) is an International hospitality owner and operator with a diverse portfolio of eight unique and complementary brands of hotels, serviced residences and apartment hotels, including Oasia, Quincy, Rendezvous, Village, Adina Apartment Hotels, Medina Serviced Apartments, Travelodge Hotels and Vibe Hotels.

Far East Hospitality owns more than 10 hospitality assets and operates a combined portfolio of over 13,500 rooms under its management across close to 90 hotels and serviced residences in seven countries – Australia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore, with more in its development pipeline.

Far East Hospitality is a 70-30 joint venture formed in 2013 between Far East Orchard Limited (a listed company under the Far East Organization) and The Straits Trading Company Limited. In the same year, Far East Hospitality, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Far East Hospitality Investments (Australia) Pte Ltd, completed a 50-50 joint venture with Australia’s Toga Group.

What is your approach on tourism and hospitality?

Tourism is about creating compelling strategies, systems, infrastructure, and expertise to persuade foreigners to not only visit our country but also to motivate them to increase their expenditure on a destination level. Hospitality is about creating wonderful memories and experiences for our guests.

They are different sides of the same coin. It is for this reason that we work closely with the Singapore Tourism Board to align our respective efforts, resources, and interests.

What are your key business philosophies? How do these shape your goals for your company?

Having been in the hospitality sector for over 30 years, I have had the opportunity to work with some of the best hospitality operators in the world. I have also worked across different continents.

At Far East Hospitality we want our team to see the bigger picture, and understand our role from various perspectives instead of just the task at hand. We need to understand the business owners’ aspirations, the investors’ expectations, the limitations to the aim and yet be creative enough to formulate and execute the solution to achieve our mission – creating wonderful memories and experiences for our guests.

This can only be done with people who share the same passion and values. This is why we ensure that the working culture and environment we create must attract and retain this quality of talent and allow them to flourish.

It is easy for those working in hospitality to mentality succumb to a task. What does this mean? It is the conventional style of work where people view their job as fulfilling a task – to make up the rooms, to process a booking, etc.

At Far East Hospitality, we are always encouraging our teams to think less conventionally. Instead of following the status quo of providing a service, they are the performers who create wonderful memories for others.

Efficiency, productivity, and profitability are all very important, and we cannot sustain a good business without these elements. However, we must be driven by a higher mission of creating something meaningful for others. This is what we strongly believe in.

What sectoral issue would you like to discuss and what role does your company play in the issue? How will your company be a tool in solving issues, if any?

The hospitality and tourism sectors are constantly changing; travellers have become more self-aware and attuned to what they want. With more information available at the touch of a button, travellers are well-informed of how exactly they can get what they want.

Today, travellers are taking a deeper look into how the hotel fits them, and whether it is in line with the experience they have in mind. This is why for example in Singapore, we are committed to providing a uniquely Singaporean experience for our hotel guests beyond the usual tourist attractions.

What do you think is the biggest differentiator of companies in the hospitality sector? What makes Far East Hospitality different from its peers?

Today’s travellers are less swayed by star-ratings and standardisation. They are looking for the unique, the bespoke, exceptional value, wellness oriented, a different type of stay experience.

We appreciate that travellers are looking for new experiences and accommodation options. We are addressing this through the diversity of our portfolio of hotels and serviced residences. For example, in Singapore, Village caters to families and urban explorers, Quincy for the social connectors, Rendezvous for the conventional travellers, Oasia for the wellness conscious and our serviced residences for those staying beyond a week.

Our hotel brands are segmented by traveller profiles, instead of demographics or countries of origins. This has helped us remain committed to providing a customised and memorable experience for our hotel guests.

Mark Fox brought the industry's brightest and most proactive minds together.

Behind any revolutionary or disruptive concept or technology there is likely to be a meeting of minds. Think Crick and Watson, Hewlett and Packard, or Jobs and Wozniak for obvious examples. It remains true in today’s IT communications industry. The very technologies that promise to connect us globally without the need for physical presence, actually owe their existence to the right people meeting in the right conditions at the right time. But few people realise just how many of those seminal first contacts began at NetEvents – and they are still taking place.

NetEvents is a company launched in the 1990s with the promise to “network the network industry” with a program of exclusive two-day press/industry events. It now brings together senior figures from the world’s media, press and analysts, together with C-level executives from leading IT companies, service providers, venture capitalists and industry visionaries. And NetEvents is still very much about the meeting of minds.

Software Defined Networking, the once ground-breaking Blackberry smartphone, the virtual corporation, Software as a Service, the Carrier Ethernet revolution, Intrusion Prevention Systems, Cloud Computing, … These are among the innovations that became buzzwords, that were first launched internationally at NetEvents, or simply owe their success to contacts first made at NetEvents… the list is endless.

Singapore Business Review was among those invited to this year’s NetEvents Global Press & Analyst Summit in Silicon Valley, which also marked the celebration of twenty years since the very first NetEvents in the Cote d’Azure, France. It was a busy schedule, but it offered us a chance to catch up with NetEvents CEO and founder, Mark Fox, and ask about the secrets of his company’s success.

Tell us briefly what NetEvents does and how it started.
In the 1990s the growth of low cost communications networks was making globalisation a big issue, with IT companies keen to extend their business overseas. A lot of money was being spent on lengthy press tours – where the press were not interested unless you sent your top people – and expensive launch events packed with lavish hospitality gimmicks. I already had a lot of  contacts among the international IT press and analyst community, so I did my own research asking “what would the press themselves want?” It became clear that they were getting tired of one-off “ra-ra” presentations from vendors and wanted a chance to put competing companies head to head onstage, put questions on the level and hear them debate against each other. So together with the press and analyst community we came up with the NetEvents formula: offering vendors a way to meet the entire region’s IT press in a comfortable yet focused setting – and all in just a couple of days.

Give us an anecdote that explains how NetEvents works
Take Cylance, for a recent example: Stuart McClure, Founder, President & CEO – Stuart needed to tell the world about his radical Artificial Intelligence-driven security technology when there were so many other voices out there shouting for attention. So Cylance, relatively unknown at that time, attended our NetEvents April 2015 Global Press Summit where they spent real quality time with the world’s leading IT press and industry analysts, explaining its technology and answering detailed questions. But that was not all: the biggest opportunity at NetEvents lies in the quality of those attending, and among those was the head of Dell Ventures’ Managing Director Jim Lussier. It so happened that Dell awarded Cylance with a major contract to provide end point security solutions to their customers and went on to invest in Cylance later that year. I personally set up a private meeting on the spot between Cylance’s CMO and the CEO and CTO of Ignition UK, that lead to European distribution and Cylance products becoming Ignition’s top sellers. In three years Cylance has gone from just three people working around Stuart McClure’s kitchen table to a seven hundred person powerhouse, already profitable before securing its most recent $100M round of funding and achieving Unicorn status with a valuation of over 1.1 billion dollars.

What are your business philosophies?
At the NetEvents 40 Years of Ethernet celebration in 2013, a lot was said by Ethernet inventor Bob Metcalfe about PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) innovation in the mid 1970s. It was a time when great minds from many sources – business academia and government – came together to create a vibrant culture of innovation that continues to inspire business for decades to come. At NetEvents we do not operate on that scale, yet I always make sure that we do something similar: bringing together leading IT visionaries with C-level industry and Service Provider executives, the enquiring minds of the IT press, the skills of the analysts and the street-wise know-how of the finance industry, taking them out of their daily routine to rub shoulders in an informal yet focused luxury environment. It makes things happen, ideas take root – and they don’t always remember that it was NetEvents that provided the creative matrix!

Tell us about your vision for NetEvents and what you are currently working on
Right from the start the irony of our position was that we were encouraging personal contact between the very people who were launching technologies that were supposed to replace face-to-face meetings. A lot has happened since and has fed into the NetEvents experience, both because of our position at the leading edge and because NetEvents provides an ideal environment for launching new virtual meeting technologies. Looking back to 1998, we were among the first to broadcast a live event worldwide, and around 2008 we conducted the first global multi-lingual interactive sessions using Skype instant messaging and a team of translators. Despite all that, the latest solutions are a long way from ousting the total experience of what we called “networking in the flesh” and people still value and remember those shared moments better than any electronic communications. It’s hard to predict the future while we are so open to the new ideas we encourage: but since our recent event we are exploring ideas how we, together with participating media, may be able adopt QSocial’s AI-driven public sentiment barometer technology to quantify the impact certain announcements have on the industry.

Tell us what makes you unique and what makes you stand out in the industry
What “makes us” unique? We simply are unique! Seriously, no-one has successfully recreated the entire NetEvents experience, though there are some companies modelling our “two-days to meet the entire region’s press” formula on a smaller national scale. There have also been some NetEvents-inspired add-ons to the big industry shows where people are already in attendance. But no-one else flies in the world’s top media gatekeepers from across the world for two days of intense interaction. What’s more, we serve industry at all stages: from the start up to big names like Dell and HP who continue to send their top people to NetEvents, recognising it as an essential complement to their extensive global PR activities.

What sectoral issue would you like to discuss and what role would NetEvents play in solving these issues?
It could be from any region worldwide, but let us take a typical well-funded Silicon Valley start up that is now ready to build its global brand. It is a tough call, because today’s backers are impatient to see results at the same time as the company is trying to build its structure and develop its core offerings. The window of opportunity is tight, and NetEvents packs colossal value into just two days – together with all the follow up, not just in terms of media coverage but also initiating new relationships with industry peers, venture capitalists, business angels, distributors and service providers who are also there and looking for opportunities and contacts. NetEvents offers an amazing opportunity – as one vendor stated at our very first event “now its up to industry to make the news”. So take this opportunity. Choose carefully the best people to attend, the most articulate and also the ones with real ideas and vision to share. There is no better way to be heard by the right people – and ultimately the world – than at NetEvents.

He founded the world's leading cloud video creation portal for brands.

Tim Norton is no stranger to failures. After he failed with his two earlier business ventures, Norton was soon overwhelmed with debt, with no assets to augment his losses. This did not discourage him to put up a business. Few other attempts later, he founded what he now proudly calls 90 Seconds.

90 Seconds is a platform where brands can purchase, plan, shoot, edit and review professional videos across the globe - all online or from their mobile. Norton likens 90 Seconds to AirBnB and Uber, in the sense that people have access to everything they need under one, comprehensive software platform and marketplace.

Over the last five years, 90 Seconds managed to produced 10,000 videos for more than 1,000 brands in 80 countries. It has come a long way since Norton established it as a startup with nothing in his pockets, only the vision to shake up Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms.

Singapore Business Review spoke with Norton to find out how the 90 Seconds startup became a global enterprise.

SBR: Explain what your company does. What is new and different versus your peers?

90 Seconds is the world's leading cloud creation platform, allowing brands to purchase, plan, shoot, edit and review video anywhere in the world, online and on mobile.

90 Seconds is a platform which combines a marketplace, workflow and asset management software system, with a global community of vetted, rated and managed 90 Seconds Creators and, a global 90 Seconds Success Management System and team.

The 90 Seconds marketplace, workflow and asset management system has been designed specifically to enable and manage end to end cloud video production. The software is completely unique and being constantly developed to be the best cloud video production software in the world.

The 90 Seconds Creator community uses a global network of both freelance and small business video professionals and resources and provides a unique and refined software and people based activation and engagement system to turn individual talented people and small businesses into high quality, fast, collaborative global 90 Seconds Creator teams.

90 Seconds has a unique 90 Seconds Success Management system developed over 6 years which combines software and people systems with a world class team of success managers with a range of deep video production backgrounds from online video to TV and film production houses and TV broadcasters.

The seamless and unique combination of the software and the community is what enables 90 Seconds to provide incredible value to both creators and brands at very high quality and efficiency (speed, simplicity and financially).

See how it works through this link.

SBR: Give us an anecdote that explains how your company works.

Let’s imagine you’re a big multinational brand in over 400 locations throughout the world and you need to shoot in a whole bunch of those locations over the next 12 days. You would come to 90 Seconds and click the ‘make a video’ button, put in a brief and you can put in anything you can do. You might put in a two line brief or you might put in everything you want, all with clicking a few buttons. That then instantly activates a production person to contact you. A shooter will be with you anywhere from an hour to a day in over 80 countries around the world. They turn up and run a professional video shoot. If you don’t know how to run a professional shoot, they’ll guarantee they’ll get the shots and sound bites and tell a good story. That footage will get uploaded, an editor will jump online, potentially in a different location, ready to do that job straight away. They’ll then do an edit and then deliver that video straight back to you for review. Once you’re happy,that video will be published to the web with an initial round of SEO. This entire process will be managed all online and in one location, on the web and on mobile.

See how Uber does video Production on 90 Seconds 

SBR: Tell us about your vision for the company and what you are currently working on.

In the immediate here and now, 90 Seconds has recently opened a base in San Francisco and will be opening an additional 3 bases in the coming months, in New York, Hong Kong and Berlin. Our main base is still Singapore though.

In the not too distant future the entire 90 Seconds platform will have been Rebuilt to ensure we stay the best cloud video creation platform in the World. This will deliver to our customers (Brands and Creators) an amazing and world beating experience that people love to use. It will also provide massive customer acquisition and retention opportunities and future proof that the company's product & technology will continue to be highly competitive.

We will also expand out our coverage, which is our creator community. Currently there are over 5,000 creators in over 80 countries, and soon we’ll see that number go up to around 20,000 or 50,000 so we really have true global coverage and brands can access 90 Seconds creators anywhere.

SBR: Tell us what makes you unique and what makes you stand out in the industry.

What makes us different is definitely our workflow, marketplace and asset management, all in one place and managed online and on mobile. The fact that brands can purchase, plan, shoot and edit anywhere in the world is really something totally unique!

90 Seconds also has a unique video series where you can go behind the scenes and watch the action as it happens. We capture our entire business story in real-time. Ride the Wave (https://ridethewave.video ) was launched in 2015 and has followed the company through its journey, including our recent completion of our USD $7.5m Series A funding, led by Sequoia.

SBR: What sectoral issue would you like to discuss and what role does your company play in the issue? How will your company be a tool in solving issues, if any?

The 90 Seconds platform is targeted to work for the brands and creators and bring them together really fast and efficiently. Because if you’re a big brand or agency trying to deploy say 10 film shoots across Ssia right now it’s a big deal and it’s probably going to cost you a lot of money. You can push that through the 90 Seconds platform at a lower cost and get the result. What’s coming through is that 90 Seconds is the platform that facilitates everyone in the video production marketplace, in one place, which is what these brands and agencies need and want.
 

Winson Yap shared his three goals.

Transamerica Life Bermuda, has recently appointed an industry veteran Winson Yap as CEO for its Singapore business. Winson, who has 20 years of experience in the industry will lead the company as it capitalises on the growing high-net High Net Worth and Ultra-High Net Worth markets in Asia.

Transamerica Life Bermuda is authorised to do business in Hong Kong and Singapore. It is ranked by Singapore Business Review this year as 12th largest insurer in Singapore based on total assets. It has a total of $2.02 billion total assets as at 2014.

Singapore Business Review caught up with Winson, to talk about how he intends to leverage on a wealth of industry experience and knowledge to build on the company’s success in his new position.


 SBR: What makes you excited about your new position?

Winson: I’ve worked in the insurance industry for 20 years and my experience across multiple divisions, including product strategy, business development and distribution, provides deep business insight and an overarching strategic perspective that I’m excited to bring to the role.

Transamerica Life Bermuda has a tradition of excellence and an outstanding track record. I’m looking to build on that history of success and deliver even better service to our customers in Singapore and across Asia.

It’s an exciting time to be operating in Asia-Pacific. The region presents the largest market opportunity for the High Net Worth (HNW) and Ultra-High Net Worth worldwide, and while there is a growing appreciation of life insurance as a key instrument in the wealth management toolbox, market penetration remains surprisingly low.

As a major financial hub, Singapore is key to Transamerica Life Bermuda’s growth in the region. I’m looking forward to leverage on these trends to drive the company’s growth in Singapore and beyond.

SBR: What three goals are you focused on?

Winson: While our existing relationship with our brokers remains a key focus, we are currently exploring partnership opportunities to broaden our distribution network. In doing so, we’ll be able to extend our reach in Asia and provide life insurance solutions to more High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs)throughout the region.

We also aim to strengthen the capabilities of our team in Singapore. Since embarking on my new role, I’ve been working to build a strong leadership team and culture by empowering employees in key managerial roles and providing them with the autonomy to implement and take ownership for strategic decisions. By enhancing our local competencies in operations and distribution, we will be able to better collaborate across our wider network.

This brings me to my third goal, which is to lead the team in a clear, strategic direction of growth. I believe in a distinction between leadership and management – while it is essential to manage tasks and timelines to achieve key deliverables, a good leader equips a team with necessary critical skills and encourages an environment which brings out the best in people, and inspires and guides them toward a common goal.

SBR: What will you do differently in this position?

Winson: Building on the success of recent years, we intend to expand beyond our current product range and diversify our product offerings. We have plans in the pipeline to explore propositions beyond our existing product portfolio, which respond to the changing needs of Asia’s HNWIs. This is in response to recent shifts in the market such as a growing appreciation for retirement planning as well as multi-generation wealth transfer among HNWIs.

For a business to serve its customers well, I believe that efficiency and effectiveness are critical elements in day-to-day operations. In addition to strengthening our local leadership team, we plan to invest in operations and explore opportunities to create greater synergies and efficiencies across our offices.

At its heart, the Transamerica Life Bermuda story is one of growth. We plan to carry on this legacy by exploring opportunities in new markets. There is a growing demand for life insurance beyond Hong Kong and Singapore, and HNWIs are increasingly looking to Asia as a secure market to invest in. As one of Asia’s leading HNW life insurance providers, we are well-poised to serve their needs.

SBR: What changes are you planning for?

Winson: In the last few years, Singapore has become an increasingly integral part of Transamerica Life Bermuda’s growth strategy. As such, we are looking to develop new offerings and products tailored specifically to Singapore’s HNWIs.

For these changes to take place, I’m looking to redefine our vision and strategy for our Singapore office. We are committed to this market and intend to grow our presence here, in terms of our headcount, our distribution network and the customers we serve out of Singapore.

This is a journey that I’m excited to be embarking on with the team. I’m privileged to be working alongside a team of passionate, hardworking individuals and I have the utmost confidence that we will succeed.

SBR: What are your key business philosophies?

Winson: For me, it boils down to four principles – professionalism, meritocracy, teamwork and purpose.

A key lesson I learnt early on in my career is the importance of upholding the highest professional standards in relationships with all partners, be it with customers, business partners or employees.

I’m a strong advocate of meritocracy at the workplace, and this is a philosophy I share with the company. By rewarding employees who bring their best to their work and peers, this inspires them to deliver even better work and by extension, enables us to build a solid team of talented individuals.

Going beyond the individual, growing our capabilities as a team is integral to success. This philosophy is especially true for Transamerica Life Bermuda as we operate in lean, agile teams where collaboration and teamwork are essential.

Intrinsically, a company cannot exist for the sole purpose of profits or balancing numbers on a balance sheet. There must be a strong sense of purpose and alignment among all employees with a shared mission. I’m proud to lead a company with great clarity in its mission – to safeguard generations of wealth. It is for this purpose that we work to secure the wealth legacies that individuals have built through generations of hard work, and bring them complete peace of mind.

SBR: What previous positions prepared you for this one and how?

Winson: My previous role as the Chief Distribution Officer at Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore was particularly useful in equipping me with a wide breadth of experience and knowledge for my current position.

It was a cross-functional role across sales channel management, product development, operations and training, which afforded a critical perspective of the company’s day-to-day operations.

Perhaps the most valuable lesson I learnt has been the need for the team to have a clear and articulate voice on management decisions. For a business to operate efficiently, we cannot afford to sit on the sidelines and rely on a single individual to lead the way. I believe that it is key for all members of a team to voice their constructive opinions toward identifying the most prudent course of action, and implementing the most effective solutions.


SBR: Anything else you’d like to add?

Winson: While we are operating in a climate of economic uncertainty, I am confident that Transamerica Life Bermuda will be able to overcome the challenges ahead. Our strong track record of growth is a testament to our ability to overcome challenges and emerge stronger than ever.

Most recently, our sound financial strength has been reaffirmed by our AA- Standard & Poor’s rating on 12 May 2016. With a line-up of talented and skilled individuals in our team, I believe that we will continue to grow as a company and safeguard the wealth legacies of HNWIs for generations to come.


 

Get to know Helen Ng.

With only a fewer women employed in the logistics sector, some may think that working in this industry may be more difficult for women than men. Some may be even convinced that women need to show higher performance in order to receive the same amount of recognition and be more considered for management positions than their male counterparts with equivalent qualifications. This negativity is hoped to change with the coming of the first female chair in Asia's regional industry body for self-storage.

Singapore-based General Storage Co., takes pride of having its very own Helen Ng appointed as the new Chairperson of Self Storage Association Asia (SSAA). Helen, who is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the firm which operates self-storage facilities in Singapore under the Lock+Store brand, is the first female Chair of the group.

Singapore Business Review caught up with Helen to talk about what she will do differently.

What makes you excited about your new position?
Being appointed the first female Chair of Self-Storage Association Asia (SSAA) is an important milestone for me. The logistics sector is still dominated by men. This is an exciting development that coincides with the call for more gender diversity in the boardroom.

What three goals are you focused on?
I will focus on raising visibility of the SSAA especially our accreditation programme that ensures industry benchmarking to safeguard consumers' interests. One of our programme's priorities is to strengthen our members' commitment to fire prevention and public safety standards. Next, I would like to help our members gain valuable insights into the industry and growth opportunities such as the 4Ds (death, divorce, density and dislocation) and the rise of e-commerce in Asia, through networking sessions and other interactive platforms, online or offline. Finally, I would like to promote the use of technology and software to achieve greater operational efficiency and as a value product offering to help our storers, especially our E-commerce storers with their order fulfilment, for example. Even as Singapore aims to be a Smart Nation, Self-Storage has to be just as "smart".

What will you do differently in this position?
That's an interesting question. The outgoing Chair has done a great job bringing the leading self-storage operators together. I would like to further strengthen the synergies between the different operators and help the smaller players find their footing, either in the form of a merger with a leading player or developing a unique product identity that would ensure their survival.

What changes are you planning for?
I am planning for a more consumer-oriented outreach, including a comprehensive membership registry on our website with a visual map of our members' facilities throughout Asia and their different offerings, a thematic online showcase of the different aspects of self-storage such as wine storage, office space, air con/ non-air con storage units, etc., and consumer insights surveys at the Asia Pacific level driven by the SSAA. I am definitely keen to open up the conversation about women in the logistics industry and push for greater diversity in the self-storage industry through various speaking platforms.

What are your key business philosophies?
Competition is healthy. Competition gives consumers more choices and pushes one to innovate new, exciting product offerings. Diligence, inventiveness and perseverance are key to achieving enduring success and carving up a superior brand name.

What previous positions prepared you for this one and how?
I come from a background in property development. I took over the Lock+Store business from real estate developer Mapletree in November 2010. Prior to this, I was part of the AngOon Hue Pte Ltd senior management team which developed Greenview Mansion, a new property catering to long-term housing needs in the north of Singapore. I was in charge of Human Resource, Business Development and Marketing. Concurrently, the company took over the management of and turned around Sembawang Shopping Centre which was then sold to CapitalMall Trust in 2003. From 2004 to 2005, I oversaw the expansion of the Food and Beverage arm of Comfort Perth City Hotel in Australia and the construction of an additional carpark block. Today, it is a thriving three-star business hotel.

Anything else you'd like to add?
Self-storage is entering an exciting new phase with the accelerating pace of global economic migration. The opportunities are there but we must understand our consumers' needs first - right down to the ideal storage unit size and preferred storage timeframe for the different demographic groups. By coming together and sharing insights, we can serve our customers better and bring the industry to greater heights. That's really our aim at SSAA.
 

“The big failure is not failing to hit ambitious results, it's failing to try".

Apart from having a competent team, a comprehensive suite of products and services, and a dedication to customer-centricity, one of the key things that propel a company’s growth is having a strong-willed leader. But for a tech company like TIBCO Software Inc., the task requires more than just being strong-willed. It is imperative to have the experience, the industry know-how, and a great passion for innovation and change.

Murray Rode is the Chief Executive Officer of TIBCO Software Inc., bringing nearly 30 years of experience to his role. He is directly responsible for a variety of functions, including finance, corporate development, and IT.

Previously, Murray held the role of Chief Operating Officer at TIBCO, encompassing a range of responsibilities covering finance, marketing, and corporate development. Murray has been with TIBCO (and its predecessor company) since 1995 and has held a number of different roles, including CFO and EVP Strategic Operations. He holds a BA from the University of Alberta, Canada.

At the TIBCO NOW conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, we spoke with Murray to find out more about his business philosophies, his greatest challenges and achievements, as well as his goals for TIBCO moving forward.

You've been with TIBCO for almost two decades. What would you say were the biggest challenges you had to address especially during the early years of the company?

In the early days it was just the notion of expansion - getting customers and making projects successful. Each customer you have was important. For me, there was a big focus at that time on particular projects and having successful outcomes on those projects.

The next challenge as we got a little more mature as a company was how to acquire other companies. how to learn a good acquisition and integration process.

Then as we got to half a billion in revenue, the challenges started to become about, at the one hand, operating at scale - operating at a size where you need more systematic approaches to a lot of things. And then the second half was more about strategy. What were going to be the new markets, new products? How do we keep feeding the growth engine?

As we got to a billion, the challenges had a lot to do with investor relations. Your growth challenges at a billion are harder. It's a dramatic change.

Prior to becoming CEO, you've held several executive roles within the company (COO, CFO, EVP Strategic Operations). How have your experiences holding these positions helped you become a better CEO? How was the transition?

One thing that's important to understand is that I didn't really come out of a finance background. I was in management consulting before I came to TIBCO. Then I did project and business development work which got me into mergers & acquisitions. I did that for a while before I became the CFO. So I was a bit of an unorthodox CFO.

For me, in some ways, the transition to CEO was made a little easier because I had operating roles and I've done other things. And I think a lot of people in the company joke that there's not any title left for me except that one.

I'm very conversant with the operating metrics of the company, the financial measurements of our progress and how we use that to run the business. I've run sales groups, business units, bought companies, integrated companies, and I've been the CFO.

I've done lots of stuff so in many ways I'm a classic example of a CEO who's been brought up from multiple different divisions of the company and it gives me a good perspective of a lot of things. So I'm able to synthesize that, maybe better than CEOs who haven't.

What do you consider as your biggest achievements so far as the CEO of TIBCO?

I haven’t been CEO that long so I'll probably point to some modest things. I think leading the company through the last 18 months is an accomplishment in the sense that we have successfully navigated going from public to private. And with all those changes, we have also been able to keep our innovation engine in tact.

And in fact, more than just keeping it in tact, what we're showing here at the conference is the most innovation we've had to showcase in our history. Now I can't take a lot of credit for that. That's my team, my engineers, and a great executive team.

What are your key business philosophies?

Results matter but the key thing is that you're trying, striving to do something innovative and valuable. The big failure is not failing to hit ambitious results, it's failing to try. That’s the important thing. I don't want people to be afraid of failing at something.

The other thing I'm very big on is a culture of respect for people. I'm also a big believer of the notion that you can't be afraid to cannibalize your own business. You can't be afraid to stand back from your own idea and be as objectively critical of them as possible.

Fourthly, I like to bring a big focus from the top on openness and communications within the company.

How do you effectively deal with communications within the C-suite executives in the company who also have varying backgrounds?

I'm a big believer in the value of understanding the personality profile of the management team, and them understanding that of each other, so it's clearer to communicate.

Secondly, you do have to lead by example if you want your people to be open and treat each other with respect.

Another thing that's really important for high performance teams is that you have to let them reach conclusions with you. There are times when you may have to enforce some decisions, but usually they are the ones that have the least stickiness. People have to come along with you on the journey.

What goals are you focused on in the next year or two?

There are three things: sales, innovation, and awareness.

A big goal this year is driving sales execution in a more multi-dimensional model. By that I mean not just an effective direct sales force but a better set of partner and digital channels or what we refer to as high-velocity selling especially with this core to edge shift in the business.

The second big thing is continuing to build on the success of the last 18 months with the core innovation capacity of the company. I'm very focused on how that continues to develop because it's not an end-goal. It's a continuous process. You've got to keep feeding that machine.

Longer term, the third thing that I’m very focused on is the marketing voice and brand awareness around TIBCO - how we continue to get broader recognition for what TIBCO really is and what it does.

What are some of the acquisitions coming up now that you've gone private?

Mashery was done as a private company. It was a strategic acquisition that helped accelerate our roadmap.

Looking ahead, broad areas that we're interested in are the larger space of data preparation and how you can stage data for easier, more accurate analytics. We're doing stuff there already but more in that space is interesting to us - not essential, but interesting.

One other big area that we're starting to spend more time looking at are machine learning types of technologies that will enhance what we’re already doing in this space.

It’s hard to grow a tech company without acquisitions.

How different is it to manage a public company vs a private company?

It's simpler from a shareholder management perspective. As a public company, you spend a lot more time on shareholder communications. With a private company, you have a more concentrated set of highly knowledgeable insiders which makes it a lot easier to manage.

Is there anything else that you'd like to add?

I am humbled to lead a company with so much history, a lot of deep, positive culture, and loyalty from employees and customers. It's humbling to be the steward of a company with such great character. 

Find out her three goals to grow UPS.

UPS strengthens its Asia Pacific management team with the appointment of Michelle Ho as Managing Director of UPS Singapore. The 23-year UPS veteran will assume responsibility for UPS’s express delivery and logistics operations in Singapore.

Singapore Business Review caught up with Ho to talk about how she plans to take the firm into the next level.

Here's the full transcript of the interview:

SBR: What makes you excited about your new position?

In my 23-year career in UPS, I have been exposed to various roles within Finance, but I am excited to be given the opportunity to venture out and take on this new role as the Managing Director of UPS Singapore. This role will challenge me in new ways as I will be overseeing every function in UPS Singapore which goes beyond finance and encompasses operations, marketing, and business development amongst others.

Intrinsically, this role appeals to me because of the prospect of being able to execute strategies that can help local businesses connect to the global supply chain. It is a period of transformation for local businesses and in this year’s Budget, the Singapore government has given a strong call to SMEs to improve their productivity and venture overseas. I feel strongly for this cause, and working together with the team at UPS Singapore, I hope to be able to help local businesses through this period of transformation, and offer solutions and expertise that will help them navigate the international trade arena.

SBR: What three goals are you focused on?

One of my goals is to grow UPS Singapore by helping local businesses expand overseas. Though we are facing an uncertain economic climate, there is still growth opportunity in the intra-Asia trading scene. According to a World Trade Organization report, intra-Asia trade accounts for more than half of Asia’s trade, and we want to help local businesses benefit from that. At UPS, we create value by helping businesses overcome that initial hurdle or inertia by matching our solutions to their needs. For instance, we can help companies identify which are the best markets to venture into. And for a company with a small manpower pool, they can benefit from our Worldship tool which enables our customers to print labels, upload customs documentation and run reports all under a single windows-based shipping software. This enables our customers to get all the work done for their shipping needs, with minimal resources.

Building the capabilities of local businesses is also one of our priorities. We hope to continue partnering with groups in the private and public sectors to organize capacity building workshops to help equip SMEs with the right resources (for example, understanding and leveraging free trade agreements like TPP; segment expertise) and tools to actively participate in global trade.

Internally, we will continuously review and enhance our operational efficiency so that we would be able to better serve our customers. We recently implemented telematics technology to our delivery fleet in Singapore which works in conjunction with the Delivery Information Acquisition Device (DIAD) to gather data for analysis to improve safety, service and performance throughout UPS’s service network.

SBR:What are your key business philosophies?

One of UPS’s characteristics that attracted me to the company is their strong business ethics. The high standard UPS uphold in their business conduct have earned the company a good reputation where they are highly regarded in every community they operate in. UPS constantly strives for excellence and that has challenged me to consistently deliver the best results for our customers and for the company.

Moreover, I have always had a strong sense of belonging because UPS emphasizes the importance of their people. And that has become one of my business philosophies. For me, our most valuable resource is loyal and capable people, and no technology or tool can replace that. I believe in nurturing talents and giving them the opportunity to perform to the best of their ability. When you have strong people as the foundation of your business, there is no obstacle that you cannot overcome as a team.

SBR: What previous positions prepared you for this one and how?

I became the Controller of UPS China in 2005 – a period where China was fast-growing and UPS was in the process of transitioning our operations in China to a wholly-owned operation. Despite the ongoing changes, I was given the autonomy to spearhead changes and establish a strong finance infrastructure in China. This was a pivotal experience which prepared me for my new role as it gave me a solid background on running the business and understanding what it takes to operate in a new market.

Later on when I moved to a regional role, I had an overview of the business in Asia Pacific on a more strategic level. The regional role broadens my perspective and provides in depth insights into the different markets in Asia. So with an understanding of the business mechanics at the regional and country levels, I am better able to analyze what is best for UPS Singapore and lead the company to achieve greater success.

SBR: Anything else you'd like to add?

Today, we face an uncertain economic situation but one thing is certain – to emerge as winners, companies will have to adapt and innovate. Over my 23-year career at UPS I have seen the company innovate in various ways, and that is the key to the longevity of a business. I have been part of several innovative projects in UPS which includes spearheading efforts to improve network efficiencies and pioneering UPS Asia Pacific’s shared services strategy that streamlines internal processes. While the process of innovating may be tough, I can vouch that the final result is definitely rewarding.

DP Architects' new CEO Angelene Chan shared her plans.

Singapore's largest architecture firm DP Architects was off to a new start this year as it recently saw the appointment of a new CEO and the only female CEO within Singapore’s top 5 largest architectural firms, Angelene Chan. As part of the firm’s international expansion strategy, in line with a global push for the firm’s 50th anniversary next year, Ms Chan is spearheading the Mariner’s Quarter James Cook and Marco Polo Buildings, a proposed set of two apartment towers to be developed by Oxley Holdings Limited and Ballymore, on the last phase of their vibrant Royal Wharf master plan in London.

Singapore Business Review caught up with Angelene to talk about her future plans for DP Architects.

1. What makes you excited about your new position?

This appointment is an opportunity to build on the legacy of DP’s culture, values and design excellence. DP will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017; DP50 is a milestone year and I am excited to help drive the firm into our next 50 years. As CEO, my primary focus is to elevate the standards of design and service for our 15 global offices to a world-class level. I am also enthusiastic about the new initiatives to develop our people, our most important asset, to enhance their capabilities and confidence in their work, and improve their professional well-being, so that collectively we can continue to improve the built environment.

2. What three goals are you focused on?

Firstly, the continued vertical integration of our architecture and related services – adding lighting and façade design specialities as well as strengthening engineering and landscape services within our group of companies – in order to streamline and optimise the design and delivery of our services to our clients. As projects become more complicated with tighter timeframes, fully integrated design services offer for a more efficient delivery. This would also enable DP to provide a more straightforward contractual relationship for clients, and is especially relevant to overseas clients who may have difficulties procuring the right consultancy services for the various specialised requirements.

I am also focused on evolving the various areas of specialisation that is seeing increased demand worldwide – healthcare, infrastructure, interior design and master planning – so that clients can recognise that we are able to serve them proficiently in these distinct areas of expertise. Clients can trust that their projects will be delivered by architects who are experienced and knowledgeable in these fields.

3. What are your key business philosophies?

I believe that through enhancing and empowering our greatest asset, our people, DP can scale new heights. By providing structured, suitable and ongoing training and development for staff across all aspects of our work, we ensure that our people are constantly developing high levels of skills, knowledge, and productivity. This hard-skill training has to be complemented by the development of softer skills and core values.

DP has a system, already in place for many years, to ensure projects are delivered to the requirements and expectations of our clients. But in business, it is important to build on and improve a system that has proved successful, and make it more robust and fail-proof for the future growth and change.

The workplace is becoming more technology-driven, and I believe it is important for the architecture and construction sector to adopt new ways of working to boost productivity. I am interested in further improving drafting software technology usage in the office to improve efficiency. This can be done by investing in IT infrastructure and ensuring our staff are updated with the latest technical skills.

4. What previous positions prepared you for this one and how?

Every project I have undertaken over the years, no matter big or small, has been a valuable experience, and has prepared me for what came next. I have the good fortune of working on huge projects that involved complex and extensive planning, numerous consultant firms and a large number of personnel. The knowledge and experience gained from these mega, multifarious projects have been useful in leading a large organisation like DP with many subsidiaries and overseas offices. The lessons learned in running a project can be applied to the running of a firm. But I find that even the smallest projects have given me insights on how things should be managed and how to do things better.

Frank Uwe Ungerer assumes managing director in the city.

International express service provider, DHL Express, is off to a new start in its Asian operations with reshuffling of top executive lineup. On the first day of the year, Frank Uwe Ungerer succeeds Herbert Vongpusanachai as the managing director of Singapore office as the latter assumes the position of senior vice president of the Hong Kong & Macau office. Both report to Ken Lee, who serves as the CEO of DHL Express Asia Pacific.

Frank has 25 years of multicultural experience having worked in logistics across countries including Germany, Russia, China and Greece. He joined DHL in 2003 as Country Manager of DHL Express Russia and has since held various positions, most recently as Country Manager of DHL Express in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where he was in charge of day-to-day regional operations for close to six years.

Singapore Business Review caught up with Frank to talk about his new role and his plans to sustain DHL’s business growth in Singapore. Below is the transcript of the interview with Frank:
 

SBR: What makes you excited about your new position?

FRANK: Singapore is a vibrant economy one of the most open in the world. It is a diverse society where “East meets West”. A young nation turning all but 51 this year, it took just one generation to propel itself from a Third World country to arguably one of the most successful societies in the world.

This would not have been possible without its hardworking people, whom I now have the privilege to work with.

For DHL, Singapore plays a critical role towards our growth in Asia Pacific. Our South Asia Hub is located here, reinforcing our global multi-hub strategy by leveraging the unmatched regional connectivity provided by Singapore.

Being in a new market with new people and an amazing city with great food - it is an exciting market to lead and grow.

SBR: What three goals are you focused on?

FRANK: I am focused on strengthening our position as Employer of Choice, Provider of Choice and Investment of Choice, which are the three bottom lines of DHL.

In DHL, we continuously drive an “Insanely Customer Centric Culture”, ensuring that our employees are highly motivated, well trained and emotionally engaged, so that they can consistently deliver great service quality, leading to loyal customers and a profitable network.

These four pillars of Motivated People, Great Service Quality, Loyal Customers and Profitable Network are what we continue to build on through our award-winning Certified International Specialist programme.

SBR: What will you do differently in this position?

FRANK: I have worked and lived in Germany, Russia, China, Greece, the UAE and now Singapore.
Singapore is one of the most competitive markets I have seen.

Customer expectations are extremely high so we need to further strengthen the fundamentals of the business to create a positive experience for our customers every time.

Speed, passion, a can-do attitude and doing things right first time are the key DHL employee attributes that will make a huge difference.

By following world-class processes, using world-class facilities and first-class tools, we work towards our vision of building the greatest international express company in the world.

SBR: What changes are you planning for?

FRANK: Each market is unique and different in its own way, so I will first need to learn, then adapt.

E-commerce, Internet of Things and “Fair and Responsible Business” are key trends that are bringing changes to the logistics industry. DHL has released trend reports such as “Global E-tailing 2025”, “Internet of Things in Logistics” and “Fair and Responsible Logistics” to explore the potential and possible application of these trends within the industry.

We are gearing up to meet these waves of change.

SBR: What are your key business philosophies?

FRANK: Customer is King. In DHL, we strive for an “Insanely Customer Centric Culture” in which delivering outstanding customer service is at the heart of everything we do.

Our approach is simple: to be knowledgeable, polite and helpful in every customer interaction.

SBR: What previous positions prepared you for this one and how?

The experience of growing the DHL business in several other markets helped me appreciate the strength of our network and learn to always see things with a pair of fresh eyes.

My career with DHL spans over 13 years. I first joined DHL in 2003 as the Country Manager of DHL Express Russia, then that of DHL Express Greece. I went on to head DHL Express in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where I was for the last six years.

During my tenure, DHL UAE experienced exceptional and exponential growth year after year. As the market leader, DHL UAE registered strong revenue growth, gained service leadership and significantly increased its market share.

Before joining DHL, I managed a startup airport joint venture in St Petersburg, Russia, after having spent twelve years with Lufthansa Cargo in Germany, Russia and China. These early years in logistics provided valuable lessons that I can draw upon on when faced with new challenges.

SBR: Anything else you'd like to add?

FRANK: I find the people in Singapore warm, polite and professional, despite it being a fast-paced economy. It is a mature market that is well-positioned for exciting opportunities ahead in a vibrant region with fast-developing emerging markets such as Vietnam and Myanmar.

I am looking forward to the completion of the DHL Express South Asia Hub in 2016, as Singapore will become an even more important gateway to us.

Nicholas shared his strategies to displace cash totally.

Always try and do not be afraid of failure. Every failure is part of our learning experience and must help us improve.This is so that we do not stagnate nor remain in the status quo while the environment around us continues to evolve. Those are the words from Nicholas Lee Tat Meng, the man behind Singapore’s EZ-Link cards, a contactless smart card used for the payment of public transportation fares in the city, with limited use in the small payments retail sector.

Nicholas started his engineering career as a systems engineer in a local systems integration company prior to joining the Land Transport Authority of Singapore (LTA) in early 1997. In the LTA, he held various engineering portfolios before being seconded to its Policy Division to work on international relations and the development of business models for new transportation projects.

In 2000, Nicholas was assigned to manage the island-wide implementation of the EZ-Link card. This included the design, development and implementation of a clearing-settlement backend system and the rollout of acceptance terminals across all mass rapid transit and bus transport systems in Singapore.

Following the launch of the EZ-Link card in 2002, Nicholas then moved on to EZ-Link Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Land Transport Authority. Over the years, he held several portfolios from developing business models and operating structure to supervising the company’s marketing efforts and corporate communications. On 1 October 2011, he was appointed as CEO of EZ-Link to lead the company to greater growth in adoption, transactions and applications of cashless payments.

EZ-Link’s humble beginning

EZ-Link was formed on January 8, 2002 with its core business of clearing and settlement of all EZ-Link card transactions generated in transit and non-transit (retail/merchant) environments, as well as the sale, distribution and overall management of EZ-Link cards. In 2009, EZ-Link became the first card issuer in Singapore to launch the CEPAS-compliant EZ-Link card. Thereby extending the company’s influence beyond the local public transport sector and into the retail and food and beverage industries.

These new EZ-Link cards are also accepted as a mode of payment for Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) and at carparks fitted with the Electronic Payment System (EPS) when used in the dual-mode in-vehicle unit. To date, more than 17 million new CEPAS-compliant EZ-Link cards have been issued.

“Over the years, we have been working towards the vision of a cashless society with the launch of several ground-breaking products and services such as the My EZ-Link Mobile, the world’s first and award-winning mobile application for EZ-Link card top-ups; EZ-Charms, the first EZ-Link non-card form factor in Singapore; and EZ-Link Rewards with Perx, the first-in-Singapore rewards scheme for public transport EZ-Link users,” said Nicholas.

Apart from benefitting the consumers and commuters, EZ-Link is also looking to help businesses in Singapore to enjoy the benefit of cashless transactions through their services. Currently, there are over 30,000 acceptance points island-wide tapping on the EZ-Link card payment system which provides quicker customer service and lower costs related to cash handling.

According to Nicholas, EZ-Link has the privilege of serving more than 3 million customers using their products and services daily. “This is a huge responsibility for us to undertake as we have to ensure that customers’ expectations are met when they interact with the cards, and the availability of sufficient infrastructure and capability to assist them in using our services,” he said.

The biggest challenge

However, the task of transforming Singapore into a cashless society was not that easy. Nicholas shared that their biggest challenge has been in the area of cash or in other words, how they can displace cash and encourage greater use of electronic money via the EZ-Link card. “Of course, our scope is not just limited to usage of the EZ-Link card, but also on topping it up as well. For instance, more than 40% of top-ups of the EZ-Link card are still done via cash.”

To address this challenge, Nicholas shared that they have introduced schemes such as EZ-Reload to link an EZ-Link card to a bank account or credit/debit card account. In the event when the card runs out of stored value, it will automatically top itself up so that the cardholder will never have to go to a device to do a top-up.

“We initially charged a $0.25 fee for this service, but have been progressively making it free for all DBS/POSB and Citibank card holders. With EZ-Reload, our customers are able to rely less on physical top-up points, and save themselves from the hassle of queuing up at Ticketing Offices and General Ticketing Machines,” said Nicholas.

Nicholas shared that the next challenge is displacing cash in the retail/F&B area for small sum payments meaning those less than $20. In the past, the firm have invested into infrastructure to enable merchants to accept the EZ-Link card as a means of payment. However, Nicholas shared that there has been much resistance to this change by consumers and eventually, cash still prevailed.

The journey ahead

Moving forward, Nicholas said that they have partnered with various industry players to create a more open and efficient payment infrastructure that will accept all means of payment including the EZ-Link card. This means a collaborative approach with other industry players to enable multiple modes of payment so that consumers have more choice and flexibility in choosing the right electronic payment method to use, as opposed to cash payment. “Hopefully, the EZ-Link card will be the preferred choice of payment for consumers. In doing this, we are working together with the industry to tackle a challenge instead of facing it alone,” he said.

Furthermore, Nicholas said they are gradually transforming into a new organisation, in terms of how they operate, how they engage with their customers and how their services are delivered.

“We are looking at new digital services, increased personalisation of services to fit individual consumers, more exciting EZ-Link products that may come in different shapes and sizes and capable of interacting with individuals. With the rapid advancement of technology, we have an opportunity to evolve EZ-Link to another level,” Nicholas adds.

Nicholas’ guiding principles

Apart from not being afraid to fail, Nicholas believes that it is important to always question themselves why and how should they remain relevant to their customers and stakeholders. This, he said, ensures continual renewal of practices and business to keep up with the rapid changes in the environment, which is especially important given the rise of various disruptive business models.
Secondly, he emphasised on the need to stay focused on their core business and do what they do best. “We innovate by collaborating with industry partners through win-win relationships and are always mindful of doing things beyond our capabilities,” he said.

Meanwhile, in his journey building a cashless Singapore, Nicholas is focused in three goals:

• To transform the EZ-Link card into a lifestyle product (beyond public transport but also in cars, taxis, private buses, identity card) and make it the preferred choice of consumers in their everyday lives
• To be a consumer-centric company whereby services and innovation are developed around consumer needs and expectations
• To contribute substantially towards Singapore’s goal of becoming a cashless society

Find out what other goals the 27-year-old has for the company.

Singapore Business Review recently caught up with the young and new CEO of Lazada Singapore, Martell Hardenberg, as he talked about his goals in leading one of the most promising online shopping sites in the city.

Martell was first introduced to the potential of e-Commerce in Hong Kong at a diversified trading house representing consumer brands across Asia. With a degree in Economics and Entrepreneurship from Maastricht University in Netherlands and Bocconi University in Italy, he started his own company selling fashion accessories across Europe. After four years, he sold his company and moved onto another chapter in his career.

As a global venture development manager in Berlin-based Rocket Internet, Martell rolled out a number of new ventures including Westwing Home & Living, a shopping club for home décor, in 12 countries within 5 months with a focus on early stage support and retail operations.

He then began his career at Lazada as the country head of Lazada in Vietnam, responsible for setting up operations in the region. After 6 months in Vietnam, he was appointed as managing director of Lazada in Indonesia before moving to Singapore to launch Lazada Singapore.

SBR: What are your key business philosophies?

One of my key business philosophies is based on the premise of “The Happy Customer” as the crux of a successful company. At Lazada, we are dedicated to giving our customers an effortless shopping experience, offering both dedicated customer support and attractive promotional offers. As we want customers that are 100% satisfied with their experience, we are driven to build a successful, customer centric business.

We are a young, enthusiastic and energetic company, this combined with our determination, drive and hard work is what enables us to achieve our goals at Lazada.

SBR: What three goals are you focused on?

The three goals we are focused on are providing an effortless shopping experience for our customers, achieving high levels of growth and being the leading online shopping destination in Singapore.

At Lazada, we endeavor to provide a shopping experience that is both easy and accessible, with multi-channel access, a fast and reliable delivery service and a user friendly interface. Having a secure system with a wide range of payment methods is extremely important to us in order to give our customers a truly effortless shopping experience.

We are constantly striving to attain growth in the business, we achieve this by giving our consumers access to the widest selection of international and local products, by working hard to grow our sales and by hiring talented individuals who are dedicated to driving the business forward.

All in all, our ultimate goal is to be the leading one- stop online shopping destination in Singapore.
 

Find out how Andreas Jacobs plans to bring “business as a force for good”.

Andreas Jacobs, the new Chairman of the Board of Directors at INSEAD, wants the school to be able to attract more scholars and students from emerging markets. With diversity as one of the core values of INSEAD, Andreas says the school’s social permeability must be a priority. He further explains that it should also be possible for the talented son or daughter of a farmer in Indonesia or in Africa to study at INSEAD, as those are the ‘markets of the future’. “It is in our interest to ensure that these markets have enough great leaders who are equipped to create value for their countries,” he says.

Andreas supports INSEAD Dean Ilian Mihov’s motif “Business as a Force for Good’’ as it nurture growth, prosperity and personal development. He reiterates that INSEAD is committed to educating responsible global leaders who can lead across cultures.

Singapore Business Review recently caught up with Andreas as he talked about his future plans and directions in one of the world's largest graduate business schools.

SBR: What makes you excited about your new position?

It is a great honour to be appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors for INSEAD. Over the years, the school has gone from strength to strength and developed into a truly global educational institution. As an INSEAD alumnus, I am very excited to be joining INSEAD as part of this inspiring and pioneering global community of scholars and practitioners dedicated to transforming executives into business leaders.

SBR: What three goals are you focused on?

1. To further grow the quality of the school

Since its inception and first MBA intake in 1959 in Fontainebleau, France, the school has been committed to providing a unique multicultural learning environment that brings together people, cultures and ideas from around the world. Our ability to provide a diverse, multi-cultural experience, expert faculty, and innovative research and programmes is second to none.

2. To invest in the future of the school

INSEAD’s three integrated campuses – in Europe, Asia and Abu Dhabi – allow us to be physically present in three distinct business and cultural environments, benefiting from different views on the ground.

INSEAD continues its ongoing commitment to meet the demand for excellent management education in Asia with the addition of its Leadership Development Centre on the school’s Asia campus in Singapore. In parallel, we are investing significantly in Europe, developing our Europe campus in Fontainebleau to keep attracting high quality executive education participants, degree students, and top researchers. With the campus in Abu Dhabi, we will continue our distinctive strategy of growing as the Middle East market is ready for our offer.

In addition to our programmes on these three campuses, INSEAD participates in the academic partnerships with leading business schools around the world. In Asia, INSEAD partners with School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University in Beijing and China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai.

We are investing in the digital links that connect our campuses, the data that informs our research and the innovations that will bring our research into the classroom for first-class leadership education.

3. To continue engaging the alumni community worldwide

INSEAD Alumni are the school's ambassadors in over 171 countries around the world, working in management and leadership roles and influencing corporations and organisations across all sectors. Their activities and accomplishments help to cement the school's reputation. The support from the alumni created a virtuous circle, whereby INSEAD can realize its mission and aims and enhance its reputation; and alumni can benefit from INSEAD's standing in the global market place as The Business School for the World.

SBR: What will you do differently in this position?

My first goal is to build on the great leadership of my predecessor Franz Humer and to acquaint myself with all key stakeholders of INSEAD. What I would see aims at the very beginning of my first 100 days in this new position as one of my aims is to build a bridge between the strategic nature of the Board’s perspective and decisions, and those of the day to day running of the school.

SBR: What previous positions prepared you for this one and how?

I come from a family company that has ”entrepreneurship” among its core values, “Entrepreneurship” is also one of the core values of Barry Callebaut, the world’s leading manufacturer of chocolate and cocoa products, in which we have a major stake and for which I serve as Chairman.

INSEAD has been entrepreneurial since day one; this is a great match with my own values. In an ever changing world everything is about exploring new horizons, continuous learning, cooperating across cultures and taking personal initiative. In such a dynamic environment business education is vital. INSEAD’s mission of promoting a learning environment that brings together people, cultures and ideas from around the world, promoting management education and develop leaders and entrepreneurs who create value for their organisations is the right response in this environment.I pursued an MBA from INSEAD (MBA 90’) which was a life changing experience for me. The challenging yet rewarding position as Chairman of INSEAD will allow me to give back to the school.

SBR: What changes are you planning for?

The entire world of business is changing, and every industry is being affected. The business education category is no different. INSEAD is well prepared for many of these changes with three global campuses and a world class faculty. We will have to be ready to move quickly into new areas and new ways of education as they develop ensuring that our courses remain as vibrant and exciting as they have always being, ensuring that we attract the best students in the world.

And how they effectively unleash their talents.

Singapore Business Review recently caught up with Jacqui Whyatt, Executive General Manager, Talent International, South East Asia, and had a discussion about the IT industry in Asia and Singapore.

SBR: Which sector of the IT Industry is showing the biggest growth in Asia-Pacific?

Big Data, Cloud & Analytics are showing the strongest signs of growth in the Asia Pacific region. We are also continuing to see an evolution of the Digital industry, where a lot of innovation is taking place and being led out of development centres in Asia. This is a shift from the historical trend where innovation was led out of Silicon Valley. In addition, we are seeing a constant move to data centres being outsourced, not just to historical locations like India, but also to Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. 

SBR: How does the IT Talent pool in Singapore compare to the region? Which markets are the biggest threats?

The IT talent pool in Singapore is very strong, as we have a diverse working population with many skills from many different countries. As Singapore has become a hub for innovation and thought leadership, many of the IT skill sets here reflect this. The biggest threat for the region is the ongoing war for talent. The demand for skilled IT workers far outweighs the number of skilled candidates available. In view of this, the investment the government / IDA has made in universities and development partnerships with corporates remains critical. 

SBR: The IT industry is ever evolving. How does an IT Talent remain relevant?

It’s important that candidates in the IT industry are regularly up-skilling, to ensure their skills and expertise remain relevant to market trends and industry changes. In addition, many organisations are developing programs that provide a platform for their talent to do this. Gaining international experience is also invaluable for candidates looking to expand their skill base. 

SBR: Tell us more about the Talent Unleashed Awards organised by Talent International.

At Talent International, we’re not just about discovering great talent. We’re about rewarding it, too. So this year we’re thrilled to see the return of the Talent Unleashed Awards. We’ve sought entries from some amazingly talented individuals in four regions across Asia-Pacific, in five award categories. This year’s awards have focused on individuals working in or with technology, and who have unleashed some game changing technology either in a business environment or in the community and has the potential to transform.

It’s been a huge success – we had around 600 entries from mainly, Singapore, HK, Australia and New Zealand. Currently we are about to announce our regional winners. Our judges include Sir Richard Branson and Steve Wozniak.

The winners will get to experience a five-day workshop at the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship in South Africa during Global Entrepreneurs Week from 18 to 23 November 2014. 

SBR: The winner gets a chance to experience a five-day business-mentoring workshop at the Branson Entrepreneurial Centre. How is this prize going to make a difference?

This truly is an opportunity that money can’t buy. Like-minded individuals brimming with ideas and opportunities will surround these winners, and to be there during Global Entrepreneurs Week, where the spotlight will be on these people, just intensifies the experience.

The prize will have an incredible impact on their businesses, and their confidence and will equip them with new skills and abilities. Not to mention the contacts that they will make! 

SBR: Why has Singapore been included in Talent Unleashed?

We opened the competition out to APAC after having created the awards in 2013 in Australia and NZ only. Singapore was a natural place for us to expand the competition to, since there is a huge amount of entrepreneurial talent combined with some amazing technology initiatives from both the government and the private sectors. Singaporeans are highly tech literate, and as we revealed through the diversity of the submissions, they also are incredibly community minded. 

SBR: What are the judging criteria adopted by Richard Branson and Steve Wozniak and what are they looking for?

Well, they have a tough job on their hands! The regional winners are strong contenders and the submissions are really diverse, so in some cases they have to compare like with unlike! Overall they will be looking for groundbreaking ideas; ideas that have scope.

SBR: How did Singapore entries compare to other markets?

The Singapore selections were extremely diverse. There were entries covering building services, charity initiatives, fundraising, solutions for the homeless, changepreneurship, social galvanising and digital creativity. We were genuinely impressed. Also the Singapore entries were all solution-based. 

Find out why this is urged.

Being a relatively new entrant to the Singapore market in 2010, Steven Billiet, J.P. Morgan Asset Management Singapore’s newly-appointed CEO, has set his eyes on the firm’s growth in Southeast Asia. Billiet will have overall responsibility and oversight for the investment management business in Singapore and day-to-day management responsibility for the Funds business. Billiet shared his insights and future plans with Singapore Business Review in this exclusive interview:

SBR: What makes you excited about your new position?

I am pleased to join one of the world’s largest and most respected financial institutions in the world. With close to US$1.6 trillion in assets under management* and offices in 35 countries around the world, J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) offers global coverage with a strong local market presence, and leadership positions in most asset classes. J.P. Morgan Asset Management is widely regarded as leaders in the Asia Pacific region, managing about US$132 billion of Asia Pacific client assets and specialises in providing investors with access to the region’s diverse markets. Being a relatively new entrant to the Singapore market in 2010, I am excited by the potential and opportunities for the JPMAM franchise to grow further locally and in South East Asia.

SBR: What three goals are you focused on? What changes are you planning for?

The first goal is business development. Singapore is strategically placed to take advantage of the demographics and long term wealth management opportunities that South East Asia offers. Our key focus for 2014 continues to be building out our business in Singapore and establishing it as a hub for Southeast Asia. We plan to deepen our existing distributor relationships across retail, private banks, insurers and IFAs locally.

In South East Asia, we see markets gradually liberalising and opening up. We continue to evaluate very closely and see where new opportunities lie. We are already working in partnership with many of the key sovereign wealth funds and institutions in South East Asia. I am keen to explore more strategic partnership opportunities with asset managers and distribution partners in South East Asia.

To do this effectively, we plan to increase resources from 51 (out of which 15 are investment professionals) to 55 by end 2014.

Second goal is to focus on investor education. Investor education is key to our mission of helping clients secure a stronger financial future. Our Guide to the Markets (Asian edition), part of our US’ multi-million dollar, award-winning Market Insights program, was launched in Singapore at the end of 2012 and paved the way for heightened investor education efforts in 2013. The free Guide is an unbiased set of tools to equip investors to make more informed investment decisions. Data on the economy, financial markets and asset classes are updated quarterly and organized in a manner to explain trends and performance clearly and concisely. Retail investors and journalists can access the quarterly Guide from our website. It has also been extremely well received by our distributors whose product specialists especially appreciate our effort in customizing the Guide for Asian advisors.

Over 1,400 clients now receive copies of the guide electronically (www.jpmorganam.com.sg/mi) and in hard copies. In 2013, we partnered key clients to organize quarterly seminars attended by over 1,300 participants. We will continue to embed the Market Insights program further with clients by offering customized Market Insights Training sessions with selected clients who will be able to choose training modules specific to their needs.

The third goal is to focus on investment themes like equities and multi-asset funds. We are positive on equities in 2014, supported by the global economic recovery led by developed markets, a rise in investor risk appetite and an investment landscape that favors risk assets such as equities. Even though there is a growing consensus over the improving world economy, there will undoubtedly be some unexpected events during the year. We believe equities are the key engine for growth over the longer term and the need for clients to consider “re-risking” their portfolios.

At the same time, I believe that investors should also maintain a more diversified exposure through multi-asset income funds. There is probably a long-ish period of flat or rising rates ahead of us. In that context, people looking for yield or a stable income monthly will need to move into multi-asset products to get a similar return or risk return perspective. Multi-asset funds should remain as a core holding in a balanced, buy-and-hold portfolio. Multi-asset portfolios were an effective tool from 2012 to gain exposure to the equity markets, and in the current “risk-on” environment, they are an effective tool to maintain a portion of fixed income exposure, with active and flexible asset allocations, and lower overall volatility. Last year, the Singapore office saw strong inflows into these funds, such as the JPMorgan Asia Pacific Income Fund and Global Income Fund. The firm captured a 40% market share of net multi-asset flows September ytd 2013.

SBR: What will you do differently in this position?

There is a strong foundation that has been established in the past few years and my focus for the next phase of the business will be deepening relationships with distributors over the next two years. This means establishing more of a partnership model with distributors, frequent interaction, understanding their market views, identifying the right gaps and needs in their product offerings and localizing these offerings with more Singapore dollar or Singapore dollar hedged share classes.

SBR: What are your key business philosophies?

J.P. Morgan’s philosophy of helping our clients to do first-class business and providing a long-term approach to client solutions is a business philosophy that I firmly believe in. This means delivering top-tier client service across all touch points and functions. Teamwork is crucial to achieving successful coordination across all functions. It is essential that employees are equipped with the highest quality and training to grow to their full potential and contribute to the business.

SBR: What previous positions prepared you for this one and how?

My previous positions have put me in good stead for my current position as CEO, JPMorgan Asset Management Singapore (Limited). I have had extensive industry experience managing clients and business in Europe and Asia. I joined from ING, where during my 19-year tenure, I have held a number of senior roles, including CEO of Investment Management Asia Pacific (Singapore), CEO of Investment Management Australia, CEO of Investment Management Taiwan, India Country Head of Private Banking and Wealth Management, and Head of Product and Sales for Investment Management Belgium. During my last 12 years in Asia, I have not only been responsible for managing large local Asset Management businesses but also led acquisitions and divestments in various Asian markets. I believe that this regional experience in a broader South East Asian market can contribute towards JPMAM’s further growth strategies around South East Asia.