Find out his secrets to success.

Check out these refreshing responses from Grand Hyatt Singapore's hotel manager. Singapore Business Review caught up with him as he shared his journey from being a head chef to a hotel manager, taking us through his outlook as well as his goals as the current big boss.

SBR: What is your success story? What are the opportunities that came your way on your journey from being a head chef to a hotel manager?
Growing up in a family of restaurant owners and chefs, by the age of 5, I knew that I wanted to be a chef. My father was a chef and owned his own restaurant, so I was inspired to be a chef too. Though giving me his biggest blessings to become a chef, my father however always encouraged me that I could and should be more than just a chef, and to carefully consider what other career choices there were out there to help me attain my goals.

I eventually worked my way to become a chef, but taking his advice to heart, I enrolled for the Diploma in Hospitality from Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne through a special entry made available for chefs. Upon graduation, I knew I needed to get an internship in an English-speaking country as I did not speak a word of English then – that was when I saw an internship position at The Beaufort Sentosa in Singapore. After speaking to a senior from school about the country and the opportunities available, I packed my bags, sold my car and apartment and left for Singapore; I made a conscious effort to leave nothing to return to in Switzerland, and nothing to lose but all to gain in Singapore.

At the end of my internship in Singapore, I spoke to the hotel for a permanent position and was given an opportunity as a F&B training manager. Within a short span of 2 years, I rose through the ranks to become an assistant F&B manager, overseeing all F&B operations. I was then given the opportunity to join Hyatt, and since then, I have never looked back.

SBR: What makes you passionate about your position?
I grew up in the service industry and that is all that I’ve ever known. My parents owned and ran their own restaurant, so I have always been exposed to this industry. I like people and I like meeting people, that is what keeps me passionate about my position and the industry I’m in.

SBR: Conversely, what are the challenges you encountered and how did you overcome them?
My youth was a big challenge for me when I first arrived in Singapore, as I found it very hard to be accepted and recognized because of my age. When I first joined The Beaufort, I was reporting to my 50-year-old supervisor, but within the short span of 2 years, he ended up reporting to me. That made it hard to some people to accept me and the work I did. Thanks to amazing opportunities and pure luck, I have been able to overcome all these challenges and have been very blessed in my career.

SBR: What three goals are you focused on as a virtuoso in the field?
1) People
2) People
3) People

We are now on the verge of individuals from Gen X hitting their prime and are also witnessing the influx of Gen Y into our industry. I am constantly reminded of how drastically different each generation is in terms of their mindsets and way of living. My 3 main goals is ensuring that no matter which generation I come across, I am always able to understand and manage them well, so that we can succeed as a team.

SBR: What changes are you planning for?
We are in discussions to working closer with STB (Singapore tourism board) as well as SHA (Singapore hotels association). I intend to seize all opportunities and find ways to handle the sever manpower crunch we are facing in current times. I am also realigning my focus on implementing and innovating new ways to thinking creatively and using less resources to deliver more for our customers.

SBR: What are your key business philosophies?
Problems might seem difficult and daunting, but I truly believe that when you are going through something trying, just try imagining how easy it would be to you once the goal has been achieved. It’s just like climbing a mountain, it is daunting at first, but once you’re on the other side, the climb would have seemed so easy. That’s what keeps me going; knowing that challenges will always be overcome and that no problem is too great.

Brief personal background:

Olivier Lenoir, who has been with Grand Hyatt since 2000, joined Grand Hyatt Singapore as a Hotel Manager in 2011.

Beginning his career in 2000 with Grand Hyatt as an Outlet Manager in Singapore, Mr Lenoir has grown with the company through the years with subsequent postings at Grand Hyatt Jakarta, Indonesia, as Assistant Director of Food & Beverage. Prior to joining Grand Hyatt Singapore, he was the Executive Assistant Manager - Food & Beverage at Grand Hyatt Shenzhen, Guangdong in China.

Holding a Diploma in Hospitality from Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne, Mr Lenoir began his career in 1990 as an apprentice cook in the Hotel la Prairie in Switzerland and worked his way up the ranks till he was Head Chef at Restaurant de la Tour in 1995. 1997 then marked his move to Singapore as an Assistant Food & Beverage Manager at The Beaufort Hotel Sentosa, where he remained for three years before joining Hyatt.
The Swiss national is extremely fluent in French and English, and is moderately eloquent in German and Spanish. He also possesses a knack for picking up local accents and languages, loving to pepper his sentences with “tio bo” (which means “is that correct?” in Hokkien) and “kesian” (which means “poor thing” in Malay) to the amusement of his colleagues.

Apart from spending time with his loving wife and two beautiful children, he enjoys visiting new bars and restaurants, and has a great passion for photography and creating his own music.
 

And the challenges behind the awards.

The 2013 iProperty.com People’s Choice Awards, Singapore’s only consumer-selected awards for property developers and home service providers, has announced the winners.

The Awards, organised by online property portal iProperty.com Singapore, was held at Shanghai Dolly, bringing together nominees and industry leaders for a night of fun and camaraderie. This year’s winners indicated consumers’ preference for properties providing premium interiors and unique home spaces.

Singapore Business Review caught up with Sean Tan, General Manager at iProperty.com, as he talked about this years' awards and what he has gleaned from it.

SBR: What makes this years' award stand out as compared to the previous years?
For this year’s Awards, we added new categories for companies in real estate associated service industries. We also had some great media partnerships that helped us to generate more buzz during the voting process and for the winner announcement phase.

SBR: What changes have you applied to make this year a better one versus last year?
We made some significant changes to the nomination and voting process for this year’s award categories. Last year we chose properties with new units. This year we gave property developers a window to nominate their properties for the award. We also simplified the voting process, limiting each award category to a maximum of five nominees.

SBR: What challenges did you face in making the 2013 awards a reality?
A great deal of work goes into the Awards. As this is a consumer choice awards, ensuring people complete the voting process for all of the categories is important. To facilitate that, we simplified the voting process. We saw an increase in the ratio of completed votes v/s incomplete votes for all 15 categories compared to last year.

SBR: What changes are you gunning for the 2014 awards?
For our third annual Awards next year, we hope to introduce additional categories, while remaining relevant to consumer trends and voter preference. We are also considering changes to enrich user experience further, making the voting interface more interactive, with information that will help consumers make their decisions. And we would like to expand our partnerships to ensure a more complete and more fun Awards. 

Are better days finally coming?

UBS, Macquarie, JP Morgan, BBY, Patersons Securities and Record Point dominated East Coles’ Investment Banking (IB) Research Results for 2013.

The study, which has been running for over 10 years, aims to identify which investment banks and bankers corporate Australia values the most highly across investment banking services overall, mergers & acquisitions (M&A), equity capital markets (ECM), debt capital markets (DCM) and equities research.

72 corporates were surveyed including amongst others AGL, Aristocrat, Carlyle, Coates Hire, Energy Australia, Fortescue, Gindalbie, Hastings, Infigen, KKR, Lynas, MacarthurCook, Metcash, Monadelphous, Orica, Origin, PanAust, QUBE, and Stockland.

UBS topped five out of nine categories in the research. It was also hailed number one Best Investment Bank, M&A, Equity Capital Markets, and Debt Capital Markets banking categories. Barry Sharkey,Executive Director &co-Head of Capital Marketsat UBS, was also voted as the Best Debt Capital Markets banker.

JP Morgan joined the list of top-notchers as its Executive Director Jason Steed got the highest rating in Equities Research. JP Morgan Investment Banking Head of ECM David Gray topped the Best Equity Capital Markets banker category again this year.

Patersons Securities, on the other hand, excelled in the Best Independent Equity Capital Markets investment banks where they finished 2nd, and also finished 4th for Best Independent Investment Banks. Meanwhile, executive director Aaron Constantinereceived a significant rating in the Best Investment Bankers category where he came in at 10thspot. In addition, Patersons Securities Director of Corporate Finance Tim Hosking grabbed the 6th place in the Best Independent Equity Capital Markets banker list.

BBY and Record Point ruled the number one spot in the independent categories. BBY, among other independent banks, got the highest ratings in four categories: Best Investment Bank, Best Equity Capital Market Bank, and Best Equity Capital Banker. Senior Energy AnalystScott Ashton also snagged the Best Equities Research Analyst title.

Record Point gained the top spot for five categories in East Coles’ research: Best Investment Banker, Best M&A Bank, Best M&A Banker, Best Debt Capital Market Bank, and Best Debt Capital Market Banker.

Record Point’s Managing Director Michael Firmin excelled by gaining the top spot in the best investment bankers category.

Nicholas Coles, Managing Director of East Coles, said that the past few years have been terrible for investment bankers, with many being forced to leave the industry from the major banks. This year is different as there appears to be a wave of activity, particularly in the ECM pipeline and sentiment is definitely more positive. He added that UBS and Macquarie have weathered the bad times well and are still the dominant banks.

“Comments from corporate respondents indicated a high degree of satisfaction with their investment banking advisors, with 89% saying their advisors added value to their business. 64% of respondents felt they would be raising equity in the next year or so, which is a promising sign for Australia’s investment banks. 76% also said they had solid or significant growth ambitions, which again is a very positive sign. 61% felt global economics conditions would improve, so all in all the future is bright for Australia’s investment banks and bankers,” he said.

Coles also commented that market conditions have been very poor for the investment banking industry, mainly due to a lack of activity in the M&A and ECM spaces, making it challenging at times to gain traction with potential corporate respondents for this type of research. “Given the economic backdrop and investment banking inertia we were well pleased with the quantity and quality of the data sample.”

Singapore Business Review interviewed some of the awardees and they shared their insights about their successes in East Coles’ investment banking research.

SBR: What qualities should a banker have to be successful in this field?

Michael Firmin, Managing Director, Record Point:

“As an independent advisor, our role is to objectively assist with the strenuous demands placed on boards and management. This means being trusted, committed and most importantly investing the time over months and years to truly understand the requirements of our clients, their industries and key stakeholders. In today’s market, there is definitely no substitute for the relationships that are built through working together throughout the entire business cycle. In both good times and bad, we’ll give genuine, impartial advice and we believe our clients appreciate that.”

David Gray, Head of ECM, JP Morgan:

“Clients are seeking tailored advice from those that have relevant experience, proven track record and are committed to achieving the client’s objectives. Most importantly it’s necessary to be able to offer clients a good platform and team who are capable of delivery.”

Glenn Rosewall, Chairman, BBY:

“Our success in this field derives from our BBY vision statement – to remain Australia and New Zealand’s largest non-bank owned stockbroker and to provide the very best capital markets and investment solutions for our clients.

We firmly believe that the fulfillment of this vision and the overall generation of our money making ideas comes down to our willingness to continually invest in the strategic expansion of our research team and database.

Over 2013, BBY has made a number of high profile hires and this has allowed us to expand our stock coverage by almost 50%. Having recently included Transport, Infrastructure and Utilities, we now have analysts covering all sectors. Our commitment to providing honest straight-forward feedback and research to our corporate, retail and institutional customers is another factor that has significantly contributed to our business success over the years. Our presentation of research in a simple and reader-friendly manner is a repeat compliment that we get from a lot of clients.”

Scott Ashton, Senior Energy Analyst, BBY:

“BBY provides an excellent environment in which the analyst has the latitude to properly understand and analyse a Company's business model, assets and management. This allows the analyst to identify correctly mis-priced stocks or identify those stocks or sectors with early first mover advantage. Key qualities include the ability to generate quality research, a tenacity to thoroughly drill down into the facts, diligently question every detail, conduct oneself with integrity, while at the same time being commercially relevant. Implicit with this skill set is building lasting relationships and respect from key participants.

Whilst at BBY I have consistently rated number stock picker (2006 and 2012) with StarMine.A key quality for an analyst is attention to detail, a predisposition to questioning numbers, statements and a having confidence to back your own view or call."

Barry Sharkey, Co-head of Global Capital Markets, Australasia, UBS

“In 2013 alone, Australian and NZ companies have issued in 15 different debt markets or currencies around the world. Given this choice, at UBS we focus on providing thoughtful, agnostic advice across all markets, and flawless execution when the time comes to issue.”

SBR: 89% of the research respondents felt that their investment banking advisors added value to their business. What skills do you think are essential for banking?

David Gray, Head of ECM, JP Morgan:

“Today, it’s more about being a corporate advisor than just a traditional “banker”. When you build a long term relationship with a client, the relationship evolves from corporate finance advice to strategic advice, communications advice and even understanding the psychology of the people on the other side of the table. The modern advisor needs to be innovative and add value through the entire process from start to finish. Of course a core part of that is creating real shareholder value and growth, but we increasingly find that helping our clients reach their objectives is as important as the end goals themselves.”

Michael Firmin, Managing Director,Record Point:

Strong client relationships have become increasing important given the challenging market conditions for ECM bankers over recent years. Clients have greater expectations that advisers will have not just a good knowledge of their product and market insights but also a good understanding of the clients business. Clients are seeking tailored advice from those that have relevant experience, proven track record and are committed to achieving the client’s objectives. Most importantly it’s necessary to be able to offer clients a good platform and team who are capable of delivery.

Glenn Rosewall, Chairman, BBY:

“Maintaining positive relationships through honesty and by accommodating client requests is essential in generating repeat customers, but you also need to have the right experience to identify and solve their problems. I have been involved in the Australian, New Zealand and US capital markets since the mid-1980s, primarily in senior management positions within investment banks. Whether it be in defending BHP at Morgan Stanley, merging BHP and Billiton at OrdMinnett, or funding Andrew Forrest at Fortescue Metals, myself and BBY have the experience in this industry to be able to handle clients and deliver their desired results. BBY has a strong local and global sales presence across Australia, New Zealand, UK, US and Asia, and our teams are well positioned to service the local and global capital information needs of our clients. Here at BBY, we continouslyutilise this global distribution to advantage our clients in marketing deals and obtaining results. Maintaining a strong relationship with the regulators is vital. My recent appointment to the ASICMarkets Disciplinary Panel has further extended BBY’s positive relationships with the regulators, and we continuously seek to maintain these relationships through our no-exceptions approach to compliance.”

Barry Sharkey, Co-head of Global Capital Markets, Australasia, UBS:

“Innovation, commitment... and a sense of humour!”

SBR: Only 8% of our respondents felt the Australian economy would be strong for the foreseeable future, with 57% saying it would be steady and 35% feeling it would stagnate - what challenges does that outlook pose for you in maintaining positive relationships with your clients?

David Gray, Head of ECM, JP Morgan:

“As I mentioned, we’ve worked for years with many of our clients, so we hope that there isn’t any difference in our relationships, regardless of the market. We work across the spectrum of financial advice including traditional M&A, debt and equity capital markets, strategic reviews and capital management, so there’s often just a shift in our focus rather than the relationship being put on hold.

Outside that, we still see the Australian economy as being strong relative to the rest of the world and are receiving solid interest from multinational firms, particularly out of the US and Japan. Global credit markets are still looking reasonably strong, making this an attractive time for businesses to selectively acquire assets or review their strategic direction.”

Glenn Rosewall, Chairman, BBY:

“Regardless of the state of the Australian economy, the market is inefficient and there are always situations where mispriced companies are being overlooked by investors. Here at BBY, we have the courage to look at their stories from a fresh perspective. We take on these situations and unlock them into high-potential opportunities for our clients. If you look back to 2005 for example, no other broker in Australia or anywhere in the world could anticipate the potential in supporting Fortescue Metals Group (FMG). Since our first buy recommendation, FMG has returned over 4,700% for investors at its peak and it is the number 1 performing ASX stock of this millennium. It is stories like this that enhance our business success in the eyes of our clients. We see the core strengths and the viability within companies, and we pass on this knowledge to our clients in order to consistently add-value to their portfolios. We are also making continual improvements to our Client Sales & Solutions department, having doubled the size of this team over 2013 to better service our clients. More than ever in a tough economy that has an even tougher outlook, maintaining quality client relationships is extremely important to us. BBY strives to make certain that we are our client’s partner of choice for the long-term and we are 100% committed to achieving our clients’ investment objectives.”

Barry Sharkey, Co-head of Global Capital Markets, Australasia, UBS

“Our challenge is to identify the risks and opportunities created by a changing market landscape, and how our clients can best position themselves.”

SBR: 64% of our respondents indicated they would be raising equity in the next year or so – in terms of investment banking mandates what’s your outlook for the next 12 – 18 months?

David Gray, Head of ECM, JP Morgan:

“If things go to plan, we’re seeing a pretty strong M&A pipeline in the short to medium term. 2013 has been challenging and as we move towards 2014, we’re starting to see indications that there are a number of transactions ready to happen in the new year. On the equity side, the ASX 200 is down 5% from the yearly high, after strong gains in Q3; with an estimated c. $8 billion in IPOs ready to launch. However, as we have seen, investors have remained wary of high profile IPOs this year, and that has been reflected in their performance. Sectors to watch in 2014 are probably financials, information technology, healthcare and agriculture.”

Michael Firmin, Managing Director, Record Point:

“Activity has increased significantly through 2013 with the IPO market reopening through 2H13 and this should continue into 2014. Improving economic outlook and business confidence in Australia is likely to see companies pursuing growth which is likely to see an increasing level of M&A activity as well as a pickup in equity issuance to fund growth. Investor appetite for issuance remains robust with support for well structured transactions. Therefore with the outlook for equity issuance continuing to improve, 2014 could deliver the highest level of issuance since 2009.”

Glenn Rosewall, Chairman, BBY:

“BBY has held several Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and other successful Capital Raisings over 2013. A recent success for BBY was the recent listing of Regeneus Limited (RGS) in September. BBY raised A$10.5 million for the regenerative cell-based medicine company and within just 2 months of floating RGS at A$0.25c, the biotech was returning more than 160%. BBY is also in the process of raising A$100 million for STAG Beef’s IPO that is to take place in early 2014. After the worst year in a decade by capital raised in the Australian market, we are seeing vast improvement to investor sentiment and the ASX is staging a remarkable turnaround. With interest rates at record lows, investors are diversifying away from less risky debt instruments and buying into Equity Capital Market opportunities. BBY is seeing a particularly strong appetite for IPO involvement within our domestic and global client base, especially in the Technology Sector. As we enter a period of better capital-raising conditions, BBY is advising unlisted Australian companies that the time to list is now.”

Barry Sharkey, Co-head of Global Capital Markets, Australasia, UBS

“If the current pre-Christmas rush is anything to go by, market activity is set to increase in 2014.”

SBR: 37% of our respondents felt the government should focus on cutting red, green and black tape, whilst 32% nominated labour market reforms – where do you think government policy should be focused?

David Gray, Head of ECM, JP Morgan:

“Cutting red tape and improving transparency is very topical at the moment. If we look at foreign investment policy in transactions like ADM/Graincorp and Yanzhou/Yancoal, it’s going to be critical for the government to convince global investors that Australia is open for business. Similarly, Holden moving all of its manufacturing capacity offshore post 2017 has heightened the tensions inherent in our labour market and has deeper ramifications for our local economy. Another important issue is energy security, specifically supply and access to natural gas for industrial users. While significant CSG/LNG developments by energy majors continue to progress, we’re seeing a growing recognition at government and industry levels that there is a significant shortfall that needs to be addressed from 2016 onwards which is going to impact growth.”

Glenn Rosewall, Chairman, BBY:

“A few months ago, I had the pleasure of having lunch with Australia’s treasurer Joe hockey in New York. Joe was telling me how he had walked out of his hotel earlier that morning and seen a man on the footpath selling five bananas for one dollar. Early last year, Australian banana prices were inflated to almost five dollars for one banana after Australia’s Cyclone Yasi devastated 95 per cent of banana crops in the Queensland region. Joe was adamant about the importance of a speedy finalisation to productive free trade agreements to prevent price wars and allow countries the opportunity to produce and export what they are most efficient at. He also stressed the need to improve the domestic competitive environment in Australia through a de-regulation agenda that will reduce the regulatory burden across all sectors of the Australian economy by at least $1 billion annually. The newly elected government’s mandate is that Australia is “open for business, open for investment and going for growth”. This is not to say that Australia has been closed to business, the door just has not been open as far as it could have been in the fostering of strong domestic and international competition and it is the job of the new Government, with the support of the business community, to open that door further. Another important area to focus on is the development of sensible infrastructure projects, which will allow Australia unlock our nation’s potential through efficiency gains.”

Barry Sharkey, Co-head of Global Capital Markets, Australasia, UBS

“Governments are at their best when making bold policy decisions that reach beyond the current electoral cycle and deliver long-term value. Areas such as infrastructure, education and medical research would all benefit from this approach, and at UBS we make an effort to generate ideas and contribute to policy debate in these and other areas.”

East Coles’ Investment Banking Research evaluatesbanks and bankers for the benefit of their subscribers and is utilised to improve their banking services for clients.

The researchers conducted the survey to rank all the investment banks and filtered the results to create separate league tables for independent banks.

East Coles’ Financial Research has ranked UBS the No. 1 Investment Bank in its annual banking awards for 2 consecutive years across several categories;

- Best ECM Bank
- Best M&A Banks
- Best DCM bank
- Best Investment Banks – Energy & Utilities
- Best Investment Banks – Financial

Moreover, the following UBS key employees are honoured for theirextraordinary contributions;

- Barry Sharkey, Best DCM Banker
- Richard Sleijpen, 2nd Best ECM Banker
- Guy Fowler, 3rd Best Investment Banker and 7th Best M&A Banker
- Tim Day, 5th Best Investment Banker
- Richard Saywell, 6th Best M&A Banker
 

Not another ordinary year.

Credit Agricole Private Banking appointed Sen Sui as chief executive in January this year. Singapore Business Review caught up with him as he shared his insights on his first year in appointment, his outlook, strategies and priorities for Singapore office in 2013 and beyond.

SBR: What makes you excited about your new position?

Credit Agricole Private Banking has a strong history in the region, in fact we have been in Asia since 1894. On the back of that rich history I am most looking forward to the development, the growth and the opportunities that are present in the Singapore market for Credit Agricole Private Banking.

My position here in Singapore reiterates that the region is an important hub for Crédit Agricole Private Banking and demonstrates the intention of the Bank to strengthen its position locally.

SBR: Do you have any specific goals for Singapore?

I am looking at sustainable growth over the next 10 - 20 years. I am looking at the long term and it’s not just about the percentage or number, it is about quality sustained growth.

Credit Agricole Private Banking prioritizes the principle of loyalty to clients by developing and maintaining long-term relationship with them, and this is something we will continue to focus on.

Going forward we will be looking to strengthening our position in Private Banking in Asia and deepening relationships with our existing clientele.

SBR: What will you do differently in this position?

The first year in my position in Singapore has been to understand the landscape and infrastructure. The second year is to develop, building and emphasise on our core competence.

SBR: What changes are you planning for?

The market here in Singapore is full of opportunities, and I would always look to grow and evolve with our market environment and our clients.

SBR: What are your key business philosophies? 

Attention to detail and entrepreneurialism are two areas of business that are important to me; these are characteristics that I have brought with me from my time in the technology sector and are core values of the Bank.

I believe that every team should run its business in the way that, they have to find out what drives them the most and they have to master new territories, bringing the entrepreneurial spirit into their daily work.

SBR: What previous positions prepared you for this current role?

Since the start of my journey with Credit Agricole Private Banking in 2005 as Head of Markets and Investment Solutions for Asia, I would say that I have built very strong foundations within this industry preparing me for my current position.

When I speak with clients, I can speak with strong authority because I definitely do have a strong background experience in the financial market which is a very great value-add.

I can also leverage on the strong fundamentals and values of the bank, Credit Agricole Private Banking is the 5th top foreign bank in Switzerland and manages USD 95 billion of assets worldwide. Credit Agricole Private Banking is not a product pusher and does not follow trends; instead the bank works to provide added value independent and targeted investment solutions.

El Ansari takesover as CEO of DropmySite.

Singapore Business Review recently caught up with ex-Google South East Asia Head of Business Development and current Head of EMEA for Dropmysite, Charif El Ansari.

Dropmysite bills itself as Asia's fastest growing startup for attracting 630,000 users within 50 days of launch, faster than Twitter, Pinterest and Fab.com. It backs up the Internet, with a focus on backing up Cloud data, such as websites, emails, chat, social media, and more.

El Ansari will take over the Chief Executive Office role from John Fearon, the founder of Dropmysite.

Fearon will move to assume more responsibilities in his investment holding firm, Gilcrux Holdings.

In 2012, El Ansari left Google for Dropmysite to lead its efforts in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Now with the management shuffle, El Ansari has returned to Singapore to take over the daily duties of Dropmysite.

Here's the full interview with El Ansari:

1. What makes you excited about your new position? What caused you to move from Google to Dropmysite?

It is great to take the helm of a successful startup and then work with the team on moving it to the next level. it is a great challenge to have.

I wanted to work in a smaller company in the internet space, where decisions get made much faster and the whole team is working closely together. By the time I left Google, there was about 30,000 Employees. Dropmysite fit the bill really nicely, plus I believed in the model and the value proposition from early on and was one of the earliest investors.

2. What will you do differently in this position? What changes are you planning for?

Honing our existing products, ensuring ease of integration with partners and launching our Dropmymobile Beta (mobile phone backup app)

3. What three goals are you focused on?

1st, further improve the user experience for our three products (Dromysite, Dropmyemail and the soon to be launched Dropmymobile). 2nd, increase engagement with partners and resellers. 3rd, focus on operational excellence.

4. What are your key business philosophies?

- Focus on the user and the partners
- Have a capable and committed team
- Enjoy what you are doing

5. What previous positions prepared you for this one and how?
Working and living in several countries in Asia definitely helps. Working at Google surely helped, but very importantly, learning the importance of setting audacious goals for whatever you doing was a great lesson I learned at Google. Also Dell's execution - driven culture is something that I will always take with me. Lastly, working in various roles across various geographies made me a well rounded person fit for the current role

6. Anything else youd like to add?
I am glad to be back in Singapore, which is a second home to me, after being away for some time. I am also very glad to see a much healthier startup eco-system than a couple of years ago.

He also reveals growth projections in the region.

The recently unveiled healthcare reforms prove that Singapore is a growing market for foreign and local medical tourism.

In its report, DBS noted that an estimated cS$980m were spent in Singapore by foreigners on medical goods and services in 2011.

Adding to the growing list of various medical technolgies offered in Singapore is CareFusion, a medical technology firm that partner with  its customers to help them improve medication management, lower costs in procedural areas, and advance the care of ventilated patients and turn the endless amount of data generated in healthcare into actionable information.

Five years ago, CareFusion entered the Singapore market and so far,  the region has been one of the fastest in adopting its leading medical technology solutions.

Singapore Business Review caught up with Prasanna Parthasarathy, Vice President, Dispensing International, CareFusion Corporation, to know more about their technology and the company's future plans in Asia.

SBR: What is the cost of mismanaged or misdiagnosis in Asia?

This is difficult to quantify – due to the lack of latest comprehensive research and analysis available in the variety of markets. For developing markets in Asia certainly an area of huge improvement.

SBR: How does this compare to your U.S and European markets?

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates more than 1 in 10 patients are harmed while receiving hospital care in developed countries. The Institute of Medicine estimates that more than 100,000 people a year die from a medication error or healthcare-acquired infection.

That is more than three times as many that die from automobile accidents in the U.S. each year.

When you look at the financial cost of medication errors, more than 1.5 million patients annually are harmed at an estimated cost of $3.5 billion in the U.S. alone.

Healthcare-acquired infections affect 1.7 million patients annually in the U.S. resulting in 271 fatalities per day. That’s one every 5.5 minutes. A study that analyzed 1.69 million admissions from 77 hospitals concluded that infections reduced overall net inpatient margins by $286 million, or $5,018 for each patient with an HAI.

SBR: Can you share at least three tangible benefits of adoption of your technology?

Decreased Medication Errors, Reduced and/or prevented healthcare-acquired infections, and Increased efficiency/Decreased cost.

SBR: In terms of adoption of medical technology, where does Asia stand? Do they see medical technology as a priority?

Asia varies widely depending on the specific country/market. For example, in China, their cities will have the latest and greatest med tech devices, but in rural China, they are just now finding ways to provide basic care.

However, it is important to say that Asian markets are rapidly increasing their focus to improve the quality in patient centric care and therefore are quick to adapt leading edge medical technology.

SBR: What has been CareFusion's growth in the Asian market?

We do not release financials at the regional level, but we have increased our presence in key markets like China, India and emerging ASEAN markets.

SBR: CareFusion has a diverse range of solutions – is there a specific area that is of bigger priority in Asia, for example, is it Infection Prevention or Medication Management?

Our primary focus is helping to improve patient safety. We don’t believe that hospitals need to choose between Medication Management or Infection Prevention. They can do both, because when they implement technology to improve in these areas, they save money.

There may be upfront investments, but in the long run, avoiding errors avoids huge costs to a hospital. So we focus on patient safety, not an either or.

SBR: How do CareFusion products benefit the end user i.e. the hospital patient?

Our technologies provide different end patient benefits depending on the product. For our Pyxis and Rowa dispensing products, these help ensure the five rights of medication safety.

That means they help ensure the right patient gets the right medication in the right dose at the right time through the right route of administration.

SBR: What is your growth forecast in the region, apart from Singapore, which markets are key for your penetration into Asia?

Key markets are India, China and emerging ASEAN markets. To the growth factor: measurement of growth is not measured by the numbers of units we sell but the satisfaction levels of our customers and improved efficiency and patient safety in the area.

And why firms are excited for the Singapore leg.

Singapore Business Review recently caught up with Nick Keller, CEO of Square Mile Sport. His company pioneered the much talked-about team building and race scheme for corporations called the Square Mile Relay. This week, the race will be brought to Singapore and many prominent Singapore-based firms will be participating. Here's more from Nick Keller:

SBR: What inspired you to create the Square Mile Relay?

Firstly, I would say it’s those memories of school sports days – everyone runs the relay and remembers passing that baton on, but it’s something we never do as adults. And yet it’s so exciting – you look at the relays in the Olympic Games and they are some of the most thrilling events. I wanted to recreate this excitement and at the same time deviate from traditional races that are more individualistic. As such the concept of racing as a team came forward and the Square Mile Relay was born.

SBR: Why specifically target corporations?

Anyone who has played for a sports team and worked in a major corporation knows the many things they have in common! From the pressure to deliver to the importance of teamwork and the buzz that comes with success, there are so many parallels.

Added to that is the fact that the men and women working for these major organisations are competitive, high-performing individuals and you’re pretty much guaranteed a very exciting race with every single runner aiming to perform to the absolute best of their ability.

SBR: Other than winning bragging rights, how can corporations benefit from this event?

I think every corporation understands the importance of team building, with an increasing number appreciating the importance of safekeeping their employees’ health and wellbeing. 

A strong and happy team is much more enjoyable to work in, of course, but also much more productive and beneficial for the company. There’s also the question of collective pride – the bond formed between team members during training and at the race, and also with colleagues who come down to cheer them. It’s a truly special experience and a fun one too.

The fact that we get over 85% of companies returning each year in the London race goes to show how much firms enjoy the event, and we hope to see the same with the Singapore leg in editions to come. 

SBR: What inspired the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay coming into Singapore?

Singapore is a fantastic sporting city - it's young and dynamic - and you could probably use the same description about the business community here. Even though it’s a mature and established international business and financial hub, it has a very fresh and exciting feel. It really is a perfect fit for the event, with a stunning urban landscape and an audience with an insatiable appetite for running races.

It therefore made perfect sense both for us and our headline partner, Bloomberg, to bring the race to Singapore as the first step in our global expansion. Bloomberg are also very committed to this region, so it was a great choice for all involved.

SBR: What kind of teams can we expect at the race this Thursday?

We are expecting teams across a diversity of industries – from bankers to shipping brokers and from lawyers to pharmaceutical companies. The likes of Barclays and Goldman Sachs will be going head to head with Clifford Chance, Goodyear and Google. Teams with strong showing include the likes of Standard Chartered Bank with nine teams and Great Eastern Life with three teams including an all-women’s team.

SBR: Is there anything interesting about any of the teams that have signed up?

Firstly, despite the strong competition between teams, Virgin Active will be helping everyone out by leading all the runners in a pre-race warm up as well as with cool down and stretches post-race.

They did this brilliantly in London, and we are looking forward to having them do this in Singapore. There is also DHL who may be ‘delivering’ their baton around the course in an unusual way as well, but we’ll have to wait and see! 

SBR: How does the relay, with huge corporate participation, give back to society?

First of all, the winning team receives a cheque for S$10,000 to donate to their preferred charity, so there is an immediate grant on the night for one deserving organisation. But we’re very keen to also build a lasting legacy for Singapore around the race. We have partnered with SportCares to launch an on-going running programme for disadvantaged youths and young adults. This isn’t just about getting them out and improving their fitness, but also using the hook of sport to help engage and educate them and really make a positive difference in their lives. 

The creation and development of this SportCares programme will see not only coaching being provided, but also transport, refreshments and mentoring.

SBR: With such an exciting event, what else can participants expect other than sports element of it?

A big difference between the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay and other running events is what happens after the race. This isn’t just a case of a towel going round your neck and a bottle of water being put in your hand, then away you go. The runners and spectators come together for a fantastic experience – we have great food and drink, a DJ who will be spinning live, and in many ways the end of the race is just the start of the party. Entry into the Race Village on The Promontory at Marina Bay is free to all, so spectators should come along and support the runners as well as join in the celebrations at the after-party! 

How did they deal with the issue?

Singapore Business Review recently caught up with Narendra Kumar, Chief Financial Officer Qantas International at Qantas Airways. Here's what he has to say on three pressing issues Qantas is currently facing.

SBR: Amidst all the negative speculations about Qantas' Kangaroo route move, is Singapore still as important to you?

We have been flying Singapore for 75 years now, and it continues to be an important market and destination for Qantas. In line with the Qantas Group strategy of ‘Growing with Asia’, we are focused on promoting Singapore as a key hub for the region.

In March this year we launched a new schedule which concentrates on Asia itself, rather than being based on through-flights to Europe. The new Asia promotes direct services to Asia and onward connections within Asia on Qantas partner airlines.

This was the first step in a phased approach to make Qantas the best choice for customers flying between Asia and Australia. Earlier this year, we also unveiled a multi-million dollar investment - - the new Qantas Singapore Lounge in Changi Airport. . We’ve received tremendous feedback on the lounge from our passengers travelling to and from Singapore.

SBR: What are your further plans for capacity increase on services between Singapore and Australia?

Our new Asia schedule has delivered better frequencies, connectivity and timings for our customers. We have also increased dedicated capacity by 40 per cent on our services between Singapore and Australia.

The joint Qantas and Emirates network into Asia has provided our customers with a fresh set of options, including double daily services to Singapore. Together, Qantas and Emirates operate a total of 49 flights per week between Singapore and Australia, including double daily services from Singapore to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, on a mix of A330, B747 and B777 aircraft.

Singapore is a very important market for Qantas, so we will continue to review and respond to customer demand for this route.

SBR: The growth of Singapore-Europe traffic has slowed in recent years due to the challenging economic conditions in Europe, but is now getting better. How is Qantas dealing with this?

Our global partnership with Emirates has a lot of potential for growth, especially in terms of route networks. Emirates’ network in Europe is unparalleled, and so is Qantas’ network in Australia.

What we’re working towards for this partnership is to maximise our individual strengths as an airline, and combine them together to provide Qantas and Emirates customers the best product offering in the aviation industry in terms of flight connections, enhanced customer experience, and an expanded flight network.

Get a glimpse of what makes them stand out.

Financial research firm East Coles recently concluded the 25th East Coles Australian Equities Markets Report wherein fund managers or institutions rated the service provided by the broking community across 33 relevant sectors such as Banks, Insurance, Retail, and Strategy among others.

Canaccord Genuity grabbed the top spot for the Best Equities House (Non-bank owned) category while Baillieu Holst topped the Equity Capital Markets (Non-bank owned) list. BBY Australia got the highest ratings in the Research (Non-bank owned) category while Taylor Collison ranked first in the Dealing (Non-bank owned) category. Click on Figures 1-4 to see the Top 10 list per category.

Nick Coles, Director at East Coles, said that this year, 56 institutions participated representing over 50% of market Funds Under Management. This is the 4th report conducted in association with the SMH/AGE.

ABF: What sets you apart from other houses?

Marcus Freeman, Canaccord Genuity: Canaccord's biggest differentiator is the fact that we are a mid cap specialist operating on a global platform. We operate from around 50 offices in 11 countries and we work intimately with all parts of our business to offer solutions to clients. Our local capital markets business covers four key sectors; being mining, oil and gas, life sciences and industrials. These sectors have been chosen carefully to correlate strongly with our strengths offshore. Our advantage is our ability to help our mid market clients in all the major financial centres, and this offering is what I think sets us apart from many of our independent firm peers.

Stephen Macaw, Baillieu Holst: We were established in 1889, are one of the very first firms in Australia and we have stood the test of time. We focus specifically on stocks that are outside the ASX 100 across five defined sectors which is a very different model than our newer competitors in this market. We think that we provide a superior outcome for our corporate clients by having an intimate knowledge of the sectors we specialise in. Baillieu’s other point of difference is the strength of our research and distribution capabilities.

Glenn Rosewall, BBY Australia: BBY is Australia and New Zealand’s largest non-bank owned stockbroker. We are located in Adelaide, Auckland, Dubai, Gold Coast, London, Melbourne, New York, Perth, Sydney (Head Office) and Wellington. We are one of the fastest growing securities firms in Australia and New Zealand with a comprehensive offering including Institutional Sales & Trading, Asset Management, Corporate Finance, ASX Equities Research, Broker Dealer Services and BBY Investing (Private Client General Advice). Our mission is to service the local and international needs of Australian and New Zealand high growth companies, institutional investors, broker dealers and private investors. We aim to remain Australia and New Zealand’s largest non-bank owned securities firm, providing the very best capital markets and investment solutions for our clients. In addition, BBY has $22 billion in FUA today v $1 billion 5 years ago.

Mark Pittman, Taylor Collison: We don’t take any of our clients for granted. In addition to that, our 5-person dealing team has an average of 23 years industry experience, and our research department has a unique set of skills. Lastly, we work seven days a week.

ABF: What are your plans to further improve your performance and your relationship with clients?

Marcus Freeman, Canaccord Genuity: Our Australian business has a strong focus on 'continuous improvement', and this is core to everything that we do. We have recruited some very strong people over the last two years, who have really helped us get closer to where we want to be as a business. We are focused on identifying quality companies that form the base of our research coverage, and our sales and trading and corporate coverage develops from this research led approach. We are working on adding quality companies to our coverage. This is an ongoing process and one that is working well for us to date. We will also make some selective hires around the edges but our core team is in place. The development of a more established M&A advisory business in Australia is also a key development focus for us locally, to compliment the strong advisory practices in our offshore offices. We have plenty of improvement left in us, but I am happy with the direction we are heading in.

Stephen Macaw, Baillieu Holst: I think it's continuing to do what we’re doing which is focusing on a very specific part of the market. We will continue to maintain close corporate relationships, improve the quality of our research and the strength of our global distribution. If we continue doing those things, we will continue to grow and succeed.

Glenn Rosewall, BBY Australia: We’re working on building technology to improve the way we deliver our products to the clients. We have one of the broadest product offering in the market in Australia and New Zealand and we focus on making money for our clients.

Mark Pittman, Taylor Collison: We plan on expanding our team by adding a small number of talented people with similar core values as our own.

Coles said that Canaccord did exceptionally well to be voted Best Equities House (non-bank) this year after having only been active in the Australian markets for a relatively short period of time. They recruited quality staff aggressively assembling an experienced team that have obviously gelled together very well from the outset. "Full credit to Marcus Freeman for putting the team together and fully harnessing their strengths so well so quickly," he added.

BBY, on the other hand, have been around a long time. Coles said that Glenn Rosewall has always been very conscious of cajoling high quality research in key areas from his many talented analysts. They focus on stocks and sectors that have the greatest impact for their clients and manage to differentiate their research and create value very successfully.

The Taylor Collison dealing desk is a very experienced one and is ably led by brothers Mark and David Pittman, Coles said. They are Adelaide-based but have key, high level relationships with several of the major domestic institutions in Sydney and Melbourne. These relationships place the firm on a very strong footing with those clients.

"Baillieu Holst is an iconic Australian brokerage house originating from Melbourne and dating back to 1889. They have a variety of long held corporate relationships dating back many years based on mutual trust and respect, and have always been held in high regard," Coles added. 

Here's how Tan Tong Hai plans to make StarHub as local as it can be.

SBR: What makes you excited about your new position? What will you do differently in this position? What changes are you planning for?

Having been the Chief Operating Officer for the past four years, it helps me to understand the industry players, regulators and capabilities within StarHub. The ground knowledge will be very useful in my new role as Chief Executive Officer as I translate our business strategies into actions.

I am grateful to the StarHub Board for entrusting me with this role, and am privileged to lead the strong and passionate team at StarHub.

I am truly local and proud of it. I was born in Singapore, studied in neighbourhood schools and local institutions and served my National Service before working in both an MNC and local companies. Indeed, I am thankful to be a Singaporean.

In the same way, I take immense pride in StarHub being a local company. I want to make StarHub as local as it can be, while adopting international quality business practices and delivering world class infocomm services that our customers can enjoy personally or with their loved ones and families.

StarHub has an exciting brand and I will continue to build on the brand to deliver delightful experiences for our customers. We are the pioneer in Hubbing and have made it simple and easy for our customers to access Mobile, TV and Broadband services in an integrated and seamless manner through our Hubbing offers.

It is no longer possible to just compete on individual services. We will continue to level upon our Hubbing strategy to surprise and delight our customers. We are living in a period where new disruptive technologies will continue to challenge traditional business models.

It is important to embrace change and track future technologies closely. We have formed I³ (Innovation, Investment and Incubation) to look at new sources of revenue with emerging technology trends.

Partnerships with both local and global players will also be a key pillar to our success. We will focus on establishing strategic partnerships to capitalise on one another's strengths for greater customer benefits.

And of course, being a Singaporean company, we are on the lookout for opportunities to support local productions too.

We will continue to create value for our stakeholders and at the same time we want to be remembered as a company with a heart, actively giving back to the society.

A good example of this is the ongoing Project Family Time which is a movement where we help fulfil requests from customers to bring their families closer together through technology. This is a direction that will continue to influence our service innovations and customer experience.

We have always firmly believed in balancing our business goals with social responsibilities. In the recently launched Golden Guru programme, we help seniors who are tech-savvy to teach information-technology to other seniors.

This enables the seniors to remain socially active and stay connected to society and their loved ones. We also encourage our StarHubbers to cultivate a strong spirit of volunteering through our CSR initiatives. Ultimately, we aim to be a company that Singaporeans can be proud of.

SBR:  What three goals are you focused on?

StarHub has an exciting brand and I will continue to build on the brand to deliver delightful experiences for our customers.

Secondly, we continue to provide the best customer service experience. We have launched the My StarHub app for our customers to self-help and also developed the StarHub Community for customers to share and connect.

Thirdly, we will continue to invest in our network and platforms to deliver superior network performance and service experience.

SBR: What are your key business philosophies?

StarHub is operating in a very competitive and fast evolving environment where the only constant is change. To excel in this environment, we need to be agile to adapt quickly to changes, and to be calm in the face of challenges and surprises.

In fact, I have a calligraphy art-piece in my office which echoes just that. The phrase on the art-piece is a constant reminder to stay focused and firm in the face of unexpected changes.

I advocate strategic partnerships too. Sometimes it's too slow to do it on our own. Through partnerships, we can leverage on one another's strengths and create new value for customers. It's a three-way win-win scenario; we share successes with our partners while consumers benefit.

As we ensure that our customers are well-served, I also want to take care of my team and nurture talents to bring out the best in them. It is important to me that the StarHub team is one big family, where everyone is happy, motivated and have a sense of belonging. Indeed, StarHub is our home.

While StarHub continues to deliver the best value to stakeholders, we mustn't forget that StarHub is part of a larger community and we should do our part for our customers as well as to society. Our ongoing Project Family Time initiatives serve to remind us how the Family is the cornerstone of what we do.

I am very glad that StarHub has focussed efforts on helping the disadvantaged in our community through the StarHub Sparks Fund, and at the same time, we are taking serious steps to do our part for the environment through Green initiatives.

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

I have over 20 years of experience in regional information technology, Internet and e-commerce industries, with broad experience at top management levels.

Being at the helm is not new to me as I had the privilege of being the President and the CEO of both Singapore Computer Systems and Pacific
Internet (PacNet). My 11 years in IBM has also helped me to understand the enterprise segment of the business.

And of course, I am no stranger to StarHub and because of this, I am more-than-ready for my new role.

SBR: Anything else you'd like to add?

The StarHub brand is very valuable. We are an exciting brand that is known to be energetic and innovative, and this is a very positive image we will work hard to keep.

In addition to providing attractive product offerings, I want StarHub customers to enjoy a positive user experience with us. I also want to maintain what they have come to expect from us - quality and a proven reliable network.

I hope to inspire the younger generation that if a local boy born, bred and educated here can become the CEO of a big cap company, the sky's the limit for them.