PREMIUM EDUCATION WITH CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS CREATES SIGNIFICANT OPPORTUNITY - HENLEY & PARTNERS STUDY

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 13 (Bernama) -- International wealth advisory firm Henley & Partners has published pioneering new research into how first-class education, combined with expanded global access rights, creates significant opportunity for the next generation.

According to a statement, these opportunities enable them to grow their global networks, maximise their career prospects, earning potential, and economic mobility for greater success and prosperity across their lifetimes.

The Henley Opportunity Index, a proprietary new benchmarking tool showcased in the firm’s inaugural Henley Education Report, quantifies the impact and probability of success that a premium education coupled with additional residence rights and/or alternative citizenships acquired via investment migration, can have on preserving and growing multi-generational wealth.

Henley & Partners Group Head of Private Clients, Dominic Volek said both education and investment migration are ‘inter-generational enablers’ and this is the first study of its kind that attempts to measure the comparative advantage of this potent combination.

“Our index helps guide families on tailored investment migration strategies to clear pathways for their children and heirs to access the world’s best schooling, most lucrative job markets, and enhanced quality of life through the privileges and flexibility of alternative residence and citizenship by investment options that give them the right to study, live, work, and invest in countries of their choice,” he said.

Using the comparative function of the Henley Opportunity Index, a Filipino family whose total opportunity score sits at just 23 per cent in their home country, could raise the probability of success for the next generation to 82 per cent by accessing residence rights in the United States (US) via the US EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.

Similarly, for a Vietnamese family on 24 per cent, relocating to Switzerland through the Swiss Residence Program would increase their advantage to 85 per cent, and for Nigerians with an opportunity score of just 14 per cent, an investment in the Singapore Global Investor Program, would uplift their life chances by 65 per cent to a remarkable 79 per cent.

As Henley & Partners Education Director, Tess Wilkinson points out in the report, education alone cannot guarantee opportunities in the future job market.

“Investing in your child’s education is universally acknowledged as one of the best ways to set them up for success later in life, with multiple studies showing that those with tertiary qualifications earn around 50 per cent more,” added Wilkinson.

The Henley Opportunity Index identifies 15 attractive investment migration pathways into countries that are prime locations for educators, entrepreneurs, and inheritors aiming to thrive in coming decades.

-- BERNAMA

TRACKINSIGHT 2024 GLOBAL ETF SURVEY REPORT RELEASED: UNVEILING 50+ CHARTS ON WORLDWIDE ETF TRENDS

Trackinsight, in Partnership with J.P. Morgan Asset Management and State Street, Unveils the Global ETF Survey 2024 Report ‘50+ Charts of Worldwide ETF Trends’. A Comprehensive Overview of Worldwide ETF Trends Highlighting Industry Innovations and Growth Opportunities.

Hong Kong, Feb 8 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  Trackinsight, a global leader in ETF research and analytics, today announced the release of its Global ETF Survey 2024 Report: ‘50+ Charts on Worldwide ETF Trends’, in partnership with J.P. Morgan Asset Management and State Street.

The fifth annual survey report, now freely available on trackinsight.com, provides a comprehensive analysis of the ETF industry, covering trends, growth, and innovation. It leverages Trackinsight's global database of over 10,000 ETPs and features insights from more than 500 investment professionals managing ETF assets exceeding $900 billion.

Report highlights:

· Global ETF Growth: In 2023, ETF assets surged to a remarkable $11 trillion, showcasing a pattern of sustained growth. In APAC, there was a substantial asset rebound compared to 2022; however, net flows have consistently declined since 2020.
· Active ETF Momentum: In North America, active ETF strategies secured 25% of the flows in 2023, bringing total category’s assets in the region to $630 billion. In contrast, Europe, where interest is slowly growing, lags significantly with only $32 billion in assets, emphasizing investors' ongoing preference for passive strategies. Meanwhile, in APAC, active ETFs witnessed a revival in interest after two years of weaker demand.
· Thematic Investments: Global interest in thematic investing in 2023 continues to be subdued when compared to the levels seen during the pandemic years. AI, Robotics, and Automation themes take the global spotlight with $3.6 billion in inflows in the U.S. and Europe, while the Nuclear Energy theme sees a surge in the U.S. with $1 billion in new capital. Europe's commitment to Net Zero 2050 and Climate Change themes remains strong with over $10 billion in new inflows.
· ESG Cross-Atlantic Polarity: In 2023, Europe reaffirms its global leadership in the ESG market, injecting an impressive $50 billion into ESG ETFs. Europe now commands a remarkable 75% share of the global $550 billion ESG ETF assets, reaching an all-time high. In contrast, the U.S. experiences a widening gap due to across-the-aisle pushback. In APAC, investors added over $1 billion to the ESG category, although notably lower than the previous two years.
· Fixed Income Revival: For the fourth consecutive year, North America witnessed net flows into fixed income ETFs surpassing $200 billion, driving the total assets in the region to exceed $1.5 trillion. In Europe, there were $66 billion in inflows, double the amount from the previous year, bringing the region's total assets closer to the half-trillion-dollar mark. In APAC, interest surged significantly, resulting in increased flows compared to the previous year and expanding the total assets in that category. This resurgence across regions has contributed to global fixed income assets reaching a historic milestone of $2 trillion.
· Insights from the Survey Respondents: Investors are strategically expanding their allocations to diverse asset classes via ETFs, with a pronounced focus on equity and fixed income. European investors continue to prioritize ESG investing, and interest in active management is widespread across different regions. Thematic investing appetite is present but in a minor satellite exposure capacity, while caution prevails when it comes to cryptocurrencies.
 
Philippe Malaise, CEO of Trackinsight, commented, "This year's Global ETF Survey underscores the vibrant expansion and the transformative potential of the ETF industry. Our collaboration with J.P. Morgan and State Street has enabled us to present a report that not only captures the current state of the market but also offers forward-looking insights that will benefit investors and industry stakeholders alike. The findings highlight the adaptability of ETFs to market changes and investor needs, reinforcing their essential role in contemporary investment strategies."

“We coined the phrase ETF 3.0 several years ago, as a description of the exponential growth we expected to see for active ETFs globally. The 2024 survey results echo our predictions,” said Francis Koudelka, Senior Vice President & Global ETF Product Specialist at State Street. “Global investors are telling us they are allocating more to active ETFs, would be more apt to purchase a strategy if it was converted from a mutual fund to ETF, and would like to see global regulators enable a listed ETF as a share class of an unlisted fund. We remain bullish on the growth of active ETFs globally.”

“ETF adoption continues to increase globally and across APAC, as investors become more comfortable with the transparency, daily liquidity, and attractive fee proposition. APAC is expected to see even stronger ETF asset growth momentum compared with other regions, with a growth rate of ~20% ,(vs ~15% for global)^¹” said Philippe El-Asmar, APAC Head of ETF, Digital & Direct, J.P. Morgan Asset Management. “APAC investors are progressively evolving from passive to factor-based and strategy-based ETFs, ultimately to actively managed ETFs. As a pioneer in active ETFs, we look forward to leading the active revolution in the ETF industry by delivering our world-class active capabilities in the ETF wrapper.”

In addition to the full report, Trackinsight and its partners are delighted to offer additional content with thought leadership articles and weekly updated industry league tables, freely accessible from trackinsight.com, enabling everyone to gain valuable insights into the ETF market. For more information on the 2024 Global ETF Survey, please visit trackinsight.com. 

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WEALTHARC, ZEROLINK REVOLUTIONISE FAMILY OFFICES WITH AI-BASED CHAT SERVICE

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 (Bernama) -- WealthArc, a Swiss-born global wealth data management solution provider, has partnered with ZeroLink, to develop WealthArc AI & Analytics, a machine learning-powered “Chat with your data” service tailored for family offices and the wealth management space.

According to WealthArc in a statement, the integration of ZeroLink's technology in the development of WealthArc AI & Analytics enables a game-changing approach for family offices and wealth management to effortlessly access, navigate, and comprehend complex data sets.

WealthArc chief executive officer (CEO) Radomir Mastalerz said the solution developed together with ZeroLink will revolutionise the way family offices, portfolio managers, as well as wealth owners, interact with wealth data - ultimately elevating the level of service and raising the bar for the wealth management space as a whole.

Meanwhile, ZeroLink CEO, Darren Tseng said: “We are excited to partner with the WealthArc team to offer a solution that can work with the sort of data that others simply cannot.

“Instead of training these models on massive corpuses of data to improve accuracy, our technology enables natural language querying from your existing data and is also better for data privacy as a result.”

ZeroLink’s novel technology is a knowledge graph question/answering (KGQA) and knowledge modelling platform that utilises machine learning to provide fast, accurate, and explainable answers to complex questions with reasoning that can be customised by users.

ZeroLink can translate structured data and unstructured text into a computable knowledge graph that allows users, such as wealth managers, to ask questions in conversational manner and receive accurately sourced answers.

WealthArc empowers family offices, wealth managers and other wealth owners with a state-of-the-art data management platform aggregating over 200,000 positions every day globally.

WealthArc’s application is a multi-custodian and multi-currency driven solution that is very intuitive and easy to use, customisable and with a high level of data quality, ensuring that its clients have access to up-to-date and accurate intelligent information, allowing them to make informed decisions that drive positive outcomes and build their wealth.

-- BERNAMA

INVESTCLOUD TO ACCELERATE REVENUE GROWTH WITH CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER APPOINTMENT

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 (Bernama) -- InvestCloud, a global provider of wealth and asset management solutions, has appointed Shawn Donovan as Chief Revenue Officer, responsible for the company’s sales and account management strategy globally with a key focus on enhancing value creation and delivery for clients.

This appointment further underscores InvestCloud’s commitment to leading the digital transformation of wealth, strengthening the client experience and accelerating growth, as the company supports more than US$6 trillion in assets under management across its platforms. (US$1=RM4.76)

Its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Yabuki said for more than three decades, Shawn has been leading sales and operational teams serving the financial services industry with a focus on driving outstanding sales and revenue growth.

“We are thrilled to welcome Shawn to InvestCloud where we can utilise his deep expertise in building high-performing teams and enhance the value we deliver for our clients and partners,” he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Donovan said: “I am excited about the tremendous transformation opportunity before us and look forward to working with the team to drive this next generation of growth.”

Donovan brings extensive experience in the financial services and technology industry to his new role at InvestCloud. He spent more than 30 years in progressive global leadership roles with responsibilities spanning sales and account management, strategy and operations, and general management, while at EDS, Acxiom, Fiserv and Neustar.

In addition to serving on various executive management committees and leading large-scale global sales organisations throughout his career, with background includes over five years as Fiserv Chief Sales Officer, where he managed teams with more than 400 sales executives and achieved record-setting sales.

Donovan specialises in business transformation to drive profitable revenue growth and is deeply committed to cultivating talent, developing best-in-class processes and achieving consistent strong performance and has a proven track record in building sales teams and models that deliver results.

-- BERNAMA

CARRY1ST ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC INVESTMENT FROM SONY INNOVATION FUND

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Feb 6 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Carry1st, Africa’s leading game publisher and digital commerce platform, announces a strategic investment by Sony Innovation Fund, the venture capital arm of Sony Group Corporation (“Sony”). Carry1st is the inaugural investment out of Sony Innovation Fund: Africa, which was established by Sony as an initiative to support the growth of entertainment businesses in Africa.

Driven by rapidly increasing technology adoption, Africa’s gaming industry has over 200 million unique players and is set to reach a market size of over $1 billion in 2024, according to data from Newzoo and Carry1st. While there is limited formal console presence, Africa presents an incredible growth opportunity for this sector, particularly with the rise of live services.

"We are thrilled to join forces with Sony Innovation Fund: Africa," said Cordel Robbin-Coker, CEO and Co-founder of Carry1st. "The relationship will help Carry1st to drive the future of gaming in Africa. At Carry1st, we believe that the African console market is a massively underestimated opportunity. Our distinct regional capabilities, paired with Sony's expertise in gaming and entertainment, creates a powerful combination. Together, we hope to bring the best games in the world to players across Africa.”

“We are excited to welcome Carry1st as our first investment in Africa,” said Antonio Avitabile, Managing Director – EMEA, Sony Ventures Corporation. “We believe there is tremendous untapped potential for the gaming market in Africa, which we hope to experience and contribute to through our investment in Carry1st. We look forward to working closely with Carry1st’s world-class management team to support the company’s growth and explore potential business opportunities with Sony Group companies.”

About Carry1st
Carry1st is Africa’s leading publisher of games and digital content. Its mission is to scale awesome content in frontier markets by solving hard problems. Carry1st develops, licenses, and publishes games, and monetizes them effectively with Pay1st, a proprietary alternative payments platform and online marketplace for digital gaming goods. Carry1st has partnered with the likes of Activision, Supercell, and Riot Games to help scale games like Call of Duty: Mobile and Valorant and has launched games including Africa Glam (Nanobit), Mancala Adventures, SpongeBob Krusty Cook-Off, Ludo Blitz and Mine Rescue for gamers in Africa. Carry1st has raised over $60M since being founded in 2018 and counts BITKRAFT, Riot Games, and Nas as investors. 

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AUTOMOBILI PININFARINA GARNERS THREE INTERNATIONAL ACCOLADES

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 6 (Bernama) -- Automobili Pininfarina has kicked off 2024, winning three awards, as it continues to build on the success of a record-breaking previous year.

In a statement, the German-based company said LUXlife Magazine has named Automobili Pininfarina ‘Luxury Electric Performance Car Manufacturer of the Year 2024’, within the ‘Leaders in Luxury’ category, at its annual awards.

Celebrating the unparalleled achievements and exceptional creativity in the realm of luxury, LUXlife awards honour the leaders and pioneers who redefine excellence within the industry, setting higher standards of sophistication and elegance.

This was followed by another win for the PURA Vision design concept, which was awarded Silver in Conceptual Products / Automotive & Transport Product Design at the 2024 International Design Awards.

PURA Vision represents the beginning of what promises to be a groundbreaking era for electric luxury vehicles  (e-LUVs), and was penned by its Chief Design Officer, Dave Amantea, in which it was unveiled at 2023 Monterey Car Week.

The principles of the PURA philosophy, established by Automobili Pininfarina, transform the DNA of iconic models from Pininfarina SpA's past to define the future, balancing inspiration from iconic classic cars with futuristic elements.

Inspired by classic proportions and exquisite detailing, PURA Vision presents an elegant silhouette with bold cab-rear proportions that combine timeless beauty with exquisite detailing to create a dynamic identity with unmistakable presence, with show-stopping features including its narrow glasshouse and tri-opening pillarless doors.

Most recently, the Automobili Pininfarina Battista Edizione Nino Farina was named Best Electric Hypercar at Robb Report Monaco & Côte d’Azur Car of the Year 2024. Introduced at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed, it is a tribute to racing legend Nino Farina – nephew of company founder Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina and the first Formula One World Champion.

Finished in a bespoke Rosso Nino paint complemented by a special livery on the lower body, as well as in Bianco Sestriere and Iconica Blu, the exterior design is completed by the Satin Gold 10-spoke forged aluminium Glorioso alloy wheels.

-- BERNAMA

COLOSSAL CAVERNS EXCAVATION FOR FERMILAB’S DUNE EXPERIMENT COMPLETES

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 (Bernama) -- The excavation of the caverns that will house the gigantic particle detectors of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) in Lead, South Dakota, United States (US) has completed.

According to the US Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in a statement, final outfitting of the colossal caverns will begin soon and make way for the start of the installation of the DUNE detectors later this year.

Fermilab’s Michael Gemelli, who managed the excavation of the caverns by Thyssen Mining said: “The completion of the three large caverns and all of the interconnecting drifts marks the end of a really big dig. With no lost-time accidents in over three years, we reached a major achievement.”

Meanwhile, US Project Director Chris Mossey said completing this step prepares the project for installation of the detectors later this year and brings them a step closer towards fulfilling the vision of making this a world-class underground facility.

Located a mile below the surface, the three colossal caverns are at the core of a new research facility that spans an underground area about the size of eight soccer fields.

The caverns provide space for four large neutrino detectors, each one about the size of a seven-story building and the detectors will be filled with liquid argon and record the rare interaction of neutrinos with the transparent liquid.

The DUNE collaboration, which includes more than 1,400 scientists and engineers from over 200 institutions in 35 countries, is eager to start the installation of the particle detectors.

They have successfully tested the technology and assembly process for the first detector and preparations for the technology of the second detector are underway at the research laboratory of European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

-- BERNAMA