Old Fashioned Regulations Damaging Cotton Industry

A sharp fall in the Global cotton price has signalled the beginning of a troubling period for Bangladesh’s textile industry which is set to suffer significant loses.

In this week’s blog post, Dian Skelton will be discussing this announcement and investigating the reasons why Bangladesh’s textile industry is not adapting to global fluctuations.

Completely Avoidable?

Dian Skelton is Director at ViewPoint Software Services Limited, founder of the MostlyManx shop on the Isle of Man and co-owner of the Laxey Woollen Mills. The Mills specialises in producing Laxey Manx Tartan which unique to the Isle of Man.

Perhaps the most concerning aspect of this announcement is that it was actually avoidable. The old fashioned regulations set by the central bank of Bangladesh limit certain industries, such as the textile industry, from adapting to fluctuations that occur in the global market.  

Given that Bangladesh is the second largest garment exporter in the world, you would think that the central bank would give industries more freedom in order to flourish rather than tying their hands and making them vulnerable to price changes.  

The central bank does not promote modern financial tactics and therefore hedging commodity importers from price fluctuations.

How Does This Affect the Textile Industry?

China is currently the largest producer of fabric and importer of cotton, but they currently have huge volumes of carried-over stock meaning they need to curb the amount they import. They have done this by increasing duty on cotton imports.

In response to this, the global market feared a drop in demand and since June, cotton prices have fallen to 20 cents per pound, compared to the average $1 per pound and Bangladesh spinners had bought cotton for the latter price.

Since the central bank does not provide coverage for hedging, the spinner were left without coverage for market fluctuations. Spinners will either have to accept the financial loss or garment manufacturers will have to buy yarn at a higher price that is not consistent with the global trend.

Dian Skelton’s Thoughts

As somebody who has been in the textile industry for most of her life, Dian is of course very passionate about this subject. Commenting on this she said that the idea of a central bank restricting a highly fertile industry is extremely disappointing.

Dian also understands the importance of tradition, given her families ties to the Laxey Woollen Mills dating back to the 1950’s. Dian said that the textile industry in Bangladesh is one of the single most important industries in the country given the amount of income it provides and the tradition. 

Entity Management Company Offering Free Thirty Day Trail

Legal Entity Management software company EntityKeeper is offering new customers a free 30 day trail of their software in an effort to showcase their services.

In my blog post on the 18^th, I brought Dian Skelton’s readers the news that Scivantage intended to release new wealth management software. In this blog post I discuss EntityKeeper’s announcement and ask; is entity and wealth management software growing in popularity?

What is EntityKeeper’s USP?

EntityKeeper is focused on saving time and money, which in itself is an attractive prospect to any client. It practically does away with spreadsheets allowing the user to view their portfolio through a visualisation tool rather than multiple pages.

It prevents late fees and entity dissolution by tracking due dates and notifying the user via email. On top of this and perhaps most important is security. EntityKeeper uses state-of-the-art server protection.

Clients want entity and wealth management

Dian Skelton is Director at ViewPoint Software ServicesLimited. ViewPoint specialises in wealth and entity management solutions.

EntityKeeper is just one in a long line of software companies who are keen to promote their own entity or wealth management software, with more and more clients demanding streamlined methods for managing their assets.

Of course clients want transparency and organisation with it comes to handing over their own money and many software companies are beginning to realise this. The move from EntityKeeper to offer free trials shows the level of confidence they have in their software as well as the fact that clients are searching for the best entity management deals.

John Hosmer, COO of QuietStream Financial, said “we’re offering the free trial because we’re so sure this product will be beneficial.” EntityKeeper’s software is practically instantaneous once the brief sign up process is compete.

Dian Skelton’s Thoughts

As a leading entity and wealth management software expert, Dian Skelton believes that the entity and wealth management software industry is indeed growing in popularity. As Dian points out, she has been in this industry for 20 years and the advancement in computing has opened up a number of possibilities that allows the creation of software that covers most aspects of entity and wealth management.

She went on to say that if clients can get software that helps time management and gives added security for the same fee as a missing filing date would cost, then of course they will use it. If EntityKeeper’s software is as effective as they proclaim, then a free trail may draw in a great deal of clients.  

Independent Firms Flourishing Under Wealth Management Changes

Independent Firms are set to benefit from regulation changes to the wealth management industry. Wealth Management is an industry that continues to grow in the UK and the rest of the world and with new regulations coming into play the face of the wealth management industry is changing.

In this blog post Dian Skelton looks at these changes to the wealth management industry and discusses why it is a good thing, not just for independent firms, but big banks as well.

Banking Overhauls

Dian Skelton is Director at ViewPoint Software Services Limited. ViewPoint specialises in wealth and entity management solutions.

It seems that several of the UK’s largest banks have been involved in structural overhauls in recent months. Barclays’ wealth management division and Royal Bank of Scotland in particular have made significant changes to their structuring, in what appears to be an effort to simplify and re-focus their attention for better results and customer satisfaction.

Royal Bank of Scotland is planning to sell the overseas operations of Coutts, its private banking branch. While on the domestic front, it will merge Coutts with its UK commercial lending division.  

US banks have also been restructuring; with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley pulling out of the European wealth management industry to focus on America’s domestic market, which will inevitable result in them loosing clients.

How Does This Help Independent Firms

Of Course the restructuring of large banks may bring positive results in the future, but at this moment it means that relationships between bank and client will deteriorate temporarily, leaving the window open for independent firms to hire and poach new clients.

There are numerous examples of this to choose from, perhaps most notable in this case is Signia Wealth. Signia was set up by former Coutts Senior Client Partner Nathalie Dauriac-Stoebe in 2010 and specialises in private banking and asset management.

Stoebe is just one example of how independent firm and individuals can take advantage of the opportunities that are available in the wealth management industry.

Dian Skelton’s Thoughts

As an expert in this industry, Dian understands the opportunities that are available for independent firms. She agrees with other industry experts when they say that there is a fertile market to take advantage of.

Dian also commended these firms on their astuteness in identifying the gap in the industry and taking advantage of it. As well learning from banks mistakes and delivering a convincing pitch that bankers are more concerned with hitting revenue targets than advising clients, a mistake that independent firms will not make.     

     

HKMA Unveil 5 Year Plan for Wealth Management Push

Earlier this month Dian Skelton’s blog brought the news that HFDC Bank has opened a new branch in Dubai that will focus on wealth management. Now HKMA has announced its intentions to place more emphasis on its asset and wealth management industry as the number of millionaires in the Asia-Pacific region is set to increase.

In this blog post Dian Skelton looks at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s decision to increase its wealth management influence in the region and how this will be beneficial to the people who use the service.    

Increasing Wealth

Dian Skelton is Director at ViewPoint Software Services Limited. ViewPoint specialises in wealth and entity management solutions.

A recent report conducted by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management has found that the number of people with more than 1 million US dollars available to invest is set to exceed that of North America. Despite this, Hong Kong is still behind mainland China who are now the third fastest region in the world at producing millionaires, ahead of the US, Japan and Kuwait.

With this in mind, the next 5 years will be crucial for Hong Kong as they intend to build their brand as a wealth management hub. Commenting on this, HKMA Chief Executive Norman Chan Tak-Lam said that Hong Kong must create a brand that instils quality, reputation and confidence in order to see this vision become a reality.

Sticking to their principles

Despite their desire to branch out in the wealth management industry, Chan said that HKMA intend to continue to promote the yuan and the treasury management business. “The HKMA is working closely with the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau to review relevant taxation arrangements to encourage more multinational and mainland corporations to establish their treasury management centres in Hong Kong.”

Furthermore, Chan also stated his intention to regulate the mainland lending of local banks as well as supporting local fund industries.

Dian Skelton’s thoughts

Dian has once again stressed the importance of wealth management, which is something that has become clear over the last few month, with an increasing number of banks deciding to pool more of their resources into wealth management.

She also commended HKMA for recognising the need for more stringent wealth management assets given the increasing number of millionaires in the region. It is a service that will be met with enthusiasm for people living in the region who need a comprehensive means of managing their wealth.

Not only will this appeal to people living in the immediate region, but will also attract foreign investment providing HKMA play their cards right and succeed in turning Hong Kong into a wealth management hub.  

HDFC to Provide Wealth Management Services in Dubai

HDFC Bank Ltd is the second largest private sector bank in India and has recently announced the opening of a new branch at Dubai International Finance Centre that will focus primarily on wealth management.

In this blog post Dian Skelton discusses this announcement and what it means for non-resident Indians (NRI’s) living in the UAE.

Overseas Expansion

Dian Skelton is Director at ViewPoint Software Services Limited. ViewPoint specialises in wealth and entity management solutions.

This is the third branch that HDFC Bank has opened outside of India and will serve non-resident Indians residing in the United Arab Emirates. They already have two representative offices operating in Dubai and 

Abu Dhabi and will continue running these assets along with the new branch.

In a statement released by the bank they explained the purpose of the new branch. “The new branch at Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) will offer advisory services to NRIs regarding treasury products, trade finance, loans and other related services.”

Customer Care

Following the announcement, HDFC have been keen to stress the value of their customers. Equities Group Head Abhay Aima commented on this, “We will continue to expand our off-shore operations to meet the banking requirements of our valued customers.” He went on to say that HDFC were committed to serving the Indian community in the UAE region on a whole.

Ashish Parthasarthy, Group Head of Treasury, also explained that their other branches around the world offer corporate, trade finance, loans and deposits to corporates and ultra-high net worth individuals, but their new branch will focus more on treasury products, trade finance, loans and other related services. 

Parthasarthy also added that the services of the Bahrain and Hong Kong branches will also be made available to their Dubai clients too.

Dian Skelton’s Thoughts

Dian was keen to comment on this issue given her expertise in wealth management. She commended the enthusiasm of the HFDC Bank to reach out to its customers living outside of India to offer them the same services given to resident Indians.  

This latest branch emphasises the ambition of HDFC Bank to expand outside of India. As of June 2014, HDFC has a distribution network comprising of 3,488 branches and 11,426 ATM machines situated through 2,231 cities and towns.  

ViewPoint Training Overview with Dian Skelton

Following the announcement that ViewPoint Software Services Limited will be conducting entity administrator training sessions in August, lead trainer Dian Skelton will run through the fundamentals of these sessions in this blog.

Dian Skelton is Director at ViewPoint Software Services Limited. ViewPoint specialises in wealth and entity management solutions, these particular sessions will focus on the latter.

Section 1: Master File Maintenance

In this section Dian takes you through Master Files and how they are created and accessed. Master Files are files that contain client information so it is crucial that they are kept organised and secure at all times. Once Master Files are created they will be stored in your database and those that have recently been accessed will appear in the file list.

Section 2: Entity-Related Activities

In this section Dian takes you through everything relating to managing your entities. This section gives you the opportunity to learn how to arrange all your entity details into folders. Dian explains that this section may differ depending on the entity type and jurisdiction that the user has set. Within entity administration there are additional screens where you can enter information for the entity.

This is perhaps the largest section as it entail any and all details pertaining to entities. This may range from general entity details to more confidential details such as bank account or partner details.  

Section 3: Activities

This section focuses on how accessing all your client information can be made easier through the use of the activities folder and will help you in your daily tasks. This folder contains buttons that you can click to access relevant documentation without having to search for it manually.

Section 4: Jobs and Documents

Not only does ViewPoint help you store all your entity information, it also has features to assist in entity administration. In this section Dian will take you through some of the features that can be found in the general section of the Navigational Menu as well as the Home Toolbar.

This feature also has a ‘to do list’ that organises jobs that need completing as well as organising forms into queues. You may also wish to create Master File reminders in this section.  

Dian Skelton’s Thoughts

Dian is always keen to stress the importance of training as a form of education. She says the tools that ViewPoint Software Services Limited offer are detailed and accessible to people from all sectors who are looked for a clear and comprehensive way to manage their wealth or entities.