Laos has 464 new cases of Covid-19 today, with two new deaths confirmed in Savannakhet and Champasack.
MISSO Wealth Management To Join Focus Partner Firm Connectus Wealth Advisers, Continuing Connectus’ Momentum and the Expansion of its Ultra-High Net Worth Footprint in Australia
NEW YORK, US – ACCESSWIRE – 1 October 2021 – Focus Financial Partners Inc. (NASDAQ:FOCS) (“Focus”), a leading partnership of fiduciary wealth management firms, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement under which MISSO Wealth Management (“MISSO”), a boutique wealth management firm headquartered in Brisbane, Queensland, will join Connectus Wealth Advisers (“Connectus”). This transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.
Founded in 2001 by Jason Misso, MISSO serves high and ultra-high net worth individuals in Queensland and throughout Australia, with a specific focus on executives, business owners and self-employed professionals. Through a core emphasis on quality advice and transparency, MISSO delivers strategic advice through a holistic approach that is tailored to each client’s specific needs and objectives. Key services include financial advice and planning, investment management, family office services, superannuation, estate and family succession planning, insurance advice and liability management.
“Joining Connectus will position us to expand the value proposition we offer our clients while maintaining our approach to providing unconflicted advice and our boutique culture,” said Jason Misso, Founder of MISSO. “The array of client service tools and resources that Connectus provides will enable us to create a much richer client experience. Leveraging Connectus’ shared resources will allow us to not only devote more time to our passion, which is serving our clients, but also to accelerating the growth of our business. We are excited by the prospect of Connectus helping our business evolve in a way that we could not have achieved on our own.”
“We extend a very warm welcome to the MISSO team as the sixth addition to the Connectus family in Australia and the third addition in Brisbane since Connectus entered the Australian market late last year,” said Rajini Kodialam, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Focus. “MISSO further deepens Connectus’ presence in the ultra-high net worth client segment in Australia and will bring differentiated expertise in serving this clientele to the Connectus consortium. We are thrilled with Connectus’ continued growth and momentum in Australia, which reinforce the benefits of Connectus’ growing scale and the value of the sophisticated resources it offers its firms, while enabling them to maintain the boutique cultures that made each of them so successful prior to joining Connectus.”
About Focus Financial Partners Inc.
Focus Financial Partners Inc. is a leading partnership of fiduciary wealth management firms. Focus provides access to best practices, resources and continuity planning for its partner firms who serve individuals, families, employers and institutions with comprehensive wealth management services. Focus partner firms maintain their operational autonomy, while they benefit from the synergies, scale, economics and best practices offered by Focus to achieve their business objectives. For more information about Focus, please visit www.focusfinancialpartners.com.
#FocusFinancialPartners
About Connectus Wealth Advisers
Connectus is a Focus partner firm with an innovative model for client-centric financial advisers who deliver comprehensive wealth management advice. Connectus is designed for founders and teams who want to continue managing their client relationships and maintaining their boutique cultures while gaining the operational efficiencies of shared services. As a consortium, Connectus offers integrated technology, investment support and centralized services, including compliance, accounting and talent management. Connectus also provides marketing capabilities to support business expansion through robust lead generation and organic growth programs. Connectus exemplifies the spirit of partnership and collaboration yet celebrates the entrepreneurial mind-set of its advisers.
Through Focus, Connectus advisers gain a strategic growth partner with specialized capabilities. They benefit from Focus’ global scale and extensive network of partner firms, continuity planning expertise and client solutions. Focus is also a source of permanent capital to accelerate growth. For more information, please visit www.connectuswealth.com.
Cautionary Note Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect Focus’ current views with respect to certain current and future events. These forward-looking statements are and will be, subject to many risks, uncertainties and factors relating to Focus’ operations and business environment, including, without limitation, uncertainty surrounding the current COVID-19 pandemic, which may cause future events to be materially different from these forward-looking statements or anything implied therein. Any forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Focus on the date of this release. Focus does not undertake to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that any statements expressed or implied therein will not be realized. Additional information on risk factors that could affect Focus may be found in Focus’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
LCH SwapClear extending operating hours to better support Asia Pacific market
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 1 October 2021 – LCH, a leading global clearing house, has announced that its SwapClear service is preparing to extend its traditional operating hours to 24 hours a day, five days a week in March 2022. This will better support market participants in the Asia Pacific region and will be implemented in two phases.
As part of the first stage of implementatioA620n on 27 September, SwapClear moved its Monday morning opening 4 hours earlier so that it is now open from 09:00 Sydney time / 00.00 London time.
Previously, SwapClear was open 20 hours a day, five days a week and was closed during the APAC morning. The remaining Tuesday through Friday early morning operating hours is scheduled to be extended by March 2022.
In March 2022, SwapClear will move to operating 24 hours a day, five days a week. Opening at 05:00 Sydney time on Monday / 20:00 London time (Sunday evening) and closing at 09:00 Saturday Sydney time / 00:00 Friday night London time.
SwapClear provides the deepest liquidity in the OTC interest rate swaps clearing market and access to clear 95 percent of the “vanilla” IRS market. Its extensive product offering makes it simple to comply with regulations, while SwapClear’s additional products and services enable clients to drive capital and operational efficiencies across their Rates portfolios.
This new development is especially relevant to the APAC region as it will deliver clearing certainty during the Asia Pacific morning for SwapClear’s regional members and clients, including the Australia market.
Susi DeVerdelon, Head of SwapClear, LCH, said: “This extension in operating hours reinforces our position as a leading global clearing house and directly responds to a critical request from our APAC members and clients to support their needs. It has also been strongly supported by regulators across the region.”
Rohit Verma, Head of APAC, LCH, added: “This initiative underscores our strong commitment to the region and risk management. In the extended hours earlier this week, close to a thousand trades were registered and processed near real-time and allowed our users to risk manage those trades in a timely fashion.”
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lch-clearnet/
Twitter: @LCH_Clearing
#LCH
Foodpanda Announces Nationwide Coverage in Laos
Foodpanda, a leader in the food delivery industry has announced its milestone of achieving nationwide coverage, becoming the first and only operator to offer food delivery services in all 18 provinces across Laos.
United States Provides Food and Hygiene Supplies to Returnees at Quarantine Centers in Khammouane and Savannakhet

The United States has donated food and hygiene packages valued at over USD 100,000 to the Provincial Emergency Operations Committees in Khammouane and Savannakhet provinces.
Okta Reaches 100 Percent Renewable Electricity for Global Offices and Workforce; Pioneers Hybrid Work Emissions Study
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 1 October 2021 – Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA), the leading independent identity provider, today announced the company has reached 100 percent renewable electricity for its global offices and employees’ work-from-home consumption in FY22, and launched the Dynamic Work Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Study, a study designed to measure the environmental impact of today’s hybrid workforce. The study found that in a Dynamic Work environment, Okta’s hybrid work framework which provides equity across work environments, per employee emissions are estimated to be 21 percent lower than they were prior to implementing Dynamic Work.
As Okta expands its global presence and embraces Dynamic Work, quantifying the company’s new environmental footprint has become a critical piece of Okta’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) process. Okta partnered with Global Sustainability Consultancy Anthesis to run an analysis comparing its FY20 pre-pandemic, pre-dynamic year of work (Feb 1, 2019 – Jan 31, 2020) with an FY23 projected year with Dynamic Work in place to understand the impact Okta’s Dynamic Work framework has on its greenhouse gas emissions inventory. The study found that Dynamic Work can reduce GHG emissions, due to reduced employee commuting and reduced workplace square footage per person, even when accounting for incremental increases in home energy use.
“As a business, the way we evaluate our environmental footprint has evolved along with the way we work. Just as we need to be responsible for the environmental impact of the buildings we occupy and the services we provide, now we need to account for and help our employees to understand, measure and reduce their environmental impact in this new distributed, Dynamic Work model,” said Erin Baudo Felter, Vice President, Social Impact & Sustainability, Okta. “This study is an important first step in understanding and quantifying our impact with Dynamic Work.”
“Businesses around the globe are setting targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as part of their climate change strategies. Anthesis is a critical partner to our clients in their efforts to not only create sustainable business models but to also measure impact”, said Emma Armstrong, Executive Director with Anthesis. “As the workplace evolves to accommodate changing needs accelerated by the pandemic, we were excited to partner with Okta to understand how a model that supports this new way of work impacts the environment. The projected reduction in emissions per person resulting from Okta’s Dynamic Work model is significant, and provides an example for how other companies might examine their workplace emissions in the future. We look forward to partnering with Okta to measure the actual impacts resulting from the full roll out of Dynamic Work, which we anticipate will further inform emissions measurement and workplace strategies through the lens of sustainable performance”.
The launch of the Dynamic Work GHG Emissions Study follows Okta achieving 100 percent renewable electricity this year for its global offices, including coworking spaces, and global employee work-from-home electricity consumption. This critical milestone was reached by purchasing renewable energy certificates (RECs) equivalent to 100 percent of its global office and work-from-home employees’ electricity consumption, and a commitment to energy efficiency with both LEED Silver and WELL Silver certified Okta offices. The majority of the RECs Okta purchased were from the California Bright Schools solar program, which helps to realize the most cost-effective energy-saving opportunities, supports renewable energy education and the installation of solar on schools across the state.
To build on these milestones and to further maximize benefits to society, the environment, and all of its stakeholders, Okta has committed to:
- Providing employees with a guide for bringing sustainability into their work environments, wherever they are based
- Integrating climate into enterprise-wide risk management process, as per the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures
- “Listening and learning” tour with climate and environmental justice organizations to inform the company’s climate strategy
- Incorporating social equity and justice into climate work through grantmaking, as seen with investments in GRID Alternatives and the CLIMA Fund, as climate change disproportionately impacts historically excluded communities, including communities of color
To learn more about Okta’s sustainability strategy, please read the latest update here. To read more about the methodology behind the Dynamic Work Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Study, please visit the Okta blog here.
About Okta
Okta is the leading independent identity provider. The Okta Identity Cloud enables organizations to securely connect the right people to the right technologies at the right time. With more than 7,000 pre-built integrations to applications and infrastructure providers, Okta provides simple and secure access to people and organizations everywhere, giving them the confidence to reach their full potential. More than 13,050 organizations, including JetBlue, Nordstrom, Siemens, Slack, Takeda, Teach for America, and Twilio, trust Okta to help protect the identities of their workforces and customers.
#Okta
Malaysian traders share their success stories inspired by OctaFX
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach – 1 October 2021 – Global broker OctaFX released the final episode of their YouTube interview project ‘Honest Stories of Success’. The interviews showcased the success stories of Malaysia’s prominent people as they actually happen, unfiltered. However, the project had more to it than famous people revealing the ups and downs of their career journeys. It provoked a unique dialogue between Malaysian traders who shared their own stories in the comments.
In the global broker’s interview series ‘OctaFX: Honest Stories of Success’, Malaysian celebrities reflected on the difficult paths that brought them to prosperity. The viewers heard from businessman Datuk Aliff Syukri, actor Dato’ Aaron Aziz, actress Janna Nick, comedian Harith Iskander, musician Altimet, and fashion entrepreneur Wak Doyok. Popular actor Fizo Omar interviewed the guests.
The project sparked genuine interest—its six episodes have been viewed over one million times. What makes it even more valuable, the interviews received a strong response from the audience. The viewers flooded the comments section under each video with their own stories of struggles and triumphs.
Overcoming work-related obstacles
The commenters told each other about the obstacles on their career paths—lack of support from family and colleagues and changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as losing a job and finding new ways to make a living.
Despite the difficulties, these people applied different strategies to stay afloat. Some changed jobs in search of better conditions, and others kept ‘pushing themselves to the limit’ while also dealing with the uncertainty of their personal lives. Besides that, many shared that they became Forex traders in pursuit of additional income or to improve their pandemic-stricken financial situation. One of them who became the OctaFX client observed that ‘trading helps generate income with any initial investment’.
Many felt inspired and motivated by the interview project and said that such initiatives help stay focused and persistent when guided by the example of financially successful people.
Financial management: what should’ve been done differently?
‘If I could step back in time, I would focus on financial management,‘ a viewer said. Other commenters shared their personal rules of financial planning they developed by trial and error. They included getting a stable job and not being afraid of starting from the bottom, segmenting the income and ‘putting needs ahead of wants’, learning about investments from the experts and allocating a portion of income to it, avoiding debts, and finding extra sources of income such as side businesses, unit trusts, and Forex trading. The viewers also emphasised the importance of investing with trusted brokers and named OctaFX as one of them: ‘Save and deposit money to a trusted platform like OctaFX’, ‘OctaFX is the best to start investing’.
Saving money and using the income from investments
Those who shared their financial strategies found discipline and precision essential for financial planning. Many recommended putting a fixed amount, 10 to 20 percent of income, to savings, distinguishing ‘needs’ from ‘wants’ to avoid ‘financial waste’, and fighting the urge to spend money on non-essential things. As for the next step, they recommended reinvesting the income from Forex or other investments in real estate or small businesses: ‘I always think: let the money work for me, and not I work for money to achieve freedom’.
Monetising a hobby
As the guest celebrities of ‘OctaFX: Honest Stories of Success’ talked about all the work experiences they’ve had before becoming prosperous and famous, the viewers got inspired to reflect on their own hobbies and things they tried to do. Many commenters confessed that they were seriously thinking about turning these activities into prospective jobs. They mentioned spheres like graphic designing, coding, drone flying, photography, video editing, and gaming among others.
Book recommendations
Last but not least, the viewers shared some good reads that either helped them understand financial planning or inspired them to work towards their financial goals. They recommended ‘The New Market Wizards’ by Jack D. Schwager to ‘peek into conversations with America’s top traders and get to know their thinking’. Someone named ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho: ‘It is a fable about following your dream. Everyone needs to have big dreams as they cost us nothing but give us hope.’ ‘Currency Trading for Dummies’, ‘Reminiscences of a Stock Operator’, ‘The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich’, and ‘Psychology of Selling’ were also among the recommendations.
‘OctaFX: Honest Stories of Success’ turned out to be a meeting point for Malaysian celebrities and common people striving for financial freedom. The former talked sincerely about how they reached their current status and the real stories of what this path was for them, while the latter realised that even successful people do not always get what they want and have to work hard and overcome many obstacles to achieve success.
OctaFX previously shared the success stories of its traders. However, this project is the first to bring sincere personal stories of famous people to light and make them relatable for common people. The interviews received passionate feedback from the viewers and provoked them to share and discuss their own concerns and achievements with others through the comments. Through this mutual dialogue, celebrities and viewers reflected on the complexity of financial success, learnt valuable financial lessons, and, most importantly, felt less alone on their journeys.
About OctaFX
OctaFX is a global broker that provides online trading services since 2011. It offers a state-of-the-art trading experience to over 7 million trading accounts worldwide. OctaFX has won more than 45 awards since its foundation, including the ‘Best ECN Broker 2021’ award from World Finance and the ‘Best Forex Broker Asia 2021’ award from Global Banking & Finance Review.
#OctaFX
Mister Model International Laos 2021 Unveils National Costume
The Mister Model International Laos 2021 public relations team has released teaser photos of the national costume design to be worn by Mr. Viengkham Chanthavongsa as he competes in the international Mister Model international Pageant 2021 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic in October.