• 75% of surveyed organisations have made decisions on return-to-office timelines but only 25% of the companies have a return date.
• 33% of companies expect returning workers to spend only two to three days per week in the office
• Key issues shaping future-of-work definitions are addressing talent availability concerns, rethinking company cultures and digitalisation

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 2 June 2021 – Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions, has released the results of a new global human resources (HR) pulse survey focused on the steps companies are taking to bring the future of work to life.

Aon conducted its pulse survey from April 20-28, 2021, with a total of 1,451 human resources leaders and professionals responding globally. Complete study results, across multiple geographies and industries, are available here.

“The ongoing disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for an agile and resilient workforce,” said Peter Bentley, Global Chief Commercial Officer & Future of Work Leader for Human Capital solutions at Aon. “The focus on flexible working, while not new, has resulted in an unpacking of additional ‘future of work’ initiatives as highlighted by our survey findings. We see this trend continuing and driving positive momentum as companies build a more flexible, healthy workforce and invest in developing existing employee potential to drive innovation and performance.”

Companies plan for return to the office, but not everyone and not every day

In Singapore, 75% of surveyed organisations have made decisions on return-to-office timeline but only 25% of the companies have a return date.

However, companies do not expect everyone to return to the office. Forty-nine percent of surveyed organisations expect fewer than 75% of office workers to return onsite once the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

Additionally, flexible or hybrid working options are on the rise, with 33% of companies expecting returning workers to spend only two to three days per week in the office, and another 17% of companies opting to give employees a choice in terms of how much time they spend in the office.

Supporting vaccine adoption through incentives

As workers head back onsite, companies are taking a proactive and supportive approach to vaccine adoption; however, they are largely stopping short of mandates. Only 5% of surveyed organisations in Singapore currently plan to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for employees where allowed by law, with another 9% of organisations actively considering this approach.

Meanwhile, 34% of organisations in Singapore are offering incentives to employees who receive COVID-19 vaccines, most often in the form of paid time-off to receive and recover from injections, and 46% of companies are actively educating employees on the benefits of getting vaccinated.

Future-of-work strategies and inclusion and diversity efforts are tightly linked

Focused on the future, almost three in four surveyed companies (70%) in Singapore have one or more teams or taskforces defining, managing and implementing the future of work. In addition, 80% of organisations say they now have a clear and consistent definition for what the future of work means for their business or expect to have a definition in the next six months.

The three most prevalent issues shaping future-of-work definitions in Singapore are addressing talent availability concerns, rethinking company cultures and digitalisation, cited by 93%, 86% and 80% of companies, respectively.

Looking more closely at inclusion and diversity efforts, 44% of surveyed companies in Singapore state HR teams are most responsible for leading programmes in this area. Additionally, 86% of firms have created or are planning to create inclusion and diversity metrics or goals to track progress, with diversity encompassing diversity of thought as well as employee demographics.

Efforts to rethink location-based compensation continue

With remote work on the rise, 69% of surveyed organisations in Singapore have adjusted, or are considering adjusting, geographic pay differentials as a result of the pandemic. Among companies actively adjusting pay based on shifting employee locations, 87% are re-examining pay rates using fresh market data and 39% are adding more granularity to the geographic zones they consider.

However, making adjustments of this nature isn’t without challenges. Top concerns for Singapore organisations include the difficulty of adopting and maintaining market-aligned pay rates across numerous locations (72%) and employment-related concerns and work policies (67%). In both cases, surveyed companied cited these issues as moderately, very or extremely challenging.

About Aon

Aon plc (NYSE: AON) is a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions. Our 50,000 colleagues in 120 countries empower results for clients by using proprietary data and analytics to deliver insights that reduce volatility and improve performance.

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SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 2 June 2021 – The MDRT Academy — a new association helping financial professionals accelerate their careers — recently welcomed more than 670 advisors from Sun Life Asia to its membership ranks. The addition of Sun Life advisors from Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia will make Sun Life the MDRT Academy’s largest membership company to date. The Academy will supplement Sun Life’s Brighter Gen and Brighter Pro training and development program, and together support Sun Life’s ambition to be a market leader in quality financial advice.

“Sun Life’s goal is to have the most respected advisors in the industry, known for the quality of their advice and their professionalism,” said Leo Grepin, Sun Life Asia President. “The MDRT Academy is a valuable addition to our Brighter Academy advisor development programs, which build the skills and capabilities to guide advisors along their career journey from rookie, to MDRT, and then leading agency manager. With access to the best training and experience, Sun Life advisors can achieve their career ambitions and deliver the best experience to our clients,” Grepin said.

The MDRT Academy was launched in 2017 to help financial services professionals reach greater production levels and join MDRT. The MDRT Academy was designed to be a fully digital experience, allowing members to access the tools, resources and community anytime and anywhere through an intuitive website and mobile app.

“We’re excited to work with Sun Life, and there is no doubt that the MDRT Academy will help their advisors increase their production, improve their client service skills and learn best practices from experienced MDRT members,” said MDRT President Ian Green, Dip PFS. “The tools for building a successful career in financial services are literally at their fingertips.”

The MDRT Academy features an assessment that helps members better understand and identify their strengths and growth areas — and personalizes content to a member’s needs and areas of interest. It also offers goal setting and performance-tracking tools, monthly webcasts featuring MDRT members, Performance Guides, as well as hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes. MDRT Academy members also have the opportunity to attend MDRT’s Annual Meeting.

About Sun Life

Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing insurance, wealth and asset management solutions to individual and corporate Clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of March 31, 2021, Sun Life had total assets under management of $1,304 billion. For more information please visit www.sunlife.com.

About MDRT

MDRT, The Premier Association of Financial Professionals®, is a global, independent association of the world’s leading life insurance and financial services professionals from more than 500 companies in 70 nations and territories. MDRT members demonstrate exceptional professional knowledge, strict ethical conduct and outstanding client service. MDRT membership is recognized internationally as the standard of excellence in the life insurance and financial services business. For more information on the MDRT Academy, please visit mdrtacademy.org. For more information on MDRT, please visit mdrt.org.

#MDRT

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 2 June 2021 – Global eTrade Services (GeTS) is proud to be recognised as one of the Outstanding Innovators in Trade Finance category for “Global Finance The Innovators 2021” annual selection program.

In its ninth year, this unique program by Global Finance recognises organisations that consistently identify and innovate new ways and tools in finance. Award categories include Outstanding Innovations in Cash Management, Corporate Finance, Islamic Finance, Payments and Trade Finance.

Importantly, GeTS’ CALISTA Finance (part of CALISTA – a global supply chain orchestration platform) won this recognition due to the innovative process design and AI technology that enables trade financing to be more accessible, predictable and easier to fulfil for traders.

CALISTA brings together key trade activities such as logistics, regulatory compliance and trade finance on a digital eco-system that serves the shippers and logistics stakeholders. Through CALISTA, shippers can book and track their freight, fulfil regulatory requirements, and secure financing for their trades. CALISTA also supports Logistics Service Providers (LSPs) by helping them to digitalise their sales process and allowing them to collaborate seamlessly and efficiently.

Trade financing is traditionally a complex and timely process with many documents and interactions between the borrowers and financiers. To maintain economic growth and ensure smooth cross-border trade, businesses need access to adequate funds. For example, in Southeast Asia, around 39 million[1] small and medium-sized companies contribute 40 %[2] of the region’s gross domestic product (GDP), but these SMEs typically do not have access to financial support. During the COVID-19 crisis, global supply chains were severely disrupted, which further compounded the woes of SMEs.

Plugging the gaps in trade finance between the different trade parties – CALISTA Finance digitalises the entire trade financing application process through the use of optical character recognition (OCR) technology and an Artificial Intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) credit engine. This enables CALISTA finance to offer fast and fuss-free financing with a turnaround time of within 72 hours from application to securing of loans, a process which generally takes approximately 2 weeks for the banks.

In addition, CALISTA Finance has an outstanding performance in risk management and mitigation. As a result, it offers lenders a viable channel to access the potential borrowers in the global trade segment.

“We are very honoured to receive this recognition from Global Finance,” said Chong Kok Keong, CEO of GeTS.

“We will continue to revolutionise the way trade is financed through a one-stop solution that provides financing options where businesses can strengthen their liquidity, get easier access to improve their cash flows and ultimately increase their competitiveness in their trade activities.”

About GeTS

GeTS (Global eTrade Services) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CrimsonLogic. As a global leading trade platform company, GeTS is shaping the future of trade and supply chain with its innovative use of technology and deep G2B and B2B domain expertise. GeTS enables the orchestration of logistics, compliance and financial requirements of trade and supply chain seamlessly, smartly and securely. Thus, powering global trade by making it more accessible, predictable and easier to fulfil. GeTS has linkages to more than 60 Customs nodes, 90 ocean carriers & NVOCCs across the world, with more than 175,000 connected parties and conducting more than 40 million transactions annually.

Our parent company, CrimsonLogic, is a partner to governments and businesses globally. For over 30 years, CrimsonLogic has partnered customers to innovate sustainable world-class solutions, products and services in Trade, Legal and Digital Government, enabling significant transformations that have positively impacted governments, businesses and communities. CrimsonLogic is supported by two shareholders – PSA International and Enterprise Singapore.

#CALISTA #CALISTA Finance #TradeFinancing #Fintech #Finance #BusinessLoans #SmallBusiness #Factoring #Creditline #ARfinancing #CashFlow

• Berry Wong appointed to newly created role of CEO, APAC
• Nikki Koh appointed as CEO, Singapore
• Elevated appointments for Klaus Kiessling to Group CFO and Li San Tan to Group COO
• Global Advisory Council created to build greater synergies across regions

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 2 June 2021 – Charles Monat Associates (CMA), a pioneer in wealth planning and life insurance solutions, today announced major global leadership changes to advance the company’s business growth strategy and build greater synergies across regions, asset classes and liquidity solutions.

Yves Guélat, Group Chief Executive Officer, Charles Monat Associates

To capitalize on the extraordinary growth opportunities across Asia Pacific (APAC), driven by rapidly increasing wealth across the region, CMA has appointed Berry Wong to the new position of CEO of APAC. Wong, who previously served as CEO of Hong Kong where he drove revenue growth by 300% in the last four years, will be responsible for overseeing operations in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore. In this newly created position, Wong will continue to be an enabler of evolving client wealth planning objectives, while charting an ambitious expansion strategy across APAC.

Nikki Koh will succeed Martin Wong as CEO of Singapore, where he will be responsible for building on the firm’s success in this strategically important market. Koh, who has over 25 years of insurance and banking experience, will also drive the development of an emerging-market roadmap across South-East Asia. In addition to his new leadership responsibilities, he will continue to serve as Group Chief Commercial Officer. Martin Wong has been appointed to the new position of Group Chief Business Development Officer, where he will utilize his experience in expanding across Asia to focus on developing onshore opportunities across different regions and markets.

To support the firm’s aggressive global expansion plans, CMA has established a new Global Advisory Council to build greater synergies across APAC, Europe, the Middle East and Americas. The Council will report to CMA’s Group Executive Committee and will be charged with developing a blueprint to navigate the opportunities and challenges posed by the rapidly shifting landscape of global wealth.

The establishment of the Global Advisory Council comes ahead of a major expansion across Europe, and follows the exceptional growth of CMA’s Middle East operations over the last two years, managed under Rahul Chopra, Senior Executive Officer & Managing Director, Dubai, who has been appointed to the Council. As part of CMA’s strategic growth plans to increase its geographical footprint across Europe and bring more comprehensive services and solutions to clients, CMA is making further investments into its growing Swiss-based operations, and has appointed Marco Liardo as Head of Switzerland and Managing Director. Liardo reports into Simon Lo, Chief Executive Officer, International Business.

Yves Guélat, Group CEO of CMA, said: “The changes we have announced today signify a new and exciting chapter for Charles Monat Associates. We are proud to be the uncontested market leader and premier broker of choice, having had the privilege of serving over 8,000 high-net-worth individuals and families for 50 years. These moves are testament to the strength and vision of our team, and position us to capitalize on the significant global opportunities ahead of us.

“Over the last few years, a new, highly-competitive wealth planning ecosystem has been emerging. Covid-19 has accelerated the pace of this change as the entire world was brought to a standstill, with borders closing and travel restricted. The uncertainty has highlighted the importance of succession planning, while reaffirming the need for wealth consultants to be nimble and agile to adapt to the fast-moving environment and bridge their capabilities globally. Today’s announcement puts us in a unique position to do this, as we aim to get closer to our clients and partners, become the world’s most ‘global broker’ and continue to build our legacy and the legacies of our clients.”

Berry Wong, CEO, APAC, said: “I am humbled, yet excited to take on this role. CMA was born in Hong Kong and the business has been shaped by the APAC region over the course of its 50-year history. As we embark on this new chapter, I am energized by the opportunity to sharpen our organization’s focus and lay the foundation for another 50 years of growth and expansion throughout the continent. Asia’s rise has been nothing short of remarkable, with the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals growing faster than anywhere else in the world. I am extremely proud of our team’s contributions to making a difference to our partners and clients, always putting their needs first. With this team of extraordinary professionals, together we will continue to play a significant role in helping individuals, families, and businesses plan ahead with peace of mind that guarantees the continuity of their life’s work.”

Nikki Koh, CEO, Singapore, said: “The opportunity ahead of us cannot be overstated. Singapore is already home to one of the highest concentrations of high-net-worth individuals in the world and the emerging markets of South East Asia represent a new and exciting frontier. As a people-centric organization with a culture built on trust, passion and family-values, we always take the time to understand what’s important to our clients to cater to their unique needs. As CMA begins this new chapter, we do so with the industry’s best talents and a clear sense of organizational purpose.”

Aligned with the company’s strategic move to accelerate its international growth plan, Klaus Kiessling has been elevated from Group Chief Operations Officer (COO) and will now take charge of CMA’s global financial strategy as Group Chief Financial Officer. Li San Tan has been appointed as the new Group COO, and will be responsible for optimizing operational processes globally, and overseeing the company’s digital transformation across markets, including the enhancement of IT infrastructure, security, and cybersecurity. Tan will also take the lead in automation integration to streamline business processes, and ensure a seamless experience for CMA’s clients and partners on user-facing tools and platforms.

Established in 1971, CMA has become an industry leader preserving the wealth of more than 8,000 clients from 50 countries, and placed more than US$40 billion worth of solutions during this 50-year tenure. CMA operates across Asia with a strong presence in Mainland China and operations in the Middle East, Europe and North America. CMA has an agile team of on-the-ground experts who understand the nuances of each market.

About Charles Monat Associates

Charles Monat Associates (CMA) is a leading global insurance broker with more than 200 professionals operating in Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Switzerland, Miami, Kuala Lumpur, and Liechtenstein. Founded in 1971 by Charles S. Monat, the company has established a reputation as Asia’s most trusted premier consultancy. With 50 years of experience, CMA delivers world class expertise in liquidity planning and wealth transfer for Ultra-High-Net-Worth and High-Net-Worth individuals, families and businesses. For more information, visit www.monat.com.

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