ASBM Business
Updates is a Weekly Selective Compilation of Business News from Various
Sources. To find details follow the links.
ASIAN BUSINESS
Asian
markets were higher early Monday, with Japanese stocks outperforming after
Japan avoided criticism at the Group of Twenty meeting over the weekend, while
strong earnings helped the Australian market touch a fresh multi-year high.
The Group
of Twenty meeting, held in Moscow, ended with its members pledging to refrain
from targeting their currency policies to gain a competitive advantage. Most
significantly for Asia, Japan was not singled out for the recent volatility in
the yen's exchange rate. The Japanese yen started to depreciate sharply late
last year on expectations that the new government would implement aggressive
monetary policy.
The U.S.
dollar strengthened against the yen in early trading, recently at Y93.96
compared with Y93.51 late Friday in New York.
The weaker
yen gave Japanese stocks a strong start, with Nikkei up 2.0%. Banks and real
estate firms led gains: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rose 4.3% and real
estate firm Mitsui Fudosan added 3.6%. Exporters were also higher: Honda Motor
climbed 2.5% and Toyota Motor Corp. gained 2.5%.
Australia's
S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.6% trading at a fresh four-and-a-half year high early
Monday.
Asia has become the hot expansion market for data
center service providers. The region’s infrastructure growth trails its surging
Internet population, which is why companies including Google, Amazon,
Rackspace, Digital Realty and Equinix have all been expanding in the region.
But expansion decisions aren’t simple in the
Asia-Pacific region, as providers must weigh multiple variables in audience and
operating environment before investing millions of dollars in a new location.
An interesting case study is provided by SoftLayer Technologies,
one of the world’s largest hosting providers. Global expansion has been a
priority for SoftLayer in recent years. The company is based in Dallas, but 40
percent of its customer base is based outside of the U.S. While the
customer base has been international, the company’s infrastructure has just
recently started to extend beyond the U.S. Its quest to expand reveals the
challenges and rewards many service providers face when choosing where to
expand in AsiaPac.
ASIAN SCHOOL OF
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
National Management Seminar on International
Business on the theme "Business Opportunities Beyond Borders in Turbulent
Times" was held here at Asian School of Business Management on 16th
February, Saturday.
While Inaugurating the seminar, the Chief Guest, Dr.
Surajit Mitra, Director, IIFT said, "Exploring new business opportunities
abroad is vital to sustain the global imbalance. Emerging markets provide much
larger space for bilateral trade. Today, countries like Africa, Latin America,
East Asia are new emerging potential markets, providing much headroom for
trade. Developing countries like India should eye upon such avenues to augment
business in the form of bilateral trade."
He stressed upon FDI as an important route to do
business, and it should be more outflows in nature instead of inflows to the
country.
"Business can be augmented through Free Trade
between Nations. Besides, Innovation, Acquisition and Consolidation are also
required for the Indian Companies to prosper," he added.
Dr. Raj Kumar Sen, Noted Economist and Former
Professor and Head, Deptt. Of Economics, Rabindra Bharti University, Kolkata,
as Guest of Eminence and Keynote Speaker, on the occasion said,
"Business opportunities beyond borders can be christened as globalization.
Free Trade and free flow of capital should occur in today's era of
globalization, to do business at a faster pace."
Eminent Academician, Founder and Director ASBM, Dr.
Biswajeet Pattanayak, in his welcome address highlighted about India striding
ahead in the global map despite recession looming large in the eurozone and
other developed economies.
BANKING
Espirito
Santo Securities India Pvt. Ltd on Monday launched investment banking
services in India and appointed George
Mathew to head the business in the country.
Mathew was
a senior vice-president and head of corporate coverage in the investment
banking division at Edelweiss
Financial Services Ltd.
Espirito
Santo Securities India is a venture between EspÃrito Santo Investment Bank—an
international firm focused on emerging markets such as Brazil, India, Poland
and African economies—and the Burman business family.
“We see an
exciting opportunity to help Indian corporates in cross border mergers and
acquisitions into our emerging markets such as Brazil and Africa, as well as to
help corporates raise growth capital in both domestic and international
markets,” Paulson-Ellis,
chief executive, India, Espirito Santo, said in a statement.
FNB has announced that non-FNB customers can now
make use of the FNB Banking App to perform transactions, with the addition of
eWallet to the App suite of services.
eWallet users now have access to the FNB Banking
App, which allows eWallet users to perform transactions such as buying prepaid
airtime, data, prepaid electricity and send money with the added convenience of
using the FNB App. eWallet users can also make payments to any SA bank account
or make selected bill payments.
“FNB customers can use the eWallet to make quick
prepaid purchases, withdrawals and payments, including Geo Payments, without
the need to login,” says Farren Roper, Head of FNB Connect ISP and Business
Operations.
“The eWallet service on the app and also for existing
eWallet users is akin to carrying a real wallet around in their pocket. The
eWallet sits outside of login so payments have never been this easy or quick,”
adds Roper.
FNB eWallet users will need to download the FNB
Banking App to access the enhanced eWallet suite of services. In addition,
existing FNB customers will have their eWallet balances automatically updated
on the App.
“Current users of eWallet will find the new
enhancements on the FNB Banking App a much simpler and convenient way to
transact. This user interface offers a much improved experience for eWallet
users who have a smartphone or tablet device. We see this as an important step
forward in the mobile money payment space,” says Yolande van Wyk, CEO, FNB
eWallet.
This is a strategic move for FNB as a means of
attracting non-FNB customers through unique features available on the FNB App,
which already has more than 400 000 active users.
BUSINESS
Hindustan
Unilever Ltd (HUL), India’s largest packaged consumer products company,
will invest €50 million (about Rs.360 crore) to set up its first Asian
deodorant manufacturing facility in Khamgaon, Maharashtra, managing director Nitin
Paranjpe said on Monday.
He said
this in an address welcoming British Prime Minister David
Cameron to HUL’s campus in Mumbai.
The
Khamgaon plant is one of 30 factories being built by HUL’s Anglo Dutch parent Unilever Plc
globally in 2015. Unilever recently announced plans to invest €70 million to
build homecare liquids and distribution facilities in Thailand and €75 million
to build a homecare factory and expand existing manufacturing plants in South
Africa.
Investment
in Khamgaon will be phased over three years and production capacity will
gradually be scaled up to generate direct employment for at least 150 people
and indirect employment for about 200 people, the maker of Axe deodorants, Lux
and Dove soaps said in a statement.
The plant
will service demand from India and across South East Asia, including Malaysia,
Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will invest $2
billion in India as part of a pioneering initiative that is fired by a vision
that goes beyond bilateralism and explores joint opportunities in Asia and
Africa as well.
The two countries on Monday established the
India-UAE High Level Task Force on Investment — a vehicle that will channel
investments covering a broad spectrum of areas ranging from infrastructural
development to food security.
“The UAE has a sovereign wealth fund of $627 billion
and India, an emerging global economy, offers an attractive destination for
investments, especially after the economic downturn in the West,” said a
diplomat who did not wish to be named.
During the first meeting of the task force headed by
the visiting Union Minister of Industry and Textiles Anand Sharma, and Sheikh
Hamed bin Zayed al Nahayan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court, UAE
pledged $2billion for the development of Indian infrastructure. The UAE and
India will also work together for the development of the India’s Strategic Oil
Reserve.
In a brief interaction with the media, Mr. Sharma
said that a decision has been taken to form five high level sub committees that
will cover the fields of infrastructure and energy, trade and investment,
manufacturing and technology, and Information Technology and aviation.
BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION
As part of
its commitment to delivering the new workspace where all communications tools
are unified, Orange
Business Services is supporting companies requiring global enterprise
unified communications (UC) and voice services based on Microsoft®
Lync® 2013, the latest release of the Microsoft enterprise-ready
unified communications platform.
Orange
Business Services provides Microsoft Lync-based unified communications services
as part of Business
Together, its suite of integrated or managed collaborative services that
exploit the benefits of unified communications and collaboration to improve
enterprise productivity.
With the
Microsoft Lync 2013 release, customers will benefit from enhanced functionality
and capabilities whether working remotely, in the office, or a combination of
both. Implementation of new Lync 2013 functionality – like multiparty HD video,
mobile voice and video (3G/4G/Wifi) and Web clients, social capabilities and
Skype federation – helps raise team productivity by providing reach and
seamless communication. Business Together Microsoft UC services, a combination
of Orange Business Services’ infrastructure incorporating Lync Server 2013 and
support services, will help to ensure users enjoy a great Lync 2013 experience.
Orange Business Services offers Business Together Microsoft UC services in Asia
Pacific, Europe, North America, and most high-growth markets, and plans to add
additional locations.
Poynting
Antennas, a supplier of advanced antennas with branches in Gauteng and Cape
Town, has resolved its connectivity issues with the implementation of a 4Mbps
fibre optic solution from XDSL at its
Samrand offices in Johannesburg.
The solution has delivered immaculate speed and
reliability, reducing business risk for the organisation, improving
interactions between business branches and enhancing customer communications.
Coenraad Ryksen, IT manager of Poynting Commercial,
said: “Connectivity between our Cape Town branch, Samrand and Johannesburg Head
Office is critical as all the applications used by the business reside on a
server located in Samrand.
“We have a VPN connection between the two branches
(Samrand and Wynberg) with a PABX hosted in Samrand. The Cape Town office
has extensions on the same PABX and works on a Web Sales-portal and the
application server in Samrand. In addition, sales depend largely on incoming
calls. We had multiple challenges to resolve.
“Quite simply, if we have no data connectivity, we
cannot run our business. Communication between our branches, with suppliers and
with customers is lost.
“XDSL proposed a proof of concept, offering to lay
fibre to our door and letting us make use of the service free of charge for a
month to ensure smooth migration from our existing service.
“Within10 days of making the proposal, XDSL
installed the fibre optic cable and within three to four days we were up and
running. We were making full use of the fibre connectivity even before our
existing contracts with service providers had expired.”
Danie Fourie, director at XDSL, part of the JSE
listed Convergenet Holdings Group, said: “XDSL is a new breed of telecoms
service provider.
BUSINESS
MANAGEMENT
Technology
giant Hewlett-Packard’s Enterprise Services division released a business
process outsourcing (BPO) solution, AutoFlow, that is designed to enable
companies to automate core business processes, including finance and
accounting, and to help maximize the efficiency of enterprise resource planning
(ERP) systems.
In
addition to finance and administration, AutoFlow can be used in other business
processes such as human resources, procurement, supply chain, master data
management, dispute management and financial services. The platform integrates
with the company’s document processing services and the HP invoice automation
program to enable electronic receipt, document scanning, data capture and
document repository services while allowing integration into clients’ back
office systems.
Utilizing a leveraged, private cloud infrastructure, AutoFlow integrates with a
variety of ERP platforms and is designed to provide a scalable, unified
solution that automates and streamlines finance and accounting processes.
AutoFlow combines HP’s BPO experience with the Omniflow workflow solution from
business process management and enterprise content management provider Newgen
Software Technologies.
ONE of Scotland’s newest business angel networks has
completed its fourth investment in as many months as liquidity slowly begins to
return to the private investment market.
Security software specialist Connect-In has won
initial backing from Gabriel Investments, the Glasgow-based group formed last
year to support very early-stage firms.
With support from the Strathclyde Entrepreneurial
Network, Connect-In is developing a wireless security device for consumers.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Gabriel typically invests £20,000 in
any single funding round, triggering matching funding from the Scottish
Investment Bank.
The deal is a further bit of positive news for the
angel sector, which has been locked up by a lack of buyers for promising young
companies and technologies. This has forced investors into supporting fledgling
firms over increasingly longer periods of time.
New figures out from Linc, the Scottish business
angel trade body, reveal a mixed picture across the sector.
Linc members invested nearly £13.8 million into
early-stage companies in 2012, a 13 per cent increase on the previous year.
More significantly, the amount invested in new companies rose by 54 per cent,
with 20 firms receiving funding for the first time.
David Grahame, executive director of Linc Scotland,
said the number of new companies receiving funding had now
returned to
historical norms.
Including money that others invest alongside Linc
members, the total amount of cash pumped into firms last year fell by 10 per
cent to £31.2m.
However, the comparisons are skewed by two large
deals completed at the end of 2011, which brought in atypically high levels of
venture capital funding.
FINANCE
Wipro Infotech has won a 10 year
contract from Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) for providing IT (information
technology) services for the new integrated terminal T2.
It will be responsible for providing managed
services across the entire IT landscape at MIAL and delivering high
availability and operational efficiency across all the critical airport processes,
the software services provider said on Monday.
"Wipro will begin the transition with a
takeover of the IT services in the current terminals at Chhatrapati Shivaji
International Airport, which is expected to commence from April 1. As regards
to T2, Wipro will assist in the preparation of IT related standard operating
procedures and also work closely with MIAL during the testing and trial phase
of the IT systems prior to managing all the IT services for the iconic new
terminal," it said.
Once complete, T2 will be a four-level integrated
terminal with an area of 4.39 lakh square feet, designed to cater to 40 million
passengers annually.
WIpro Infotech is a division of Bangalore-based
Wipro, providing enterprise customers with IT products, software services,
solutions and consulting services in India and Middle East.
Korean technology firm Samsung SDS
Company secured Rs 220 crore order from L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad), an arm
of infrastructure firm L&T, for setting up automatic fare collection (AFC)
system for the Hyderabad metro rail project coming up at Rs 14,132 crore.
Samsung has implemented similar AFC projects across
several countries including three in India at Delhi metro, Bangalore metro and
Jaipur metro. The contract awarded by L&T Metrorail includes setting up of
smart card based ticketing system, automatic gates, cash and card based payment
system, ticket vending machines, near field communication technology that
enables usage of mobile phones as fare media, among others.
BV Gadgil, chief executive and MD of L&T
Metrorail, said, ""We have chosen Sansumg Data
Systems based on their technical expertise, international presence and most
importantly for their experience of working and implementing AFC projects in
the Indian environment.""
INDIA BUSINESS
The US is looking for business opportunities in
Visakhapatnam, the second biggest city in Andhra Pradesh, especially in the
port sector. Judy R. Reinke, minister counsellor
for commercial affairs at the US embassy, would be visiting the port city also
known as Vizag.
"I
will have a chance to talk to the port community and to see opportunities for
American business to do more engagement in the port sector," she said at
annual day function of the American Chamber of Commerce Hyderabad Chapter
(AMCHAM) here Thursday night.
She said
the US was keen to have further engagement with Andhra Pradesh.
"The
US commercial service at US embassy has an office here. I am also happy to say
that last year we opened American Business Corner in Vizag with a local partner
because we see it is important to have even further engagement here in Andhra
Pradesh," she said.
Reinke
noted that many American companies including Microsoft, AMD, International
Paper, DE Shaw & Co, Qualcomm, S&P Capital and CA Technologies have
made Andhra Pradesh their home.
Describing
Hyderabad as the global destination city, she said that the event is an evidence
of the fact that Hyderabad is a place to be for American industry.
"Hyderabad
is beautiful city known for its cuisine, culture, history and people. It is
also global destination city. One finds people from all over world in hotels
and in companies here and it is a city known for its engagement with global
market," she said.
Italian
company Finmeccanica said Saturday that it complied with the law in its $750
million deal to sell helicopters to India amid allegations that bribes were
paid to obtain the contract.
India's
Defense Ministry said Friday that it had put the deal to purchase the 12
helicopters on hold and sent a notice to Finmeccanica's AgustaWestland
helicopter division seeking cancellation of the agreement. The company was
given a week to respond to the notice.
AgustaWestland
said in a statement Saturday that it would reply within a week. It also said it
was "confident" it would demonstrate "full compliance" with
the law.
India
launched an investigation into the 560 million euro ($750 million) deal after
Finmeccanica's chief executive was arrested in Milan on Tuesday on charges he
paid bribes to obtain the contract.
India
signed the contract with AgustaWestland in February 2010. Three of the helicopters
were delivered in December.
Giuseppe
Orsi, the recently removed CEO of Finmeccanica, and Bruno Spagnolini, chief of
AgustaWestland, are being investigated on corruption charges involving business
done in India.
Indian
Defense Ministry officials have said the contract includes an integrity clause
against bribery or the use of undue influence. Under the terms of the clause,
if any person or the company is found to have bribed officials or made any kind
of payoff, the agreement can be scrapped and the firm blacklisted.
This is
not the first time that a defense deal in India has been mired in allegations
that a company paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to Indian officials. In
the 1980s, then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's government collapsed over charges
that the Swedish gun manufacturer Bofors AB paid bribes to supply Howitzer
field guns to the Indian army.
INSURANCE
Governments around the world generally agree on the
issue of incentivising buying of insurance policies, both life and non-life,
through tax laws for achieving the twin objectives of promoting social security
and mobilising long-term funds for economic development.
There are many ways of using taxation as a tool for
achieving these goals, the simplest being allowing the premium amount as
deductible from the total taxable income while computing tax liability of an
individual or a legal entity
The other method is to exempt claims proceeds from
any kind of tax, be it maturity or death claim amount, for life policies and
the amount paid to indemnify loss of goods, property or any physical asset due
to accident, fire theft or natural disaster, etc. In our country, a large
segment of people look at insurance as a sure tool of escaping taxes on their
income and, at the same time, are motivated to opt for insurance for long-term
savings and for providing financial security to their family or business.
Over a period of time, tax implications and the
exemption rules have become complicated and, at the same time, there have been
uncertainties every year about how the tax treatment is going to be like
following the Budget exercise by the government every year. The imposition of
the service tax has further complicated tax issues and the perpetual
uncertainties about the Direct Taxes Code has literally confused not only the
buyers of a policy, but also the sellers.
Motor Insurance premium is set to become more
expensive, with The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA)
proposing up to a two-fold hike in rates from April 1 in view of rising
inflation and the history of claim settlement.
Charges for the third party insurance cover, as per
the IRDA exposure draft, will go up for two-wheelers, passenger cars and
commercial vehicles.
For passenger cars not exceeding engine capacity of
1,000 cc, the revised third party premium is proposed to be hiked by 85.30 per
cent to Rs.1,453 per annum. For two-wheelers exceeding 350 cc, the premium
would go up by 108.14 per cent to Rs.1,415.
For goods carrying vehicles, excluding
three-wheelers, with carriage capacity exceeding 40,000 kg, the premium would
go up by 313.45 per cent to Rs.53,832 annually.
The earlier hike, which was done in March, 2012, was
disputed by transporters’ association, which had fought a legal battle with the
IRDA and general insurers in the Calcutta High Court. However, after eight
months of litigation, the court had passed the verdict in favour of the hike.
Earlier in 2012, while asking domestic general insurers to hike the
provisioning — capital to be set aside to pay the future claims as it takes
years to settle claims under this category — against the third party motor
portfolio, IRDA had assured general insurers that it will allow them to hike
the third party motor rates gradually.
The IRDA had dismantled the third party motor
insurance pool from April 1 last year, thereby linking premium rate with the
prevailing market rate.
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Sony Crop is
planning to create their next gaming console in a completely different way. The
next gaming console - PlayStation (codenamed Orbis) - will use a technology to
stream games. The new technology will be unveiled Wednesday along with the new
gaming console which allows the users to play games over the internet, people
familiar with Sony's plan
told the Wall Street Journal.
Last year, Sony acquired a cloud gaming service,
Gaikai, for $380 million. Gaikai allows playing streamed AAA games in variety
of internet-enable devices. Although there are many companies that offer simple
games over the Internet, Gaikai offers online access to games with high visual
intensity. It also launched demos of recent games such as Dead Space 2, The
Sims 3, Spore and Mass Effect 2. The new streaming technology is one of the new
features that are expected to be offered with the next PlayStation, which Sony
plans to unveil at simultaneous events in London and New York February
20.
World's top PC maker Hewlett-Packard (HP)
is reportedly working on the Android
based tablet which is expected to make its debut within this year. Citing two
unnamed sources, ReadWrite claimed that the HP's first Android
tablet will be a high-end device powered by the Nvidia's Tegra 4 processor
chip.
HP's new tablet will be one of the first devices to
feature Nvidia's quad-core processor 'Tegra 4'. Since the new processor chip
was launched last month in the international electronics convention CES (Consumer
Electronics Show) 2013, other smartphone makers are yet to adopt it.
Sources have also revealed that the HP is also working on an Android based
smartphone and the new handset is expected to be launched next year.
HP in its bid to make a stronger comeback in the
mobile device arena has chosen to ditch the longtime partner Microsoft
to Google. In a show of strained relationship with Microsoft,
HP recently introduced a Google OS based 'Pavilion 14 Chromebook' PC.
Two years ago, HP introduced 'HP webOS' based
smartphones and tablets, but due to poor sales, the devices were discontinued
within eight months of their release.
LOGISTICS
Port Logistics Group,
the nation's leading provider of gateway logistics services, and TAGSYS RFID, a global
provider of item-level inventory management systems that streamline the supply
chain, today announced a strategic partnership to enable RFID solutions for
Port Logistics Group customers at their U.S. gateway facilities.
The
companies will partner on development and deployment of TAGSYS RFID solutions,
integrated to Port Logistics Group proprietary EventTracker WMS, to support the increasing demands from retailers and manufacturers for RFID capabilities throughout the supply
chain. In particular, the companies will focus on RFID applications for
shippers with high value apparel and consumer goods.
"Our
clients include major U.S. retailers and the companies that supply them,"
said Bob
Stull, CEO of Port Logistics Group. "RFID compliance is becoming
a critical part of doing business in the retail supply chain, and we want to
ensure that Port Logistics Group is a step ahead in providing distribution
solutions that are RFID ready."
The
companies will jointly deploy TAGSYS RFID solutions to support item-level
receipt of goods and outbound order verification, as well as inventory
management and cycle-counting.
"Our
partnership with Port Logistics Group offers a unique opportunity to bring the
benefits of our RFID solutions to multiple customers at a strategic point in
the supply chain," said Alain Fanet, CEO of TAGSYS. "We hope to
demonstrate the benefits of RFID in the distribution center – inventory visibility
and accuracy and reductions in processing costs – and be in a position to offer
expanded solutions both upstream and downstream, from point of manufacturing to
point of sale."
Many
businesses have been slow to hire in this still-fragile economy, but
Cincinnati-based Total Quality Logistics has dramatically expanded its
Lexington sales office since it opened in 2011.
Specializing
in tractor-trailer freight brokerage, TQL is "the middleman between
shippers and carriers," said Rob Poulos, vice president of sales. "We
connect shippers with good quality carriers and negotiate the process between
pickup and delivery, including the rates."
Founded in
1997, the privately held company, which employs more than 2,000, focused its
early years on the transportation of produce. Poulos said 35 percent of the
load volume managed by the company remains on refrigerated tractor-trailers.
The
company recently completed its move into larger offices along Fortune Drive for
its more than 60 Lexington employees, who spend their days on the phone looking
to make deals and close them. They far outnumber the six who started in the
company office here when it opened in 2011.
"If
you look at this room, everything ships on a truck, from drywall to trucks to
signage to our clothes" Poulos said. "Everything ships on a truck.
MANAGEMENT
WH Ireland Group Plc, a Manchester, England-based
brokerage, agreed to buy the private wealth management arm of Seymour Pierce
Ltd., a 168-year old British stockbroker, out of administration for 25,000
pounds ($38,713).
The division has assets valued at 270 million
pounds, boosting WH Ireland’s funds managed by about 15 percent, and generated
a profit of 200,000 pounds in the year ended Sept. 30, the firm said today in a
statement. “This transaction will add considerably to our London- based assets
under management,” Chief Executive Officer Richard Killingbeck said. “We expect this transaction
to be earnings- enhancing” in the current fiscal year, he said.
Seymour Pierce was placed into administration last
month and is now called Tenebris Realisations Ltd. New York-based Cantor
Fitzgerald LP agreed to buy Seymour Pierce’s corporate finance team on Feb. 8.
Like other small, independent British stockbrokers, the London-based firm
struggled with a squeeze on revenue and fees amid Europe’s debt crisis and
competition from international firms.
Fund
administration company Apex Fund Services has launched Apex Trade Manager, its
order management system (OMS), and Apex Vision, its portfolio management system
(PMS).
Both systems are to be offered to any fund manager
using Apex’s services and also as a separate service.
Apex Technologies, a wholly owned division of Apex Fund Services, has been formed to offer fund managers a complete suite of technology solutions and third party services including the OMS and PMS systems.
Apex Technologies is partnering with Linedata, Pacific Fund Systems, Lazorne, Statpro, Newedge, Knight, RJ O Brien, EFG Hermes and Global Prime Partners.
The new OMS and PMS services are fully integrated with Apex’s existing fund launch platforms, fund administration servicing and middle office functions. Apex now provides fund managers with seamless services ranging from pre-trade compliance, trade execution and portfolio management, right through to NAV, risk and Ucits reporting.
Apex Technologies, a wholly owned division of Apex Fund Services, has been formed to offer fund managers a complete suite of technology solutions and third party services including the OMS and PMS systems.
Apex Technologies is partnering with Linedata, Pacific Fund Systems, Lazorne, Statpro, Newedge, Knight, RJ O Brien, EFG Hermes and Global Prime Partners.
The new OMS and PMS services are fully integrated with Apex’s existing fund launch platforms, fund administration servicing and middle office functions. Apex now provides fund managers with seamless services ranging from pre-trade compliance, trade execution and portfolio management, right through to NAV, risk and Ucits reporting.
MARKETING
Search
engine marketing is in its infancy but maturing rapidly, especially in
Portland.
The search
engine game — divining the various techniques to drive Internet traffic to web
pages and increase page views — is a detail-oriented language with rapidly
changing terms and techniques.
SEMpdx, which identifies best practices,
advocates for its industry and offers monthly training meetings in the Portland
area, started just five years ago. At that time, no more than 20 people in town
would have called themselves an expert in the field, says one of the SEMpdx
founders.
Contrast
that with Friday’s
annual SEMpdx “SearchFest” at the Governor Hotel. It sold out weeks ago.
Then the buffet service was bumped out of a meeting room and the capacity was
increased by 50 registrants. Nearly 450 tickets — ranging from $374 to $599 per
person — were sold as of Thursday afternoon, and organizers say they expect to
unload the rest by the time the doors open for the one-day event.
Plenty of
participants will not work in the search industry —small agencies that help
larger customers figure out how to get more people to look at their web pages
or people who work for behemoths Google or Microsoft’s Bing — but, instead,
have an interest in its application as a marketing concept, said Mike Rosenberg,
SEMpdx president.
Twitter
has launched an application programming interface (API) that will allow real
estate agents to manage Twitter advertising campaigns from inside marketing
platforms offered by five partner companies.
The API
will allow agents to use Twitter in much the same way they manage marketing
campaigns in Facebook and LinkedIn using customer relationship management (CRM)
platforms.
The
introduction of the Twitter Ads API marks a seismic event in the social media
marketing landscape, some experts say. It seems likely to enhance the utility
and value of online marketing platforms, as well as potentially reduce the
costs of advertising on Twitter.
"What
this means is that as marketers, you'll soon have the ability to work with our
initial set of Ads API partners to manage Twitter Ad campaigns -- and integrate
them into your existing cross-channel advertising strategies," Twitter
said in a statement on its website. "With the Ads API, marketers now have
more tools in their arsenal to help them deliver the right message, to the
right audience, on the desktop and on mobile devices -- all at scale."
Twitter
launched its API in partnership with five marketing platforms. The company,
which has 200 million active users, said it had been testing the API with those
partners since January. The partners are Adobe, HootSuite, Salesforce, SHIFT
and TBG Digital.
Social
media has quickly become one of the most important marketing channels for real
estate companies, brokers and agents.
ODISHA BUSINESS
The Union Rural Development Minister, Jairam Ramesh
today said the Centre was considering Odisha government’s proposal for
developing Sunabeda sanctuary in Maoist-hit Nuapada district.
The Minister, whose visit was opposed by Maoists
through posters two days ago, said at a meeting near here that his ministry had
initially mooted a proposal for development of the sanctuary area in the naxal-affected
district.
“The Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik then sent a Rs
238 crore plan for development of the hilly Sunabeda area ahead of my visit to
the district and it is being considered,” the Union Minister said.
Ramesh, who in a letter to the Chief Minister had
suggested him to submit a development plan of Sunabeda area on the lines of
Saranda Jungle, said the Centre was always willing to release funds for overall
development of backward and tribal dominated regions in states, without any
discrimination.
Earlier, the venue where Ramesh was to interact with
tribals was shifted on security grounds.
A proposed meeting at Barkote, in the foothills of
Sunabeda, was also cancelled as explosives were found from the site two days
ago, officials said.
Addressing a gathering in Nuapada Sadar area, Ramesh
said a Rs 57 crore project was being implemented in Nuapada district to improve
rural connectivity and link small villages located in remote and inaccessible
areas.
The Odisha government has clarified that unavoidable
delay in obtaining statutory clearances and land acquisition have affected
timely financial closure of various projects in the pipeline in the state.
The state has come out with this clarification following allegations of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that the companies, proposing to set up their projects in the state, were not adhering to the timeline for financial closure as mentioned in the MoUs.
“The purpose of the MoU (memorandum of understanding) is to provide comfort to the investors. Since land is the main constraint for implementing the project besides other statutory clearances, there has been unavoidable delay at times to adhere to timely financial closure. Some delay has been caused because of local resistance as well,” the state government stated in its compliance to CAG’s observations. Citing audit check of 19 MoU signed steel players, the CAG had pointed out that none of the promoters except Eastern Steel and Power Ltd adhered to timely financial closure as mentioned in the MoU. Eleven (11) out of these 19 players submitted financial closure after delay ranging from three to 39 months compared to the prescribed time-frame of 12 months. The rest seven players were yet to submit the financial closure till the date of audit (November 2012).
The state has come out with this clarification following allegations of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that the companies, proposing to set up their projects in the state, were not adhering to the timeline for financial closure as mentioned in the MoUs.
“The purpose of the MoU (memorandum of understanding) is to provide comfort to the investors. Since land is the main constraint for implementing the project besides other statutory clearances, there has been unavoidable delay at times to adhere to timely financial closure. Some delay has been caused because of local resistance as well,” the state government stated in its compliance to CAG’s observations. Citing audit check of 19 MoU signed steel players, the CAG had pointed out that none of the promoters except Eastern Steel and Power Ltd adhered to timely financial closure as mentioned in the MoU. Eleven (11) out of these 19 players submitted financial closure after delay ranging from three to 39 months compared to the prescribed time-frame of 12 months. The rest seven players were yet to submit the financial closure till the date of audit (November 2012).
RETAIL
Following Apple’s lead and Microsoft’s later foray
into the retail space, it is rumored that Google will be opening its own retail
stores to compete. This would be a first for Google–an expansion from a web URL
to a physical address–as it tries to push further into the consumer space.
Official Google retail stores are speculated to open by the holiday shopping
season in major cities, though specifics are not yet known at this time.
The Google retail stores would be a great way for
Google to better interact with customers and introduce new technologies, like Google
Glass, where it would be among the first to broach the heads-up display and
wearable computing category in such a large and novel scale. It would also help
Google introduce new Nexus devices and offer customers an opportunity to have
hands-on time with the devices before they purchase. Moreover, a retail
presence would also allow Google to offer customers service after the point of
sales. If a customer have an issue or problem with the software or hardware,
Google could potentially help customers resolve those problems in person. This
would help Google compete against Apple in the service department as Apple has
a Genius bar in its stores and Microsoft has its Answer Desk service at its
retail locations.
The leading supplier of retail software solutions
and services for Microsoft Dynamics, LS Retail (www.lsretail.com),
is to premier LS Retail NAV 2013 at the upcoming EuroCis 2013 IT and retail
trade show in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The most important new feature in LS Retail NAV 2013
is the customer-centric focus of the solution, with mobile loyalty, loyalty
portal and e-Commerce. These tools reduce the risk of the retailer losing his
customers to the competitor by forming a more personal relationship with them
through a fully integrated loyalty program, a recipe for more profitability.
Matthias Matthiasson, Product Manager for LS Retail
NAV, says: "The next generation loyalty solution provides a more personal
relationship between the customer and the retailer with focused offerings and
promotions visible through a mobile loyalty scheme, loyalty portal and
e-Commerce. LS Retail Loyalty and e-Commerce are the store's best friends and a
good way to increase foot traffic in the store."
____________________________________________________________________
Sabita Sahu :Junior Librarian and Syamaghana Mohanty : Chief Librarian, Knowledge and Information Services Unit, Chanakya Central Library, Asian School of Business Management, Bhubaneswar. chieflibrarian@asbm.ac.in ; www.asbm.ac.in____________________________________________________________________
Source of
Information for this issue: Google alert accessed on 18th, 20th and 22th Feb 2013
We welcome your
suggestions in improving this information updating service.
Knowledge
Is Power. Be Informed, Be Knowledgeable, Be Powerful.
Best wishes
Compilation
Sabita Sahu
Sabita Sahu
Junior Librarian
Concept, Layout and
Editing
Syamaghana Mohanty
Chief Librarian
Chief Librarian
Information and
Documentation Division, Chanakya Central Library
Asian School of
Business Management
Shiksha Vihar Bhola,
Barang Khurda Road,
Chandaka
Bhubaneswar-754012
Tel:0674-2374832, 2374833
E-mail:library@asbm.ac.in, chieflibrarian@asbm.ac.in 
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