Work smart and hard to succeed

How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?

Always ask what you can do for yourself or others, instead of what others can do for you. I grew up in an environment where we need to rely on ourselves, work smart and hard and rely on our own capabilities to succeed. At the heart of everything we do, is the people. When we help others to grow and develop, we do as well and success will come. I learnt this from my father, who was a teacher with a ”good heart” as described by his students. However, I am demanding and can be a perfectionist; this is what has propelled me forward in my career and business, and delivered the results.

What traits do you look for in talent or how do you decide who is right for a job?

> Strong technical skills. In finance and accountancy, this means being a qualified accountant with the relevant professional bodies with/or a degree/diploma. A strong augmentation to this is IT programming skills, with the race towards IR4.0 adoption by organisations.

> Flexibility and high speed in learning new technology

> Problem solving skills

> Ability to speak up and articulate ideas and resolutions

> Able to connect the dots and see the bigger picture

> Ambitious and having the hunger to learn

How do you think the industry you are in will evolve?

According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2018, future of job reports, role of bookkeeper, accountants or even auditors are within the top 10 declining profession in the world by 2022. We are already seeing this particularly within Global Business Services hubs of Fortune 500 companies, where the high volume, manual and repetitive work such as invoice processing, customer billing issuance have been either automated or robotised (robotics process automation). The talent will be reskilled towards higher value work such as preparation of management reports and trend analysis. Over time, these talent, if they adopt an open minded and flexible approach, will move up the talent curve to be digital transformation specialist, process automation and data analytics experts. If this is done collectively and concertedly, the same “declining” talent will be “emerging”, as indicated by the WEF. Emphasis needs to be placed on learning and development by the companies.

What advice can you offer those looking to start their career/own business?

> Be brave and don’t over analyse despite your professional background and training

> Trust your gut feeling, acknowledge the opinion of others but try not to listen to too many opinions

We all know about the industrial revolution, are we in for a technological revolution?

Yes, as mentioned above. As CFOs and global business services leaders, we need to prepare and convince our talent to outsource the non-value added work to a digital workforce and focus our attention on the more difficult and higher value work, which will help our organisations to grow, build competitive edge and anticipate potential risks and disruptions.

How has mentorship made a difference in your professional life?

I had the opportunity to be mentored by two very experienced finance directors from multinational corporations (MNCs) where I worked in for more than a decade. Their mentorship has brought out the best values in me, allowing me to recognise my strengths and build on them, and being aware of my areas for improvement. I sometimes make business decisions by asking myself, what would these two leaders do if they were in my shoes? It’s a great “self-sounding board” for myself!

What do you want to accomplish in the next five years?

Grow AGOS by threefold. AGOS stands for “A Grain Of Sand”, an organisation which I set up three-and-a-half years ago upon leaving the MNC corporate career. My aim is to utilise the experience and best practices that I have learnt through roles such as CFOs, finance director and finance shared services leader to help transform other businesses in Malaysia and elevate our talent by helping to upskill them. We have done various finance, HR and procurement transformation projects for MNCs, global business services organisations, public-listed companies and small and medium enterprises in Malaysia across a wide range of industries such as healthcare, automotive, F&B, education, media, e-commerce and technology. One of our main focus is the utilisation of IR4.0 tools such as digitalisation, automation, robotics process automation and AI in organisations, and AGOS works to enable companies to successfully implement IR4.0, as well as utilise the available incentives. Within these five years, I am looking to expand the team, be focused on our services and build expertise particularly in the adoption of new technology, including blockchain.

Best piece of advice you received on your career.

Build a sustainable business that will give you a return on investment.

How do you stay abreast of issues affecting your industry?

> Roundtable discussions with industry leaders

> Work on industry related studies, e.g. AGOS has developed a digital toolkit for global business services organisations in Malaysia

> Online content and webinars

> Conferences and workshops

If you could have an hour with any thought leader in the world, who would it be and why?

Our own Chandran Nair, CEO of Global Institute For Tomorrow. He has shown that Malaysians are capable of competing and winning in the global platform, and is always challenging the status quo, having the courage to talk about the “white elephant in the room” and discuss what is considered “non-discussion/taboo subjects.

Most admired business leader? Why?

I don’t really have one. I prefer to look outside the business world for inspiration and think how to apply it to my everyday work. One of the personality whom I find inspiring is Lucy Charles-Barclay, a fast rising star in the world of triathlon. The sheer amount of work, precision and dedication she puts into training and how she welcomes the pressure and competition of her fiercest rivals is mind boggling. She goes at her own pace, by her own terms but yet, leads the pack. And how she turned a setback when all seemed lost, from not being able to qualify for Olympics 2012 to a golden opportunity in successfully competing in triathlon globally.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced and what did you learn from it?

During the initial phase of setting up AGOS, where I was making the turn from being a salaried worker to an entrepreneur, landing the first project was really difficult! It took every ounce of my knowledge, connection and imagination!

What man made innovation confounds you? Why?

Dyson products, bagless vacumn, bladeless fan: very innovative and challenging the norm.

Malaysia’s greatest brand.

Shila Amzah, transcends race, religion, a true and true Malaysian!

A must-read for every business owner/manager is.

The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh, the mind is the most powerful thing, control it well and everything else will fall into place. It’s so simple but yet so difficult to achieve

How do you expect policies on climate change to impact businesses in the future?

There is a need to understand and internalise the “cost” of climate change to businesses. This is key towards sustainability and competitive edge, if not survival in the future.

What are the top three factors you would attribute to your success?

My family, my team and my customers.

source https://www.thesundaily.my/business/work-smart-and-hard-to-succeed-GH1687877

2020 great year for stock market: Nazri

SHAH ALAM: The year 2020 is expected to be great year for stock investing, driven by big catalysts like the US presidential election, Brexit developments and expected leadership transition in Malaysia next year, said newly appointed Inter-Pacific Asset Management Sdn Bhd (IPAM) head Datuk Dr Nazri Khan (DDNK) (pix).

“We expect the US-China trade war to cease fire and reduce tension, so this will be positive for the world. We’re optimistic that US and China are going to come up with certain trade deal in the near term before the Apec 2020. The US presidential election next year is normally the biggest catalyst to push markets higher,” he told a press conference at the Menang Saham Bersama DDNK seminar, which attracted 5,000 participants last Saturday.

He said the Dow Jones Industrial Average is at an all-time high of some 28,000 points, while the Nasdaq hit some 8,300 points, representing a great opportunity for Malaysians to consider investing in syariah US and Bursa stocks.

“Brexit (developments) is better than what we expected. We’re also seeing signs that commodities are recovering. The price of oil has started to go up along with the price of crude palm oil. It’s a great time for us to invest overseas, so we want to position IPAM as a significant player in the syariah global stock market,” said Nazri.

Locally, he said the year 2020 is symbolic where Malaysia is expected to be a developed and fully industrialised nation, where this will spur interest to invest in the global stock market.

“We also expect the political succession in the country to run smoothly next year. Hopefully we see new economic policies that will give more confidence to foreign investors to come,” added Nazri.

He noted that Malaysia’s stock market valuation is the best since 2008, with the price-to-book ratio being the lowest in six years and price-to-earnings ratio being the lowest in multi-years. Foreign shareholding stood at some 22% today, much lower than the average over the last few years.

“Foreign shareholding is at multi-year low, this is also a great time for us to invest inside and outside Malaysia,” emphasised Nazri. – by Ee Ann Nee

source https://www.thesundaily.my/business/2020-great-year-for-stock-market-nazri-DH1687757

Inter-Pacific focusing on syariah asset management

SHAH ALAM: Berjaya Corp Bhd’s (BCorp) fund management subsidiary Inter-Pacific Asset Management Sdn Bhd (IPAM), which has appointed renowned financial economist Datuk Dr Nazri Khan (DDNK) as its new head, aims to become one of the top leaders in the syariah global asset management industry.

Nazri is a prominent figure and notable economist among investors.

An economics graduate from Manchester University, UK and a PhD holder from Multimedia University, Nazri was the former senior vice-president (investment) of fund management company Phillip Capital Management and former chief investment officer of private equity specialist Widuri Capital Sdn Bhd. Prior to that, he was the head of retail research in Affin Hwang Investment Bank. He is the chairman of Malaysian Association of Technical Analysts.

He is a proponent of the ultra-growth investing style and specialises in the syariah global stock market, with US stocks in particular.

Nazri said there are 70,000 syariah stocks in the world. His monster stock picks include Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Tesla and Nvidia which have generated more than 20-fold return over the last 10 years.

BCorp founder and executive chairman Tan Sri Vincent Tan said he is impressed with Nazri’s track record in managing a sizeable fund, which has achieved return on investment of 17% within five months.

Tan is confident that as the new head of IPAM, Nazri will be able to substantially increase the number of investors, particularly from the Muslim community, to IPAM and diversify its current investor base, as well as introduce new fund products to the market.

“We’re going to focus more on syariah stocks outside Malaysia, mostly on US syariah blue-chip stocks. We believe that at this moment, the US stock market is the strongest. There is a lot of demand for syariah-compliant US stocks in Malaysia,” Nazri told a press conference at the Menang Saham Bersama DDNK seminar last Saturday.

He added that IPAM’s focus on the foreign market (US) is an advantage at the moment given that the US dollar is expected to strengthen over the next few years.

Under the leadership of Nazri, IPAM is targeting to grow its asset under management to RM1 billion in three years, focusing on syariah stocks inside and outside Malaysia.

“We’re going to launch new unit trusts, specialising in syariah US stocks,” said Nazri, adding that it wants to position IPAM as a significant player in the syariah global stock market.

Earlier at the seminar, IPAM launched the InterPac Capital Preservation and Growth Fund (ICPG), a wholesale mixed asset fund which seeks to provide capital preservation, consistent income and growth by investing in a diversified portfolio of securities and deposits.

The fund aims to provide an annual return of 4% and a targets return of at least 30% on a cumulative basis over three years.

It is suitable for sophisticated investors who have a medium- to long-term investment horizon with a minimum initial investment of RM50,000.

source https://www.thesundaily.my/business/inter-pacific-focusing-on-syariah-asset-management-FH1687700

US Black Friday shoppers stay away from stores, make US$7b-plus splurge online

WASHINGTON: US shoppers made more purchases online on Black Friday than in the mall – hurting traffic and sales at brick-and-mortar stores, according to data that offered a glimpse into what is still one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

For the first time in several years, however, store traffic on Thanksgiving evening grew – indicating a shift in when consumers are leaving their homes to shop. It is also a sign of how Thursday evening store openings have continued to hurt what has traditionally been a day that kicked off the US holiday season.

The importance on the shopping calendar of Black Friday, or the day after the US Thanksgiving Day holiday, has waned in recent years. This is due to the choice by many retailers to open their stores on Thursday evening, as well as to early holiday promotions and year-round discounts. However, it is increasingly turning into a day when shoppers do not necessarily flock to stores but spend heavily online.

Also, for most retail chains, Black Friday store traffic and sales data is not necessarily grim as consumers continue to spend, consultants said. Winning the transaction, whether online or in-store, has now become more important for retailers than where it occurs.

Top brick-and-mortar retailers like Walmart Inc, Target Corp and Best Buy have continued to spend billions of dollars trying to expand their e-commerce operations to capture that growing online revenue.

Also, spending patterns over the weekend are not as indicative of the entire holiday shopping season as they were a few years ago, with purchases spread over November and December.

Online sales rose more than 19.6%, reaching US$7.4 billion (RM31 billion) on Black Friday, slightly shy of estimates of US$7.6 billion, according to data from Adobe Analytics, which tracks transactions at 80 of the top 100 US retailers. On Thanksgiving, it estimated sales grew 14.5% to US$4.2 billion.

Numbers from ShopperTrak, which is part of retail data firm Sensormatic Solutions, showed that visits to stores fell a combined 3% during Thanksgiving and Black Friday compared with the same days in 2018.

Shopper traffic on Thanksgiving evening increased by 2.3% year-over-year but was dragged down by Black Friday, which fell 6.2% from a year ago.

Brian Field, senior director of global retail consulting for ShopperTrak, said the traditional pattern of shoppers visiting stores has been disrupted not only by online shopping but by offerings like “buy online and pick up in store,“ a growing category, which is not included in store traffic count on Black Friday.

“What all of this really boils down to is the customer journey has changed, now it can start anywhere online, in-store and end anywhere ... and it is about making sure the customer makes the purchase and stays loyal to the brands more than where it happens,“ he said.

Preliminary data from analytics firm RetailNext showed net sales at brick-and-mortar stores on Black Friday fell 1.6%, which the firm said is slower than in previous years. The National Retail Federation had forecast US holiday retail sales over the two months in 2019 will increase between 3.8% and 4.2% from a year ago. – Reuters

source https://www.thesundaily.my/business/us-black-friday-shoppers-stay-away-from-stores-make-us-7b-plus-splurge-online-EH1687547

Another quarter of lacklustre corporate earnings: Analysts

PETALING JAYA: The recent third-quarter (Q3) corporate earnings reporting season has been somewhat underwhelming, yielding a mixed bag of results and few catalysts to drive the market, according to analysts.

Fundsupermart senior research analyst, portfolio management Jerry Lee Chee Yeong said looking at the top 30 stocks comprising Bursa Malaysia, there has been a 3-4% contraction in earnings on a year-on-year (yoy) basis.

“The positive side is that if we look at revenue growth, there has been up to 3% of positive revenue growth. It’s just that if you look from an earnings perspective, most of the companies are generating contraction, and if you are comparing to the consensus analyst estimates, it’s worse than expected,” he told Sunbiz, adding that based on data, the earnings downside for the KLCI component stocks came in at around 18-19%.

He noted that the small-cap stocks had outperformed the broader market during the quarter.

Drilling down to the individual sectors, Lee said the financial and energy sectors had been the biggest drag on the earnings growth of the overall KLCI.

“If you look at the energy sector like Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd for example, just recently their earnings went down more than 50% on a yoy basis. Also for the financial sector, due to the overnight policy rate cut, most of them are seeing a compression in terms of net interest margin,” he said.

CIMB Research head of Malaysia research Ivy Ng said performance-wise, there appear to be a number of companies that underperformed during the quarter.

“Based on the data we have up until a couple of days ago, I think we still see quite a lot of underperformers in this quarter. However, performance is relative to our expectations, and I think there are a number of reasons as to why the results were not up to our expectations, such as impairments, higher-than-expected costs, weaker revenue and margins. Nevertheless, the ratio of underperformers seems to be higher.”

“Sector-wise, performance is mixed. (There was) no one particular sector that outperformed or underperformed,” she added.

Leinves PLT chief investment officer William Ng said while the quarter’s corporate earnings had not surprised him, the property and construction sectors were likely the ones that had fared the worst.

“I can’t say for sure until all the corporate results have been released, but for property... the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC 2019) will only boost unbilled sales, however it will make no meaningful difference to their bottom lines.

“Construction has been impacted by the pulling back of infrastructure projects, and those initiatives announced in Budget 2020 will only come in next year. Many have been affected by the adoption of the new reporting standard MFRS 16, since that will impact their balance sheets,” he said.

Looking ahead, Lee said while he did not have a year-end target for the KLCI, he expects the benchmark index to trend slightly higher, due the window dressing phenomenon typically observed at the end of Q4.

However, he foresees technology stocks to perform better next year, due to an anticipated increase in global demand for semiconductors.

“Most local tech players are in the semiconductor space, and so the market has priced in an expected uptick in demand and sales due to a higher hope of resolution from the US-China trade war, as well as the implementation of 5G infrastructure,” he said.

Ivy said the bank’s year-end KLCI target would remain at 1,583 points, and it is unlikely to see a significant revision.

“I think generally with such a short time left in the year, it’s unlikely for us to make a significant revision to the target. We don’t know if global markets will take a sudden turn, so we think it will be range bound from here, I don’t think there will be a major movement either way.

“There could be a little bit of reaction from the results and a bit of portfolio repositioning by fund managers ahead of the new year. There will also be a bit of profit taking happening before the typical window dressing starts,” she said.

Meanwhile, William said he is maintaining the year-end target at 1,600 points.

source https://www.thesundaily.my/business/another-quarter-of-lacklustre-corporate-earnings-analysts-BH1687506

S.Korea November exports plunge as China-U.S. deal still in dark

SEOUL: South Korean exports in November fell for the 12th month in a row and far more than expected, denting hopes for the global manufacturing sector stabilising as a much-awaited China-U.S. trade deal is still in darkness.

Exports declined 14.3% in November from a year earlier, trade ministry data showed on Sunday, far below a median 10.2% fall tipped in a Reuters poll and missing even the worst forecast in the survey of an 11.1% loss.

It was also the second-worst drop in overseas sales in nearly four years as global semiconductor prices failed to turn around while China, the country's biggest export market, continued to cut down purchases from its smaller neighbour.

The surprisingly weak November data from a manufacturing powerhouse, which reports monthly trade data ahead of major exporting nations each month, underscores the global economy still far from a turning point.

"The optimism for the first-phase trade deal between the United States and China will take time before actually boosting exports, and today's poor data means the turnaround in exports is taking longer than expected," said Chun Kyu-yeon, economist at Hana Financial Investment.

Shipments to China fell 12.2% in November from a year earlier, while overseas sales of semiconductors, South Korea's top export item, tumbled by 30.8% in value as prices plunged this year from a super-rally last year.

Imports fell 13.0% on-year in November, also missing an 11.9% contraction tipped in the survey. That brought the November trade balance to a $3.37 billion surplus, versus a $5.34 billion surplus a month earlier.

Sunday's data left shipments for the first 11 months of this year 10.7% below a year earlier, putting the country on track for its worst annual exports performance since a 13.9% fall in 2009 during the height of a global financial crisis.

South Korea's economy, the fourth-largest in Asia and heavily dependent on exports, has been hit especially hard by cooling global trade and a prolonged tariff war between China and the United States.

On Friday, the central bank trimmed its 2019 economic growth forecast for the fourth time this year to the lowest in a decade, and also lowered next year's forecast.

The downgrades came even after the Bank of Korea cut rates twice this year, the most recent cut coming in October. Many analysts expect the central bank to ease policy further next year to support the stuttering economy. - Reuters

source https://www.thesundaily.my/business/s-korea-november-exports-plunge-as-china-u-s-deal-still-in-dark-XH1687077

China wants US tariffs rolled back in phase one trade deal: Global Times

BEIJING: Beijing is insisting U.S. tariffs must be rolled back as part of any phase one trade deal with Washington, China's Global Times newspaper said on Sunday citing unnamed sources, amid continued uncertainty on whether the two sides can strike a deal.

"A US pledge to scrap tariffs scheduled for December 15 cannot replace the rollbacks of tariffs," the newspaper said in a tweet, referring to an additional round of tariffs on Chinese imports to be implemented in the absence of a trade deal.

The Global Times is published by the People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington was in the "final throes" of a deal aimed at defusing a 16-month trade war with China, a few days after Chinese President Xi Jinping had expressed his desire for a trade agreement. Top trade negotiators for both countries also spoke again and agreed to continue working on the remaining issues.

Trade experts and people close to the White House told Reuters last month, however, that signing of a phase one agreement may not take place until the new year as China pressed for more extensive rollbacks of tariffs. An agreement was initially expected to be completed by the end of November.

U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley told reporters on Tuesday that Beijing invited U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for in-person talks in Beijing.

Grassley said Lighthizer and Mnuchin were willing to go if they saw "a real chance of getting a final agreement".

A source familiar with the trade talks also told Reuters that U.S. officials could travel to China after Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. - Reuters

source https://www.thesundaily.my/business/china-wants-us-tariffs-rolled-back-in-phase-one-trade-deal-global-times-CH1687037