Tag: Asia

USA – New York-headquartered global financial services giant Citigroup has recently announced that it will be pursuing exits from its consumer franchises in 13 markets, where 10 come from the Asia Pacific region. 

In its latest financial results for the first quarter of the year, Citigroup revealed that as part of its strategic actions for its global consumer banking, it has now decided to direct its focus to just four markets in Asia and EMEA, namely, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE, and London. As a result of this, it is marking the end of its consumer business in all the other markets in the two regions which include APAC units in Australia, China, India, and Indonesia as well as Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines, and in Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Meanwhile, in EMEA, it will be exiting Bahrain, Poland, and Russia. 

Citigroup said that while this is the case, its Institutional Clients Group will continue to serve clients in the said markets, which remain important to Citi’s global network. The company said the move will allow Citi to direct investments and resources to businesses where it has the greatest scale and growth potential.

Its CEO, Jane Fraser, said that the ongoing refresh of the company’s strategy pushes them to double down on wealth. The markets it retained, she continued, positions the company to capture strong growth and attractive returns the wealth management business offers through the four important hubs.

“While the other 13 markets have excellent businesses, we don’t have the scale we need to compete. We believe our capital, investment dollars, and other resources are better deployed against higher returning opportunities in wealth management and our institutional businesses in Asia,” said Fraser. 

For the first quarter of 2021, Citigroup reported a net income of $7.9B, a jump compared to its net income of $2.5B in the same period in 2020.

“It’s been a better than expected start to the year, and we are optimistic about the macro environment. We are committed to serving our clients through the recovery and positioning the bank for a period of sustained growth,” said Fraser. 

Singapore – TikTok has announced the third edition of its TikTok Music Night which is a post-Valentine’s Day celebration in Asia – ”Love Edition” – to be streamed live on the TikTok app in February 18 at 7:30 p.m. SGT. 

TikTok Music Night Asia “Love Edition” will feature some of the top romantic artists in the region, such as MICappella from Singapore, Ariel Tsai from Taiwan, Layla Sania from Malaysia as well as Filipino performer Route 83, and Indonesia’s Afgan, among many others. 

Through the event, TikTok aims to promote creativity and bring joy to the public. The first live stream stage was in October 2020 and has expanded well beyond Korea to other countries across Southeast Asia, including Singapore. Recent editions featured internationally acclaimed artists, such as Pentatonix, Lauv, and Conan Gray, among others.

Aside from the local up-and-coming artists from Asia, the “Love Edition” will also feature guest performances from international artists such as Pink Sweat$ performing ‘At My Worst’ followed by Max, whose hit romantic song ‘Blueberry Eyes’ featured Suga of BTS. Local Singapore artists, such as Benjamin Kheng ft. J.Sheon and EstelleFly will also perform in the live stream event.

Here are the following Asian artists on the upcoming Music Night:

● MICappella, Singapore

● 蔡佩軒 Ariel Tsai, Taiwan

● 鄭心慈 Kelly Cheng, Taiwan

● cinnamons × evening cinema, Japan

● ALEXA, Korea

● MOMMY SON (Feat. Wonstein, Chanjuicy), Korea

● Layla Sania, Malaysia

● NOAH & Shakira Jasmine, Indonesia

● Afgan, Indonesia

● Route 83, Philippines

● Alisson Shore, Philippines

● Violette Wautier, Thailand

● Earth Patravee, Thailand

● CARA, Vietnam

Singapore-Digital analytics company Contentsquare has recently announced its organizational expansion within the Asia Pacific (APAC) region by establishing several regional offices and appointing two new executives to aid in the company’s operations.

The company upholds its provision of services, including customer behavior, behavior analysis through billions of anonymous web, mobile and app interactions, transforming this knowledge into advisories that increase revenue, engagement and growth.

Its new regional offices are located in the cities of Singapore, Tokyo, Melbourne, and Sydney. 

Following this endeavor, Contentsquare has also employed two key executives for the overall operations of the group. David Bochsler, a former senior head at Microsoft, has been hired as the regional managing director for APAC operations, while Frazer Adnam, former head of CRM Marketing for Deliveroo and later on Afterpay, joined as ANZ Country Manager. The company said the expansion endeavor is part of its goal for the year to specifically expand within the APAC region, which it hopes to stay in the longer run. 

“When I first saw the Contentsquare platform, I was just so excited about the technology. I was the decision maker on the brand side that Contentsquare would have traditionally sold to. I thought, ‘this solves problems that I literally would have needed five people to solve.’ From someone who had been working in customer experience roles for a long period of time, I was completely fascinated by what I saw was going to be the new wave of customer experience technology,” Frazer Adnam, country manager for ANZ Contentsquare stated.

Meanwhile, David Bochsler, Contentsquare’s APAC managing director commented, “Contentsquare is perfectly positioned for substantial growth in Asia. It caters exceptionally well to those very large mature, highly data driven organizations but also caters to those people that are just getting their feet in the water as far as understanding what their online visitors are doing. It’s the first time I’ve seen any technology that’s shown me what’s inside that black box of customer behavior online. It allows brands to finally understand why their digital visitors behave the way they do”.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Evolution Wellness, the owner and operator of an Asia-wide network of fitness clubs has announced that it has launched a licensing program for one of its clubs, premium boutique gym FIRE Fitness.

FIRE Fitness was established in Malaysia in 2015 by fitness industry veterans who are also husband and wife, Dave Nuku and Tracy Minnoch-Nuku, and fitness veteran Rich Hutson.

There are currently four FIRE Fitness clubs, or Firestations as they are called, in Malaysia delivering virtual and physical proprietary classes.

Evolution Wellness CEO Simon Flint said that within the licensing program, fitness entrepreneurs will have access to its unique entry-level yet high-quality FIRE-branded HIIT studio, FIRE Revolution, which delivers a CapEx-light concept. 

Meanwhile, at the premium end of the spectrum, investors in a FIRE license will also have the option to open one or more proprietary studio concepts under the same roof, said Flint. 

“For example, our downtown Kuala Lumpur club is a three-studio outlet, delivering [the fitness programs] FORCE, STRIKE, and BARRE at [that] one location,” added Flint.  

According to Flint, licensees will benefit from the expertise and industry know-how of Evolution Wellness, and receive on-going support in the form of marketing materials and workout content among others. 

“The FIRE signature class innovation pipeline is strong, and we are committed to continuing to deliver new fitness experiences to the market, and with the look and feel of the brand being every bit as exciting as the classes delivered on a daily basis, we can’t wait to see how the global fitness market responds to this great opportunity,” said Flint. 

FIRE Fitness’s line of signature programs include proprietary classes BARRE, FORCE, and RIDE as well as STRIDE and STRIKE, and are designed “to deliver engaging and uplifting results-driven fitness experiences in an intimate boutique environment.”

STRIDE combines treadmill running, weight training, and body weight movement, while in a STRIKE program, treadmill work is replaced by boxing moves. 

RIDE Yoga, on the other hand, combines thirty minutes of high-intensity sprints, followed by a power yoga segment which presents participants with the thrill of HIIT cycling and the calmness of yoga.

“FIRE Fitness’s signature programs are time-efficient and geared towards delivering results while transcending various exercise modalities. [About] 80% of signature classes comprise fusion classes which not only challenge the body in new ways but also keep fans motivated with variety,” said the company in a press statement. 

This year, FIRE fitness expanded its classes to include virtual sessions, being able to sign up an audience from Asia and outside countries such as Argentina, Brazil, and Costa Rica.