Xeon International

Singapore: the Banking Destination for Wealthy Chinese

Maciej Waloszyk — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:23:46 +0000

The latest hot topic that Chinese Private Bankers argue about when they get together is which foreign destination is favored by wealthy Chinese clients. Undoubtedly, Singapore is way ahead of its rival destinations, having occupied the number one spot in the past and present and most likely in the future. This article aims at examining why and how the Island State has managed to occupy this enviable position.

Singapore has transformed itself very rapidly in the last decade in terms of services, compliance and reputation and is now viewed as the “Zurich or Geneva of the East”. After years of concentrating its efforts mainly on European clients demanding to have part of their assets out of Europe, it is now preparing itself for a booming period coinciding with the arrival of Chinese wealthy and ultra-wealthy clients. The decisive question is whether Singapore can reorient itself fast enough to new markets such as China and offer genuine global services in a 100% compliant world. Last but not least how will regulators be able to preserve the clean reputation of Singapore in a world asking for total compliance?

When looking at alternatives other than Singapore, one could argue that a place like Hong-Kong is probably too close to the Chinese Market. On the other hand Switzerland is too distant both culturally and geographically. Although, Luxembourg could be viewed as the place to be for the setting-up of investment funds, its geographical and cultural distance stands in the way of it becoming a true rival to Singapore. Indeed, Singapore has for itself the big advantage to share the same Asian mentality coupled with an important immigration from China. The high quality schools, the extremely up-market positioning of Singapore in terms of shopping, restaurants, social life, marina as well as its security are all assets and qualities requested by the new wealthy Chinese clients. To illustrate this, we could quote a recent study from PwC predicting that Singapore will manage more assets than Switzerland in a two year horizon; making it the world’s leading management center together with New York and London.

The current trend with Chinese multi-millionaires is to switch residence and move assets abroad. They first chose the USA, Canada, and Australia or to certain extend Switzerland to do so. But these traditional safe havens places are losing momentum, giving Singapore the opportunity to really emerge as the new prime location. Singaporean citizenship can easily be bought by wealthy Chinese nationals through an investment of at least 10 million Singapore$ to be managed by a financial institution regulated by the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore). Chinese nationals do not view this as a hindrance but rather as an opportunity to show off their wealth to friends and relatives. Investing in the Singapore property market is also in, and here again the entry ticket is very often in the range of 10 to 20 million S$.

To cope with this new clientele, Singapore is investing heavily in the professional and intellectual training capabilities and has created the WMI (Wealth Management Institute) set up by the state-owned investment company Temasek Holding (sovereign fund). Singapore is actively aiming at tackling the shortage of language skills (Chinese) and has as main objective to raise standards in the private banking industry while also adopting a very compliant policy in accepting new funds. The implementation of a severe code of conduct has recently been issued to this effect. Indeed, Singapore is keen on having a very effective regulation. David Lim of Julius Baer also points at the importance of offering high-quality and profitable investment strategies. Singapore is advised to learn from the Swiss mistakes and make tax evasion a criminal offence. There is too much at stake for Singapore not to be 100% compliant as the growth in the Asian region and especially from China will put the Island State under the fire of its envious competitors.

For Singapore, the challenge will not be to attract enough clients but the provision of the right staff and the up-market offerings, especially in terms of private portfolio management and family office related services. The new Chinese UHNWIs are requesting new services from their banks or asset managers. The family office types of services are a must as Chinese request amongst others limo services and offices in the most desirable location and with the adequate decoration and facilities etc. In analyzing the needs of the wealthiest Chinese individuals, one has to bear in mind that Chinese tycoons are requesting to have Dom Pérignon on tap at the private airport lounge and request even more attention while being in Singapore or travelling that at home. Furthermore, Chinese ultra-riches are known to like to buy their Hermès or Louis Vuitton in Singapore as it its more prestigious than buying it at home. Thus, prestige and status seem to be all that matters to this new clientele.

At Xeon, we are equipped to offer these services specifically with our Dynamic Asset Allocation Process (DAAP) and the one stop shopping including DAAP and state-of-the art private equity offering.

Pierre-Yves AUGSBURGER, CIO of Xeon

April 2012

Xeon International and Fuchs Finance join forces

Yves Duponselle — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:55:18 +0000

Xeon International announces that it has joined forces with Fuchs Finance, a Luxembourg established asset management company.

“Our clients’ were also asking for top edge asset management services when we talked about Private Equity” says Yves Duponselle – CEO at Xeon International – “Fuchs Finance has an excellent track record and both companies match perfectly in terms of complementary skills. Through Fuchs Finance we got also access to very prestigious, traditional and upper market asset managers such as Julius Bear, Pictet, Sterwen and Banque Héritage and we are proud that we can offer this exceptional quality to our clients.”
Fuchs Finance has in excess of EUR 2 billion assets under management and stands foremost to independent and un-biased advices. The strategic cooperation will also allow Fuchs Finance to offer its clients a direct access to a portfolio of Private Equity through Xeon Fund “Made in Luxembourg”.

For more information: http://xeon-international.com/services/family-office

Our teams consist mainly of experienced managers with deep theoretical and practical knowledge of their areas of specialisation which ensures rapid comprehension of relevant strategic and operational issues and a solid implementation of solutions. We devise innovative and result-oriented ways to create business value for our clients and investors.

Commitment to Innovation

Yves Duponselle — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 21:57:42 +0000

Xeon International is an Investment boutique that provides a real alternative to existing investment banking models. We believe that investment banking, as in its current form, has become old-fashioned.
This industry has created since decades, the myth that everything should be complicated and accessible only to insiders; nothing is less true.
At Xeon International, we look at things differently because we believe clients and investors deserve to be treated with more transparency, respect and ethics: all in a language they do understand. We look at the business with the eyes of our investors and clients while our solutions are genuinely individual.
Xeon International is an exclusive boutique offering a mix of 4 services.
From Company Financing and Growth management advisory to Private Equity management and Family Office services, we accompany our investors and clients independently and in their best interest and according to their needs.

We cherish our “lean and mean” structure and do not believe in the efficiency of standardised and anonymous organisations where no one is in charge anymore.

Xeon International is headquartered in Luxembourg and has built a global presence with its partners.
Yves Duponselle- Chief Executive Officer Xeon International

Ratings are going up in the East.

Yves Duponselle — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:56:19 +0000

Mr. Pierre Yves Augsburger, Chief Investment Officer of Xeon International summarizes in his article about the recent development of ratings attributed by the rating agencies to the different countries.

“It is well known that global growth is put on the account of the economic growth of emerging countries. But it is less known by the public that the international rating agencies have massively upgraded the notes attributed to a great number of emerging countries. Xeon International with its positioning in the growth markets and countries has a real edge and will definitely support its clients businesses by making them benefiting from this secular trend.

The international press has more than covered the downgrading of the USA and France by Standard & Poor’s but has been relatively quiet concerning the improvement obtained by numerous emerging countries.

Beginning of 2012, Indonesia has accessed the category of investment grade while 9 countries of the Euro zone were downgraded by one or even two notches. In 2011, according to a study published by the US bank JP Morgan, the rating agencies have lowered 36 times the rating of a developed country and raised 38 times that of an emerging country.

Indonesia is now Baa3 according to Moody’s and has successfully reduced its debt which reached less than 30% of GDP. Indonesia with over 320 million inhabitants is moving towards the first economy of South-East Asia. One of the positive factors will be that Indonesian bonds will become accessible to many investment funds and insurance companies. It is also worth mentioning that the 2008 financial crisis had no negative impact on the ratings of emerging countries, whose banks were not affected by the sub-prime crisis or barely by the European meltdown.

According to Standard & Poor’s, the 13 countries that have been placed on positive outlook are all emerging countries. We would like to highlight that Asian economies are characterized by low public debt ratio and high private savings, this last point is also a characteristic that we may find in Luxembourg and Switzerland.” comments Mr. Augsburger

Xeon Fund on Fundraising Roadshow

Yves Duponselle — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:14:24 +0000

Xeon Fund is the Private Equity fund of Xeon international launched last year in Luxembourg with the vocation to invest in the emerging markets of South and South East Asia.
Xeon International Private Equity division is currently staging a roadshow to attract investors to SEACAP, a dedicated fund targeting industrial investments in fast growing medium sized enterprises.
“Investors are reacting enthusiastically at participating in promising investments in Asia and they are very keen on securing profitable opportunities in the medium term” says Giancarlo d’Elia – Chief Private Equity Officer at Xeon International. “Institutional and private investors are equally interested in SEACAP investment strategy and we have many requests to access SEACAP’s capital in the next few weeks”.

” The SEACAP Fund will tour in Singapore from the first week of February on.”, says Ronny Showkat, Group Managing Partner ME and Asia,” We have some important assets that are combining the best of both worlds as the fund is managed from Luxembourg, today’s second largest hub in the world for fund management , and it invests directly in the growing markets of South and South East Asia, today’s fastest growing economy. Investors in Singapore understand well the potential of the region and that is why we have set the priority to meet investors in this part of the world.”

Xeon International increases its YOY revenues by 84% in 2011

Yves Duponselle — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:31:59 +0000

Xeon International announced for the results of the fiscal year 2011 an increase of its revenues by 84% compared to 2010. “We are delighted about this result”, comments Yves Duponselle, CEO at Xeon international, ” we are a company that proposes Growth management services and Business Value Creation and we are happy to realize our own organic growth objectives by outperforming the market trend. 2011 has been a great year for Xeon International thanks to our continuous development in the South and South East Asian market. We look forward, in this New Year of the Chinese Dragon, to further develop our presence in the East. “

“For 2012 we have set our objectives to strengthen our position in the Private Equity and in the Corporate Finance segments whereas our Advisory division will be extended as an internal service platform for our Xeon Private Equity Fund activities. We are really living exciting times with our clients, investors and partners and are very thankful for their continuous and precious support.”

Srini Chakwal to Join Xeon International Private Equity Team as Vice President Global Investments

Yves Duponselle — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 22:29:40 +0000

Xeon International appoints Giancarlo d’Elia as Managing Director of Xeon International Private Equity (XIPE) division

admin — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 08:04:52 +0000

XIPE Management is the Private Equity unit of Xeon International, in charge of defining and steering the investment policy of XEON Fund, a multilevel SIF incorporated in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg under the supervision of the local supervisory financial authority (CSSF, Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier).

Focus of the investment strategy will be the emerging markets of the Asia-Pacific and other fast growing regions of the world.

“Creating value for investors while building local industrial champions with performance excellence” is the strategic objective of XIPE, comments Giancarlo d’Elia, Managing Director at XIPE Management,
with Investment targets in the first phase for fast growing medium-sized enterprises but as well energy and real estate sectors, adds Giancarlo.

“Giancarlo was prior to the appointment, already the Chief Financial Officer at Xeon International and before that, he was handling the Corporate Finance Division, comments Yves Duponselle, CEO at Xeon International, “Giancarlo will be the guardian of our investors interest, he is savvy and has a 360° view on the business.” “Xeon International will take care of the world-wide distribution rights of XeonFund”, added Yves Duponselle, “and supervise the distribution agreements made with local players through our global distribution network.”

Mr d’Elia is expected to disclose some more information at a later stage about his team and the Partner alliances he managed to close over the last months.

Ronny Showkat to lead the development of Xeon International Middle East & Asia

Yves Duponselle — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:33:16 +0000

Xeon International to enter in a strategic memorandum of understanding with IndiaCo.

admin — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:50:22 +0000

Xeon International is happy to announce that it has entered today into a strategic memorandum of understanding with IndiaCo.

IndiaCo Ventures Limited and Xeon International have announced and signed today an agreement to work closely together. IndiaCo will work with Xeon International Private Equity Division, by providing advisory services to the participations taken by XeonFund Sif/ Sicar, a Private equity Fund focused on emerging markets. IndiaCo will also offer Corporate Finance activities and use industry best practices to potentially distribute the Family Office services portfolio in India.
Xeon International will provide IndiaCo with various, Corporate Finance, Advisory, Family Office services and Private Equity Investment opportunities on an on-going basis in the other major global markets.

“Xeon International has its Head Quarters in Luxembourg, which is one of the leading and largest Fund Platforms in the world” comments Mr. Patwardhan, Vice Chairman and Managing Director at IndiaCo. ” Our continuous efforts to develop new solutions for the Indian entrepreneurs is now getting extended with our Partner.”

“We are delighted to partner up with IndiaCo” comments Yves Duponselle, CEO at Xeon International. “Our research suggests that the Indian market will continue to have a bright outlook and that we need a stable partner in the market. We see IndiaCo as a very savvy business partner with a great business vision.We believe that we can develop a multitude of synergies and alliances together.”

Xeon International aims to create long-term business value for its clients and investors by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within four functional areas: Private Equity – Corporate Finance – Growth Management Advisory and Family Office Services.
Our teams consist mainly of experienced managers with deep theoretical and practical knowledge of their areas of specialisation which ensures rapid comprehension of relevant strategic and operational issues and a solid implementation of solutions. We devise innovative and result-oriented ways to create business value for our clients and investors.