The chief executive of the Swiss banking tech firm spoke to finews.asia about the company's Asia focus and how it is setting itself apart from the competition.
«Asia is like home now. It is really a key market,» Avaloq CEO Juerg Hunziker said about the company's traction and growth, in a conversation with finews.asia on the sidelines of its Singapore Community Conference 2019.
The banking technology firm was founded 30 years ago and started operations in Asia in 2008. In the past 10 years, it has built a 16-strong customer base in the region and is now developing functionality and innovation in Asia for other markets.
«We're really focused on the affluent and wealth management business, and Asia is taking the lead on this. Here, there are a couple of well-known names we are working with, and we're really pleased with that,» he said.
In 2018, Avaloq opened a new regional business hub in Singapore. The office houses the firm’s first overseas combined software and service center. «Now we have the customers and competence, as well as finance expertise. This allows us to drive innovation, which can be done anywhere,» Hunziker said.
Rise of the Fintechs
Hunziker said he is not fazed by the growing competition, given that much of the disruption taking place in the banking industry has been to deliver «vanilla products.»
«First, we're a cloud-based SaaS and BPaaS provider. A lot of providers in the industry are still deployment oriented. We are a one-stop shop,» Hunziker said.
«What our platform is recognized for is our capabilities in handling scale and complexity. That took years of investment but we have achieved this now,» he said, adding that the firm's strong focus on the wealth management industry has given it a much sharper positing and strong customer base.
«We take a long-term view in engaging with our clients to build strong relationships. And at the end of the day, we have a very strong understanding of the business. Transformation of the industry is what we know well, and we support it through technology.»
H1 2019 Results
Earlier in September, Avaloq announced record half-year revenues for the first half of 2019, with group revenues up 5 percent year-on-year to 288 million Swiss francs ($290.62 million).
«We're pleased with the first six months. But like any year, the count continues until the last day. We see overall growth in the wealth management industry of about 6 percent, which fuels our long-term perspective,» Hunziker said about the strong performance.
New Head of Asia
Avaloq last month announced the appointment of Imad Abou Haidar as head of Asia, who will take up the position in October.
