Singapore and Hong Kong are our main markets. And we see huge potential in the field of independent asset managers, and multi-family offices, Pascal Lemann, Expersoft's regional manager APAC, says in an exclusive interview with finews.asia.
Pascal Lemann, a few months ago you moved to Singapore for the Swiss software company Expersoft. What tipped the scales in your favor?
Whenever I spent time in Singapore, I had that feeling of having to come here for work one day. The culture, the business dynamic, the positive vibes in general in this country are outstanding.
With Expersoft I found a company that was planning to further grow in Asia and was open to my suggestions on how to further expand the market. Consequently, it was the perfect match.
«Both Companies are now onboarding advisers and clients at full speed»
My wife, who has an affinity for Asia anyway, was also open to this «adventure». Our three daughters are now settling into Singapore well too.
In this short time, you have been able to bring two well-known customers on board. Who are they?
One is an IAM newly established by a Hong Kong-based financial services institution. While the other is an independent multi-family office, based in Singapore, which offers family office solutions for ultra-high net worth families in multiple regions, also outside APAC.
Both Companies are owner-managed. In principle, they are in the same field as start-ups, and they are now onboarding advisers and clients at full speed.
How did you go about winning these clients?
On the one hand through recommendations from existing clients and on the other hand through the EAM desk of a bank.
«Our clients can also delegate all their back-office tasks»
Another reason was certainly that, thanks to the excellent internal exchange between the Expersoft HQ in Switzerland and Asia, we were able to respond very effectively to all inquiries and requests of the potential clients.
What specific services do you offer these two clients?
For smaller, less complex financial service providers, it is an EAM platform consisting of the pre-defined modules CRM, portfolio management, multi-custodian bank interfaces, consolidated reporting as well as a digital end-client and client adviser portal. Via our «software-as-a-service» platform, our clients can also delegate all their back-office tasks to us.
For financial service providers with more complex business models, on the other hand, we offer the product described above as a stand-alone, on-premise or hosted, solution.
«We have been profitable since»
This allows our clients to customize and deploy the modules according to their needs and processes. This product type is also implemented at our bank clients.
How long has Expersoft been active in Asia?
Company founder Urs-Peter Oehen acquired his first customers in Asia more than ten years ago. Seven years ago, the decision was made to establish a subsidiary in Singapore. We have been profitable since.
In the meantime, we also started operating in Hong Kong. Soon we will have five people based in Asia. We also have an Asia support team in Switzerland and Bratislava, Slovakia.
What are the next growth initiatives?
Singapore and Hong Kong are our main markets in 2020 and 2021, where we see huge potential in the field of independent asset managers, and multi-family offices.
«We don't want to rush things»
We are also supporting global and local banks in their wealth management digitization processes, as we are doing in Europe, the U.K., and the U.S as well. This year, we will further strengthen our local presence amongst our three segments in the main markets.
In emerging regions such as Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia we want to make our presence felt. We don't want to rush things, but we are following the development and trends very closely. This is also true for Australia.
Pascal Lemann, 46, has been working for Expersoft Systems, based in Steinhausen, Switzerland, since March 2019 and was recently appointed regional manager for the Asia-Pacific based in Singapore. Previously, he worked in banking and in management consulting, notably at KPMG and Deloitte. He is a member of the Swiss Financial Analyst Association (SFAA), studied Business Economics at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and is a Certified International Wealth Manager and Certified AML Specialist.
Privately-owned Expersoft was founded 28 years ago by Urs-Peter Oehen and develops and operates software for all areas of the financial sector. The company with 250 employees has branches in almost a dozen countries and, together with Whitestein Technologies, is part of the Atami Living Systems Group, also based in Steinhausen, Switzerland.
