finews.ch, the parent company of finews.asia, recently celebrated its tenth anniversary. What emerged from a simple idea has developed into a profitable business growing strong in Asia, as Founder Claude Baumann says in an interview with fundplat.com.
Claude Baumann, you recently have redesigned your websites – what were the first reactions to the new design?
The reactions were very positive. But one shouldn’t overestimate the importance of such relaunches. At the end of the day, it is the good story that makes our success. Nevertheless, it is very interesting to see that with the new layout – which includes a substantially higher proportion of pictures – we have seen the number of site impression rise per visitor.
Visual elements such as pictures, animations, and videos clearly are the future. This trend is particularly strong in social media. Therefore, we will put a higher emphasis on such content in the future.
Do you have enough stories to write about each day?
Absolutely, more than enough. Sometimes it is really irritating for us not to be able to cover everything we would like to. But we can’t and don’t want to compete with the global news organizations such as «Bloomberg» and «Reuters», which both have thousands of people available.
«We want our readers to think instinctively that they have to check what finews.asia have written about today»
Therefore, we don’t cover everything, but only a selective range of topics, where we can distinguish ourselves with priority coverage, based on our own research conducted with authority and knowledge – we strive to provide our readership with a unique product.
We want our readers to think instinctively that they have to check what finews.asia have written about today.
What’s your personal secret of success?
If you want to implement a business idea you need persistence and a sense of discipline. It was also decisive to have focused on an industry that is extremely important for our country and to satisfy the highest standards of quality at exactly the right time, namely when online journalism was taking off for real.
«With this, our approach has become trustworthy and reliable – during the era of fake news»
We were never about reporting the sensational, but about dealing competently with the most important issues and developments in the financial market.
With this, our approach, finews.ch, and finews.asia have become trustworthy and reliable sources of information – during the era of fake news. It shows in our readership statistics: according to Google Analytics, finews.ch and finews.asia have 450,000 unique clients and 1.8 million page impressions a month. And the numbers are rising.
A couple of days ago, your company celebrated the 10-year anniversary of finews.ch. What were your thoughts upon reaching this milestone?
On the one hand, I felt really proud having turned a simple idea into a profitable business with now 16 members of staff.
On the other hand, I also was surprised when I thought about everything that had happened during those years that had passed so quickly.
«You will probably be conducting an interview in Chinese with the editor-in-chief in Shenzhen»
And, last but not least, there’s the hugely fascinating task of developing our presence in Singapore and now also Hong Kong with finews.asia.
What’s the one big story in finance today?
It’s digitization for sure, something that will keep the industry busy for years. I’m really keen to see what turns out as hype and what will prove to be a success. I have no doubt that finance will look very different in ten years’ time. And that’s exciting!
How will finews.asia look in ten years’ time?
You will probably be conducting an interview in Chinese with the editor-in-chief of «finews Group» in Shanghai or Shenzhen. China will play a central role in finance of tomorrow. That’s where the big money is being made today.
«Our country still carry a lot of clout in Asia»
Some developments taking place in China are very alien to us. They may be unacceptable or even deplorable from our point of view. But it is wrong to ignore the development completely as sometimes happens in our region.
You can only decide about the potential of things if you study them closely. And that’s the only way you can set your priorities. Which is why we are active in Singapore and Hong Kong.
You’re juggling with many balls at the same time – Zug, Zurich, Singapore, Hong Kong. Which of them is making you most happy?
To be active as a businessman in Asia makes me very happy because founders and entrepreneurs enjoy a high reputation in the region, particularly as a Swiss and if you have something to show for.
Our country and reputation still carry a lot of clout in Asia. I’m always full of joy when I return home and it helps me redouble my efforts on the project called «finews».
Claude Baumann is the founder and CEO of finews.ch and finewsfinews.asia, which is based in Singapore. Previously, he wrote for «Weltwoche» and «Finanz und Wirtschaft». He also co-founded the publisher Nagel & Kimche and launched business travel magazine «Arrivals». He is the author of several books on the banking industry.
