Quinlan & Associates

27/04/2024

This week marks the 8-year anniversary of Quinlan & Associates.

And my gosh - what a ride it’s been!

Ups, downs, lefts, rights…and so many wrongs!

I’ve learnt so much on this journey. Both good and bad.

Thankfully, I haven’t lost any more hair, as the “hairline bar” was already at its lowest - or should I say highest - when I launched Q&A in 2016.

We have no doubt come a long way from our very humble beginnings.

I’ll never forget the first few months post-launch, running around with a shoddy deck that looked like Stevie Wonder had the last say on graphic design, pitching CEOs about the fact that we had “no clients, no track record…and no staff.”

What a proposition 😂

Eventually, someone trusted me. And you know who you are!

Fast-forward 8 years and we are fortunate to count nearly 100 of the largest and most innovative companies and governments across the world as our valued clients, spanning over 20 countries!

Thanks to everyone who has believed in what we stand for. And believed that there is a strategy consulting firm they can turn to other than the usual suspects to solve some of their most difficult strategic problems.

More importantly, and especially for me, I hope Q&A is a firm that Hong Kong can be proud of.

We are happy to say we are the city’s very first home-grown strategy house.

Now, for all the hoo haa this post stinks of, it’s also important to add in the reality check.

The “advice business” in Asia is extremely difficult.

Talent is costly and hard to retain.

Revenues are lumpy, which means you can never put the business in “cruise control.”

And dislodging the incumbent competitors has been like scaling Mount Everest…daily…without any equipment.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about throwing in the towel a few times.

And I’d be completely full of it if I told you this hasn’t been physically and emotionally draining.

But…I’d do it all over again. And I’d do it in a heartbeat.

Because we are one of the few boutiques in Asia that has ever earned a seat at the big boys table.

No amount of investor backing can do that in the advice business.

And nobody can take that achievement away from the Q&A team.

And on that note, to my dearest team, both past and present: thank you from the bottom of my heart for backing this crazy experiment of a business.

And for backing me 🙏🏻

We are where we are today because of YOU.

Happy 8th birthday, Q&A!

And happy weekend, all!

22/07/2022

We are delighted to announce the release of our latest report presentation, "Revolutionising Robo: Unlocking the Potential for Robo-advisors".

DOWNLOAD: https://lnkd.in/gbuwuDwf

Key Takeaways:

- By 2021, robo-advisors amassed 293 million users and managed ~USD 1.4 trillion in AuM

- Despite this rapid growth, there are several roadblocks that are threatening the future growth potential of independent robo-advisory firms, including: (1) shallow client relationships; (2) lack of active investments; and (3) strong comeback from legacy peers

- Moreover, profitability remains elusive for many standalone players, reflecting: (1) high customer acquisition and servicing costs; (2) suboptimal asset gathering; and (3) lacklustre customer monetisation

- We note the average customer acquisition costs (“CAC”) for robo-advisors to be an eye-watering USD 470, with a further USD 25 p.a. (per customer) being spent on ongoing maintenance

- On the asset gathering front, the annual AuM growth of many robo-advisors is decelerating, forecast to fall from 75.1% in 2018 to just 10.5% in 2026

- Revenue yields also remain suboptimal for many firms (0.2-0.7% p.a.), owing to razor-thin management fees and insufficient ancillary revenue generation

- As such, with 95% of robo-advisors boasting below USD 1 billion in AuM, we believe that most are a far cry from profitability

If you’d like to better understand how we can support the growth of your robo-advisory business, email us at [email protected].

We hope you enjoy the report!

This presentation, titled Revolutionising Robo: Unlocking the Potential for Robo-Advisors, identifies the key pain points afflicting robo-advisors and how they can chart a course to success.

29/04/2022

Retail investor activity has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years, but what’s lies behind this surge in stock market participation?

Quinlan & Associates attributes the swelling count of retail investors to five key underlying triggers: (1) greater convenience; (2) lower financial barriers; (3) the Covid-19 pandemic; (4) dovish central banks; and (5) a mindset shift.

GREATER CONVENIENCE

Thanks to technological advancements, investing has become more logistically accessible, negating the need to travel or interact with a middle-man to place orders.

LOWER FINANCIAL BARRIERS

A powerful triumvirate of: (1) no minimum investment requirements; (2) zero-commission trading; and (3) fractional shares, has greatly increased accessibility to the financial market for everyday investors.

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

A sudden increase in people working from home, the seeking of alternative income streams, and bottom fishing during the Q1 2020 stock market crash, were all brought together by the pandemic.

DOVISH CENTRAL BANKS

Central banks cutting interest rates meant saw lower returns being offered by avenues such as bank deposits while also reducing margin lending rates, pushing people to the stock market.

A MINDSET SHIFT

The rise of a ‘Do it yourself (“DIY”)’ mentality, supported by social finfluencers and online forums, encouraged people to throw their hat into the stock market ring.

Propelled by these factors retail investor participation has swelled across APAC, growing from 255 million investors in 2017 to 395 million investors in 2021.

We expect retail investor participation to continue its robust growth trajectory in coming years, growing at a CAGR of 10% from 2021-25 to reach 579 million investors.

If you are curious to understand how you can tap into this burgeoning opportunity, download a copy of our latest report: https://lnkd.in/gvRsDGUX

28/04/2022

Quinlan & Associates featured in Reuters on the outlook for Hong Kong’s S**C market, in light of Vivere Lifescience’s decision to delay its listing on Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX).

The pause comes just months after regulators in January allowed blank-cheque companies to list on Hong Kong's stock exchange, to compete with rival bourses and tap demand for such investment vehicles.

Share of Hong Kong's first S**C, Aquila Acquisition Corp, are trading 8.2% below their HK$10 issue price on limited turnover since their March 18 debut.

Eleven S**C candidates have lodged preliminary filings to list, according to HKEX’s website, but bankers believe there will not be a rush of deals until market sentiment improves.

"The timing, the market and overall sentiment is not great for S**Cs right now," said Ben Quinlan, chief executive of financial services consultancy Quinlan & Associates.

"The world is facing a number of major challenges and there is so much uncertainty, such that any company looking to list is going to realise its not an ideal time."

To find out more about the APAC S**C market, download our recent report on the topic: https://lnkd.in/gnq53wDQ

Email our team at [email protected] to discuss how we can help support your S**C ambitions.

**c **cs

https://lnkd.in/g3Md5QFG

A blank-cheque firm backed by VMS Asset Management has paused plans to go public in Hong Kong due to highly volatile markets, said a person with knowledge of the matter, clouding Hong Kong prospects for special purpose acquisition companies (S**Cs).

28/04/2022

Our CEO and Managing Partner, Benjamin Quinlan, enjoyed speaking at the Wild Digital’s WILD3 Conference on "Financial Institutions bringing in the A game into Crypto" together with:

- Sandeep Malhotra from Mastercard;
- Joaquín Ayuso de Paul from Nium;
- Wataru Suzuki from Nikkei Asia

Many thanks to all speakers and attendees for your participation!

27/04/2022

Quinlan & Associates is delighted to announce the release of its latest thought leadership report, "Going for Broke: Reimagining the Retail Brokerage Model in the Age of Digital Disruption."

DOWNLOAD: https://www.quinlanandassociates.com/insights-going-for-broke/

Key takeaways:

- Recent years have seen a burgeoning number of retail investors enter the financial market, propelled by: (1) greater convenience; (2) lower financial barriers; (3) the Covid-19 pandemic; (4) dovish central banks; and (5) a mindset shift

- Owing to these underlying triggers, retail investor participation has swelled across the globe, with APAC alone growing from 255 million investors in 2017 to 395 million investors in 2021. We expect this growth robust trajectory to continue in coming years, growing at a CAGR of 10% from 2021-25 to reach 579 million investors

- The tremendous increase in retail investor participation can primarily be attributed to rapid growth in online stockbroking activity, with digital channels increasingly emerging as the favourite route for retail investors looking to access financial markets

- In response to competition from low-cost, online platforms, many traditional brokers, particularly those with little to no digital presence, have been forced to undertake various measures, including: (1) fee reductions; (2) lower investment requirements; (3) shifting towards institutional broking; and (4) industry consolidation. However, we see such efforts as nothing more than short term patchwork and, ultimately, a “race to the bottom”

- Consequently, we estimate that 68% of traditional brokers are either going to be wiped out or forced to become pure-play digital brokers over the next 6 years

- In order to adapt to the new, digital-first reality of the industry, a fundamental rethink of digital value propositions across the entire customer journey is required, supported by relevant operational enablers such as talent, technological capability, and data management

- However, incumbents will also need to overcome three overarching barriers on this journey, including: (1) budget constraints; (2) legacy systems; and (3) cultural barriers

- We believe that traditional brokers who can successfully chart a course from offline to online will open themselves up to a vast global wallet opportunity, which we forecast to reach USD 10.6 billion by 2025

If you’d like to better understand how we can support your brokerage in charting the course from offline to online, email us at [email protected].

We hope you enjoy the report!

The report, titled, Going For Broke: Reimagining the Retail Brokerage Model in the Age of Digital Disruption, evaluates the outlook of the brokerage industry, dissecting in particular the shortcomings of traditional brokerages and what should be done to ensure their survival in today’s digital age...

26/04/2022

A great turnout at yesterday’s webinar, on the outlook for APAC's BNPL Industry.

During the session, we had four key industry stakeholders to discuss their views, including Carol Hung (livi bank), Trasy Lou Walsh (Atome), Soumyakant Dash (Grab), and Jenny Chung (Visa).

Many thanks to all speakers and attendees for your participation!

In case you missed it, feel free to watch the full recording on our YouTube page here: https://lnkd.in/gh3AZzsN

21/04/2022

Last 4 days to sign up for our upcoming webinar on 25 April 2022, supported by Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC) 香港總商會, with leading BNPL players in Asia to discuss their views on the future of this rapidly growing s**ce.

Our CEO and Managing Partner, Benjamin Quinlan, will be joined by a stellar panel, including:

- Carol Hung, Chief Product Officer, livi bank
- Trasy Lou Walsh, Regional General Manager, Atome
- Soumyakant Dash, Regional Head, Consumer Lending (SEA), Grab
- Jenny Chung, Head of Product (HK, Macau & Taiwan), Visa

During the event, the panellists will share perspectives on:

- Evolving consumer preferences in Asia Pacific between BNPL and other traditional credit solutions
- Sustainability of the current BNPL model and how it is likely to evolve
- Challenges faced by BNPL players across their key stakeholder groups
- How BNPL firms in Asia Pacific can address potential regulatory headwinds
- Perspectives around industry consolidation, both horizontally and vertically
- Success factors for the current BNPL model to thrive in coming years

Sign up for the event via the following link: https://lnkd.in/gYfNbs3v

We look forward to seeing you there!

19/04/2022

In case you haven't signed up yet, register for our upcoming webinar on 25 April 2022, supported by Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC) 香港總商會, with leading BNPL players in Asia to discuss their views on the future of this rapidly growing s**ce.

Our CEO and Managing Partner, Benjamin Quinlan, will be joined by a stellar panel, including:

- Carol Hung, Chief Product Officer, livi bank
- Trasy Lou Walsh, Regional General Manager, Atome
- Soumyakant Dash, Regional Head, Consumer Lending (SEA), Grab
- Jenny Chung, Head of Product (HK, Macau & Taiwan), Visa

During the event, the panellists will share perspectives on:

- Evolving consumer preferences in Asia Pacific between BNPL and other traditional credit solutions
- Sustainability of the current BNPL model and how it is likely to evolve
- Challenges faced by BNPL players across their key stakeholder groups
- How BNPL firms in Asia Pacific can address potential regulatory headwinds
- Perspectives around industry consolidation, both horizontally and vertically
- Success factors for the current BNPL model to thrive in coming years

Sign up for the event via the following link: https://lnkd.in/gYfNbs3v

We look forward to seeing you there!

13/04/2022

We have a recent opening of Business Development and Operations Associate to join our team.

To find out more about who we are, what we are looking for, and what's on offer, visit our careers page in the link below:

APPLY NOW: https://lnkd.in/fMsdNN3

We look forward to hearing from you!

We take great pride in delivering our employees a truly unique career experience and career path. See all the openings here at Quinlan & Associates.

12/04/2022

Our CEO and Managing Partner, Benjamin Quinlan, will be speaking at 13th Edition BFSI IT Summit South East Asia on 19th & 20th May 2022!

Tune in to gain insights on how technology is transforming the BFSI industry.

Register here: https://bit.ly/3js9UK9 (in-person event) / https://bit.ly/3JfI6TF (virtual event)

We look forward to seeing you there!

https://bit.ly/3Ke2cig