I read the FT to get the best information. I can update my current clients but also learn about areas for my target clients in terms of knowing what’s going on in their organisations — it's hugely important to me.
Director for Global Liquidity in Asia Pacific, Federated Hermes
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Federated Hermes is one of world leaders in active, responsible investing and is accountable for over $600 billion in customer assets. It offers 135 different types of mutual funds covering equity, fixed income and private markets, including multi-asset strategies and liquidity-management solutions.
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Providing informed solutions through global news coverage
Based in Singapore, Mark Coppell is the director for global liquidity in Asia Pacific for Federated Hermes. In his role, Mark is responsible for the distribution of market funds and short terms funds throughout the Asia region. He focuses on the firm’s global liquidity product offering, looks to understand his institutional client’s needs, and any developments in their markets whilst receiving a wide scope of market data. By maintaining a strong level of commercial awareness, Mark is able to provide advice to clients that's tailored to their needs and demonstrate an understanding of issues in their industry.
One challenge faced by businesses in the global financial services industry is that in order to strengthen client relationships, having a clear understanding of news developments and any potential risks is essential.
“When reading the FT, I can easily find anything significant related to my clients and what’s going on globally that has the potential to affect them,” he explains. “I need to know and understand liquidity markets in the UK, Europe and US despite only distributing within Asia, so a global view is essential.”
The FT keeps Mark alerted to real-time news and events across global topics most relevant to him and his clients. “I look for any breaking news and emerging developments within corporate finance, sovereign wealth funds and financial markets,” he adds. “Even cryptocurrency news is useful to me — it's fascinating to see what is happening in that area.”
By using the FT to understand potential issues their client base is facing, teams at Federated Hermes can reach out to their clients with decision-ready information and suggest solutions before these challenges become a real risk.
Supporting commercial awareness with a balanced view
Whether someone is starting their career journey or an experienced professional like Mark, a reliable approach to supporting their commercial awareness is essential. Companies with an FT Professional Subscription can maintain a high level of commercial acumen. With all levels of the organisation having access to FT.com, it supports knowledge sharing and helps information to trickle down across departments.
I read the FT to get a rounded education and view. It’s obviously a financial paper, yet there’s lots of articles and tools that go beyond being just financially focused.
Director for Global Liquidity in Asia Pacific, Federated Hermes
“It’s a lovely blend, because within our worlds, we often need to get information from non-financial sources,” Mark explains. “So whether it’s geopolitical, whether it’s some new technology that's coming out and generally something that wouldn't be covered in a more traditional financial publication, we know we can turn to the FT for that rounded view.”
The benefits gained from an FT Professional Subscription are helping teams at Federated Hermes to stay on top of essential news and with unbiased, accurate journalism from over 600 FT reporters across the globe.
Sharing FT articles and commentary
Teams at Federated Hermes share FT news and commentary across the organisation. By sharing articles it helps expand connections with colleagues, ensures any relevant coverage isn’t missed and provokes discussions about new ideas and topics they should be thinking about.
Without a shadow of doubt, a big benefit of sharing FT articles is that you know everyone has access to the same resources in real-time.
Director for Global Liquidity in Asia Pacific, Federated Hermes
Mark explains the advantages of whole teams at the company being able to access FT.com. “If there’s news focusing on a significant interest or issue I’ll share a link with my colleagues,” he adds. “I know I’m adding some value to their work by circulating the information in the article.” Sharing FT articles across an organisation ultimately helps to connect colleagues and respond to breaking news and developments at speed.
Access to markets data and intelligence tools
Faced with ongoing market volatility and an uncertain financial environment, investment firms must aim to strengthen their view of developing macroeconomic trends and risks. Mark and the teams at Federated Hermes achieve this by using a whole array of FT business intelligence, tools and markets data.
“The FT markets data is a handy tool, it's straightforward to use and goes into a granular depth at the click of a button.” Mark explains. “It’s essential to access information like that so I can target and service my clients in the right way.”
Even though I predominantly sell mutual funds, we also have ETFs and I need to look across a broad spectrum. I want to know how certain companies are performing and their results. So when the FT alerts me to a new M&A, I can use this knowledge during discussions with clients and prospects.
Director for Global Liquidity in Asia Pacific, Federated Hermes
As well as offering a deep dive into markets data, the FT has recently introduced a Quick View allowing an at-a glance summary of market movements. Subscribers can view certain asset types and Quick View then summarises equities, indices, currencies and other market activity — creating an easy overview of how the markets have changed since the last visit to the markets data page.
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