26 Apr 12 ‘India luring fashion world with business sense’
The Indian fashion industry, with its talent, craft, textile and business sense, is luring the international fashion world with a vengeance, says Pakistani designer Sahar Atif, who hopes for smooth trade relations between the two neighbours.
Theres no denying that the Indian fashion industry and designers have managed to impact the fashion world over. They have not only impressed the world with their power, style and sensibility, but the country has a great understanding of the business dynamics of this colossal international industry, Atif told us in an interview.
24 Apr 12 South Africa’s ANC to Discuss Doing Business With Nedbank
Black business organizations said
criticism levelled at South Africa’s political leaders by
Nedbank Group Ltd. (NED)’s chairman was “unjustified and untimely,”
and could have been raised in a more constructive manner.
Reuel Khoza, who is black and has been chairman of South
Africa’s fourth-largest bank since 2006, wrote in its annual
report last month that the “moral quotient” of political
leaders is “degenerating” and that there is an “emergence of
a strange breed of leaders determined to undermine the rule of
law and override the Constitution.” His remarks have been
criticized by several senior government officials.
“The government, under the leadership of President Zuma,
has been very open and amenable to a constructive, yet frank
dialogue with all social partners, including organised
business,” the Black Business Council said in an e-mailed
statement yesterday. “The grave reservations that Nedbank may
harbour about how our country is led could have been raised more
constructively.”
The council was formed last year to increase the
participation of black people in Africa’s largest economy.
Nedbank doesn’t plan to comment further on Khoza’s
comments, Thulani Sibeko, a spokesman for the lender, said by
telephone on April 13.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mike Cohen in Cape Town at
mcohen21@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Andrew J. Barden at
barden@bloomberg.net
20 Apr 12 Muslims on Wall Street, Bridging Two Traditions
NAIEL IQBAL’S co-workers couldn’t figure him out.
Faith and Finance: Aisha Jukaku
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Ruth Fremson/The New York Times
Ms. Jukaku, a former analyst at Goldman Sachs, prayed in her Manhattan apartment.
He’d just started at a Midtown Manhattan hedge fund — the kind of elite enclave where overachievers in button-downs go to make a few hundred grand before heading off to Harvard Business School. But Mr. Iqbal, 27, a graduate of the Wharton School, wasn’t acting like a typical finance guy. He didn’t introduce himself around the office. Nor did he grab lunch with the other traders.
In fact, he didn’t eat at all. Or drink. Not coffee, not soda, not even a sip of water from a Nalgene bottle on his desk. All day, he just sat there, staring into his Bloomberg terminal. Was he sick? Nervous? A modern Bartleby?
None of the above: It was Ramadan, and Mr. Iqbal, a Muslim, was exhausted from fasting daily till sundown.
“I’m actually a huge foodie,” he recalls with a laugh. “When Ramadan ended, I was, like: ‘Guys, let’s go to this restaurant! Let’s go to that one!’ Nobody had seen that side of me.”
Mr. Iqbal — who doesn’t drink or smoke — is among a growing number of young Muslims who are disrupting Wall Street’s old-boy culture. Seen from a certain angle, the Street can still look like a monolith — a cohort of white males with Ivy League degrees and Roman numerals attached to their names. (This is especially true the higher you look; there are, for example, no black, female or openly gay chief executives at the nation’s largest banks.)
But as the Street adapts to greater regulation, lower profits and tighter costs, it is also experiencing change within its ranks. Among entry-level financiers, especially, a years-long recruiting effort at major banks has resulted in a diverse group of aspiring Masters of the Universe.
Young Muslims, one of the newest groups to make inroads in American finance, can face steep barriers to entry. Some obstacles are remnants of a less tolerant era. But prominent, too, are the limitations of Islam itself — a faith whose tenets, Muslim workers say, often seem at odds with Wall Street’s sometimes bacchanalian culture.
“I’m always the one drinking Diet Coke at happy hour,” Mr. Iqbal said.
Granted, for the many Muslims in New York and elsewhere who have made peace with a more secular culture, working on Wall Street may not pose any problem. And Muslims, of course, aren’t the only ones whose values can clash with the ways of Wall Street. Orthodox Jews, conservative Christians and other faithful working in finance have all, at one point, had to square their beliefs and practices with an environment in which money, not God, is king.
But for observant Muslims hoping to keep the values and practices of Islamic law, known as Sharia, intact even as they climb the ladder, the calculus can be messy.
For Aisha Jukaku, a former health care analyst at Goldman Sachs, getting started in finance carried additional challenges. Ms. Jukaku has worn a head scarf, or hijab, since she was 11. Like many conservative Muslim women, she avoids physical contact with men outside her family. (She makes exceptions for handshakes extended to her in a business setting that would be awkward to decline.)
“It’s not something I want to do,” she says of shaking hands with men. “But that’s the common American way of doing business.”
At Goldman, where she worked from 2006 to 2008, she developed a daily routine that let her preserve her religious beliefs while not missing a beat at work. She would wake before sunrise in her Battery Park City apartment, conduct her first of five daily prayers, then fall back asleep until around 8:30 a.m., when she would head to work. While at Goldman, she dressed more modestly than most of her colleagues, and found a room in the firm’s health center where she could pray during the day. During Ramadan one year, a staffing director, seeing how tired she looked after completing a big deal on an empty stomach, took pity on her.
“He said: ‘Take it easy for the next couple weeks. This can’t be fun for you,’ ” said Ms. Jukaku, who now works as a freelance financial consultant.
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18 Apr 12 TEXT-Fitch: more business lending would challenge credit unions
April 13 – Fitch Ratings believes credit unions could face significant
challenges should they be allowed to make more small business loans. We believe
few credit unions might successfully compete with those banks already heavily
involved in the small business loan space. Limited experience could increase
risk, and while increased business lending exposure might behoove credit unions
in the long term, we believe it would ultimately have a measured impact on
revenue.
A bill under consideration in Congress would more than double credit unions
current business lending cap of 12.25% to 27.5% of total assets. Credit unions
feel an increase would allow additional access to capital for small businesses.
However, we believe that in the current environment credit-worthy businesses
should experience little to no difficulty securing loans in the banking sector.
Bank lobbyists disagree that loans are hard to come by, underscored by a rebound
in commercial and industrial lending. In addition, banking trade groups argue
that credit unions do very little business lending, highlighted by the small
amount of credit unions in danger of reaching or surpassing their 12.25% limit.
Credit unions are also nonprofit organizations, making them income tax exempt.
Banks clearly dont enjoy that same tax benefit. And banks and credit unions are
also subject to different regulators and government rules.
We feel it would be difficult for credit unions to build up viable business
lending activities for several reasons. At the onset, addressing infrastructure
and capability would be challenging. As part of business lending, a bank must
have and relies upon adequately trained staff (which includes a business credit
approval and monitoring infrastructure) and be able to provide competent
business cash management services and other ancillary products. We believe
smaller credit unions with limited resources might find it difficult to
successfully compete in a larger business loan environment.
Fitch rates a limited number of credit unions overall and no retail credit
unions. All Fitch-rated credit unions are rated on their support floor based on
the level of support received from regulators and the government.
Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com
The above article originally appeared as a post on the Fitch Wire credit market
commentary page. The original article, which may include hyperlinks to companies
and current ratings, can be accessed at www.fitchratings.com. All opinions
expressed are those of Fitch Ratings.
17 Apr 12 How Alan Mulally rescued Ford
How Alan Mulally rescued Ford
In his new book American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company, author Bryce G. Hoffman details one of the greatest turnarounds in business history.
17 Apr 12 The Business Finance Store Highlights Seven High Growth Industries
The Business Finance Store highlights seven high growth industries that entrepreneurs should consider before starting a small business.
Santa Ana, CA (PRWEB) April 14, 2012
IBISWorld, a publisher of industry research, showed that many industries have not only done okay in the past few years, but exploded in activity. The study shows that social network game developers revenues have grown 378,925% over the past 10 years, The Orange County Register reported. Clearly this industry is booming, but its not the only one. Other industries have also seen incredible amounts of growth despite the economic downturn. In the recent blog post The Top Hyper-Growth Businesses, The Business Finance Store highlights seven high growth industries that entrepreneurs should consider before starting a small business.
Its hard to believe that some businesses have been doing well given the economic damage wreaked by the recession, but there are. Knowing which industries are doing well can help entrepreneurs start their business on the right track. Read more about current hyper-growth industries at The Business Finance Store Blog.
The Business Finance Store is a business financing and consulting firm that offers customized Business Financial Solutions. Seasoned professionals offer assistance in a variety of financial solutions to help small businesses succeed such as: Business Financial Solutions, Legal Solutions, and Accounting Solutions.
The staff at The Business Finance Store understands that starting and growing a business is an exciting time. They keep it exciting by taking care of some of the most difficult aspects, by providing legal advice, helping with vital responsibilities like accounting amp; bookkeeping, and by obtaining business finance. They can quickly and easily guide entrepreneurs through many different complicated processes and put them on the path to success.
For 10 years The Business Finance Store has been helping startups and other small businesses legally structure their companies, find the right franchises, get the funding they need, and achieve the American Dream of owning their own successful business. Since expanding nationwide in 2007, they have helped thousands of companies and have funded over $60 Million in business credit lines, not including SBA loans. The Business Finance Store sees limitless potential in the current climate, and looks forward to many strong years of growth to come. Take some time to review their services, and give them a call.
For more information, or a free, no-obligation analysis of your business needs, visit The Business Finance Store website: www.businessfinancestore.com. A member of their professional staff will contact you to discuss your business short and long-term goals. Whatever you need, The Business Finance Store is there.
For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/4/prweb9402884.htm
16 Apr 12 Business teams battle in Rice contest
April 14–The Rice Business Plan Competition is like American Idol, said Gautam Gandhi, whose team from Carnegie Mellon University won the grand prize in 2004.
Performing for the judges was exciting and nerve-wracking, he said. One judge had to remind him to breathe, he recalled, and when you win its euphoria.
He is back in Houston — this time as a judge — for the 12th annual event, which bills itself as the worlds richest and largest business-plan competition. The Rice University event features 42 teams from universities around the world competing for about $1.3 million in prizes, a record amount.
The stakes are much higher than they were when Gandhi competed. His team came away with about $15,000, while this years grand prize winner will take home $275,000, plus $99,000 in in-kind awards and another $100,000 if the team agrees to establish its business in Houston.
The competition, which started Thursday and ends Saturday at the Jones Graduate School of Business on the Rice University campus, is sponsored by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship at Rice.
Teams are competing in categories such as life sciences, information technology, energy, and green and social technologies. Some of their business plans seem revolutionary.
For example, Senseye, a team from IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark, is working on technology that will make the next generation of smartphones even smarter.
The Senseye team has developed a prototype software that allows a user to operate a mobile device just by looking at it. For instance, you can read a book on an iPad and turn the pages with your eyes, team member Sune Johansen said. Senseye technology detects that youve read every word on the page, he said.
And when incorporating existing software, you can write with your eyes on a Senseye device, he said.
Senseye works via a camera that picks up the position of your cornea and pupil and calculates where you are looking, he explained.
With funding, his team hopes to produce a fully integrated Senseye mobile device by 2014, he said.
A plan like Senseye is high risk/high return, said Eric Engineer, a partner at Dallas-based venture-capital firm Sevin Rosen Funds and an event judge. I could see them being a good acquisition for Google, said Engineer, who added that he is impressed with several of this years teams.
Saving lives
Divya Maxwell, a member of the Johns Hopkins University team Innovostics, said her diagnostic technology can save lives. With a simple finger prick of blood, she said, an Innovostics diagnostic test can determine if an infection is viral, bacterial or parasitic.
Gandhi said he takes into account several questions when judging a team: What is the problem youre solving, and how much better is it than what already exists? How big is the market for your product? And can your team actually do it?
Gandhis 2004 team ClearCount Medical Solutions is still in business as a counting and detection system that prevents medical errors, such as when surgical sponges and other items are left inside a patient.
ClearCount is going strong, Gandhi said, although he has moved on. He now lives in India, where he is on Googles new business development team.
This years prizes include a new $100,000 US Department of Energy Clean Energy Prize that supports new businesses producing innovative energy products.
Other prizes of $100,000 or more are offered by the Goose Society of Texas, Waste Management, DFJ Mercury, Opportunity Houston/Greater Houston Partnership, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, and Owl Investment Group.
The Rice Alliance selected the competitors from more than 450 applicants this year, said managing director Brad Burke.
Finding investors
Along with the chance to win prize money, teams have an opportunity to connect with members of venture-capital groups in attendance, said Keith Kreuer, a principal at Houston-based RedHouse Associates, which helps accelerate the growth of start-up businesses.
david.kaplan@chron.com
26 Mar 12 Strike One — It’s Just Business
Theres so much to talk about on the Bryce Harper beat, the column I wrote on him Monday wasnt enough. In other news
Strike One — Its Just Business
Elsewhere on this site, FanGraphs Dave Cameron does a sensational job of outlining how much money the Nationals might have saved by sending Harper to the minors. Suffice it to say this team could fund its office Christmas party for about the next century just with the dollars this decision will be worth.
Obviously, the Nationals were aware of the money at stake. And obviously, it was a factor. But when I raised this issue the other day with Nationals GM Mike Rizzo, he sure did his best to make it sound like this was more a baseball decision than a business decision.
26 Mar 12 Webster Bank’s Certified Business Bankers: A Commitment to Your Business
WATERBURY, Conn., March 19, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ –
More than 200 Webster Bank branch managers and customer care center representatives have each completed 100-hours of intensive training in business banking and are now certified to assist small businesses with their unique needs. Webster calls this its 4-Star Certification Program – rigorous class work, field training, and successful completion of an examination based on Moody’s Analytics coursework. Webster is a leader in the marketplace — a four-state footprint from White Plains, N.Y., to Boston, Mass. — in giving its front-line branch managers and care center personnel this kind of comprehensive expertise and skill-set to help small businesses grow.
Customers will find seasoned and knowledgeable small-business certified staff wherever they interact with Webster, trained to identify and serve the financial needs of small business owners with the right day-to-day banking, cash management, and lending services. So no matter if the transaction or question is in person, online, or on the phone, business customers can expect the same high level service and expertise tailored to individual company needs.
Webster Certified Business Bankers immersed themselves in an internationally respected standard of excellence training program customized for Webster. It blends these skills with Webster’s signature Type W Personality and superior customer service.
Webster Certified Business Bankers will understand:
Small business by industry, including specialty businesses such as healthcare providers, lawyers, homeowner and membership associations, and real estate investors;
Finance and accounting principles, cash management, lending, SBA programs;
Appropriate recommendations, which could be a Webster product or simply some friendly advice.
Webster Certified Business Bankers will provide:
Full array of cash management services to manage critical cash flow needs;
Willingness and judgment to lend capital to businesses; a full range of lending services; and the expertise to help match the right business with the right solution no matter the economic climate;
Complete business checking without transaction limits
“It is unprecedented to find this level of excellence and knowledge on the local level,” said John Guy, senior vice president and director of business and professional banking at Webster. “This training program is an investment in our employees and, in turn, is an investment in our community. By strengthening businesses, we provide new or improved services to residents. This is all about confidence — in ourselves, in our customers, and in the communities we serve.”
Webster Financial Corporation is the holding company for Webster Bank, National Association. With $19 billion in assets, Webster provides business and consumer banking, mortgage, financial planning, trust and investment services through 168 banking offices, 473 ATMs, telephone banking, mobile banking, and the Internet. Webster Bank owns the asset based lending firm Webster Business Credit Corporation; the equipment finance firm Webster Capital Finance Corporation; and provides health savings account trustee and administrative services through HSA Bank, a division of Webster Bank. Member FDIC and equal housing lender. For more information about Webster, including past press releases and the latest annual report, visit the Webster website at
www.websterbank.com .
Media Contact: Investor Contact:
Sarah Barr, 203-578-2287 Terry Mangan, 203-578-2318
sbarr@websterbank.com tmangan@websterbank.com
SOURCE Webster Financial Corporation
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