Latest news with #financialsector
Independent Singapore
8 hours ago
- Business
- Independent Singapore
Over 40% of Singapore workers have either changed jobs or plan to do so soon: Survey
SINGAPORE: A recent survey conducted by Randstad, the world's largest human resources company, has revealed that more than 40% of employees in Singapore have either changed jobs or plan to do so within a 12-month period. The findings, based on responses from approximately 2,500 individuals, highlight a growing sense of restlessness in the workforce—particularly among professionals in the financial and technology sectors. The key driver behind this trend, according to the survey, is a lack of flexibility in work arrangements. Despite widespread adoption of hybrid work models in recent years, many employees are now being asked to return to the office more frequently—a move that appears to be sparking dissatisfaction. Randstad noted that while many employers have implemented flexible work policies, there remains significant room for improvement. In addition to the demand for flexible working arrangements, financial pressures are also motivating employees to seek new opportunities. The survey cited higher living costs and the desire for better salaries as secondary factors fueling job-switching activity. 'Beyond salary and benefits, companies and HR professionals in Singapore have other options to enhance employees' sense of belonging and address the talent retention challenges they face,' a spokesperson for Randstad Singapore said, emphasizing the importance of workplace culture and employee engagement in today's competitive labor market. While the desire to move is high, not all sectors are seeing a smooth path to re-employment—particularly in the information technology field. According to the survey, only 11% of IT job seekers managed to secure new positions in the second half of 2024, pointing to a tightening labor market. This comes amid the rapid development of artificial intelligence, which has reshaped hiring priorities across the industry. Experts point to a notable shift in recruitment trends within the tech sector. Voluntary turnover remains high at 15.1%, while involuntary turnover—such as layoffs or contract terminations—has remained relatively stable at around 4%. Analysts suggest that this disparity could indicate an oversupply of talent or a mismatch between available skills and the requirements of current roles. As Singapore's job market continues to evolve, both employers and employees may need to recalibrate their expectations. For companies, this could mean rethinking talent strategies to align with employee values. For workers, especially those in tech, it may involve upskilling or re-skilling to stay competitive in a rapidly changing landscape.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Where Will iA Financial Be in 10 Years?
Written by Jitendra Parashar at The Motley Fool Canada The financial sector has been leading the charge on the TSX over the last year, with iA Financial (TSX:IAG) emerging as one of the sector's top performers. After surging 66% in the last 12 months, iA stock now trades around $142 per share and has a market cap of $13.2 billion. At this price, it offers a 2.5% annualized dividend yield. This solid performance might be a reflection of the company's growing asset base, strong earnings momentum, and a business that's executing well across its insurance and wealth management segments. But with IAG stock now priced near all-time highs, the question is whether the company can maintain its current growth trajectory over the next decade. Let's take a closer look at iA Financial stock's key fundamental growth drivers and explore where it could be a decade from now. One big reason for the recent climb in iA Financial stock could be the stable demand for its life and health insurance solutions, as well as its growing wealth management presence. Even on the economic front, things have been supportive for financial stocks. Despite market volatility and concerns over U.S. tariffs and global trade tensions, the Canadian economy has held up reasonably well. iA's exposure to both Canadian and U.S. markets has enabled it to benefit from improving vehicle inventory levels and consumer affordability in the U.S., while also riding the wave of recovery in Canada's wealth and insurance sectors. In fact, its assets under management and administration reached over $264 billion by the end of the first quarter of 2025, reflecting a 15% YoY (year-over-year) jump. That's been a big confidence booster for iA Financial investors. In the first quarter, the financial firm's core earnings grew 19% YoY to $2.91 per share, suggesting that the business isn't just coasting on investor optimism but is also delivering real results. iA Financial recorded gains across all three of its key segments, including insurance, wealth management, and U.S. operations. Its wealth management segment especially performed exceptionally well, with record segregated fund sales surging by 52% from a year ago to cross $1.9 billion. Meanwhile, iA's U.S. operations showed impressive growth last quarter, with the segment's individual insurance sales jumping 62% YoY. And due to its disciplined approach, the company's capital base remains strong with a solvency ratio of 132% and $1.4 billion in capital. At its latest investor event held in February, iA Financial laid out ambitious but achievable goals. Interestingly, the company is targeting over 10% annual growth in earnings per share and an over 17% return on equity by 2027. Also, it expects to keep generating over $650 million in organic capital this year alone, preparing for expansion through smart acquisitions and investments. With its strong balance sheet, consistent dividend, and clear growth roadmap, iA Financial stock looks like more than just a short-term win. If it keeps executing like this, the stock could be trading at a significantly higher level a decade from now – making today's price look like a big bargain. The post Where Will iA Financial Be in 10 Years? appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada. More reading Made in Canada: 5 Homegrown Stocks Ready for the 'Buy Local' Revolution [PREMIUM PICKS] Market Volatility Toolkit Best Canadian Stocks to Buy in 2025 Beginner Investors: 4 Top Canadian Stocks to Buy for 2025 5 Years From Now, You'll Probably Wish You Grabbed These Stocks Subscribe to Motley Fool Canada on YouTube Fool contributor Jitendra Parashar has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 2025 Sign in to access your portfolio
Argaam
13 hours ago
- Business
- Argaam
SAMA issues updated rules for issuance, operation of credit cards
The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) issued the updated rules for the issuance and operation of credit cards. The updated rules aim to reduce costs for customers and enhance disclosure and transparency related to credit card transactions. They also seek to keep pace with ongoing developments and align with the growing variety of credit card products in line with global best practices. The rules include detailed provisions on the issuance and operation of credit cards and increased clarity regarding financial transactions related to the cards. This is in addition to increasing financial awareness among customers, as well as creating innovation-friendly regulatory environment in the financial sector. SAMA also coordinated with global payment companies to review and reduce the costs associated with credit card transactions. This move is part of SAMA's broader efforts to develop and strengthen the digital payments ecosystem and offer diverse payment solutions to both residents and visitors in retail outlets across the Kingdom, in line with Vision 2030.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Got $1,000? 3 Explosive Reasons to Put It Into XRP Now
XRP just got approved for use in Dubai's financial sector. One key asset is now tokenized and ready to trade on XRP's ledger. XRP's relations with regulators are better than ever. 10 stocks we like better than XRP › Success in crypto rarely comes from chasing hype. The investors who tend to come out ahead are those who focus on enduring utility or value, which are often revealed when a blockchain starts solving real-world problems in regulated markets. Right now, XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) fits that description. From newly unlocked markets in the Middle East to a surging wave of interest in the chain's merits as a home for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, XRP's fundamentals are also aligning with a friendlier regulatory regime in the U.S. Each of these catalysts are potent on their own, and taken together, they form an explosive trio that could make the coin a lot more valuable than before. That's why it warrants an investment, even if it's a small one on the order of $1,000. Here's what you should know about each of these developments. In late May, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) formally approved XRP under its virtual assets regime, making it the first coin that's allowed for use inside the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Licensed banks, fintech companies, and treasury desks that operate in the DIFC can now build payment, custody, and liquidity products on top of XRP without seeking separate exemptions from regulators. That matters because the DIFC is the Middle East's biggest dollar-clearing zone. It's also a hub for multinational corporations routing billions in working capital flows every day. So if XRP can be used as the medium of exchange for even a portion of those money transfers, the coin is well-positioned to accomplish that goal. With the requisite regulatory compliance boxes ticked already, an importer in Dubai can settle invoices in seconds instead of days, while a global bank or institutional investor can hold XRP as an on-ledger liquidity vehicle. The alternatives to XRP in these contexts are significantly more expensive and substantially slower on average. Assuming that even a small slice of the region's $400 billion in annual trade volume migrates to on-ledger settlement, incremental demand for XRP could run well into the hundreds of millions of dollars. While such an outcome is not guaranteed, the path is now legally open, which is something rival networks cannot claim -- and that's yet another bullish wrinkle to add to this bullish catalyst. Businesses that transact on the blockchain want to hold assets on the blockchain too, because it's convenient. For that to happen, the assets need to be tokenized, which is to say that the rights to their ownership need to be traceable via a newly created crypto token. When it comes to assets that companies need to hold the most, U.S. Treasury bills and bonds are up there. On the XRP Ledger (XRPL), tokenizing U.S. Treasuries has gone from idea to reality in under two years. The total value of on-chain Treasuries hit $7.2 billion this week across all blockchains, up nearly 50% this year. XRP is going to be the home of an increasing proportion of that pie. Ondo Finance just bridged its $693 million OUSG token, a short-duration Treasury fund, to the XRPL. When paired with the ledger's feature set, institutional capital will likely be enticed more than before as a result. XRP's built-in compliance features will allow asset managers to satisfy know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money-laundering (AML) rules, which are prerequisites for their deployment of capital. Therefore, institutions that must demonstrate airtight controls can experiment with tokenized Treasuries and other fixed income instruments (bonds) using infrastructure that looks and feels like the systems they already trust. In the long run, that'll increase the value of XRP, as it'll lead to more capital being parked on its chain. Regulatory risk has long been XRP's Achilles' heel, but the tide has finally undeniably turned in its favor, and the positive effect is just starting to hit. In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) moved to dismiss its high-profile lawsuit against Ripple, the business that issues XRP, ending a years-long legal battle that had scared off institutional investors from approaching the coin and the chain. A friendlier enforcement climate lowers the odds of fresh actions against Ripple and increases the likelihood that pending applications for spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) will clear the SEC's gauntlet. To be clear, regulators could reverse course, and court battles tied to other chains still loom, so litigation could still rain on the parade a bit. Yet the balance of probabilities now favors XRP, and that is a material change from the fog that hung over it just a year ago. Before you buy stock in XRP, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and XRP wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $658,297!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $883,386!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 992% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025 Alex Carchidi has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Got $1,000? 3 Explosive Reasons to Put It Into XRP Now was originally published by The Motley Fool
Zawya
2 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
CBB Governor participates in HSBC GCC exchanges 2025 Conference
Manama, Bahrain: H.E. Khalid Humaidan, Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), recently participated in the opening session at the HSBC GCC Exchanges 2025 Conference in a fireside chat titled 'Bahrain's Financial Sector: Reform Momentum, Market Confidence and Talent-Led Growth'. Held from 16th to 19th June in London, United Kingdom, the event brings together representatives from GCC exchanges, alongside a number of international officials and investors. Moderated by Mr. Joseph Ghorayeb, Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Bahrain, the fireside chat with H.E. the Governor underscored the CBB's pivotal role in developing a regulatory framework that fosters innovation and advances financial services in the Kingdom. Leading the conversation, H.E. the Governor highlighted CBB's efforts to attract foreign investments, enhance market competitiveness, and support national economic growth through sound regulatory reforms. He also emphasized the importance of human capital development aligned with global standards as a pillar of long-term sectoral advancement. The Kingdom of Bahrain's delegation includes H.E. Khalid Humaidan, Governor of the CBB; Mr. Yousif Al Yousif, Chairman of Bahrain Bourse; Shaikh Khalifa bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, Chief Executive Officer of Bahrain Bourse; Mrs. Hesa Al Sada, Executive Director of Central Banking and Macro-Prudential Oversight at the CBB; and Mr. Mubarak Nabeel Matar, Assistant Undersecretary of Financial Operation at the Ministry of Finance and National Economy. During the event, the Bahraini delegation attended a meeting with senior global fund and asset managers to strengthen cross-border investment relations and highlight Bahrain's capital market offerings. The conference serves as a platform for GCC exchanges to convene and reaffirm their commitment to enhancing cooperation, fostering productive partnerships, and driving the growth of capital markets across the region. These engagements aim to contribute to opening broader investment horizons at the regional level.
