Gina Heng

CEO at Marvelstone

Singapore

@marvelstonegrp | LinkedIn Profile

Marvelstone is a private investment group that develops specialized investment strategies and invests in high potential businesses. While finance is at our core, we also have diversified investments in technology, real estate, hospitality, trading and media. We believe in the growth of Asia and we seek to focus on emerging markets in the region. Marvelstone is headquartered in Singapore, it also has regional presence in Hong Kong, and Korea.

As are from Singapore; however, you studied extensively in the U.S. What drove your decision to study abroad? What advantages do you believe this provides in business?

I am a 4th generation Singaporean-Chinese. I am the oldest of two girls in my family. I have been influenced by the Western society since I was very young and I believed that by furthering my education in the U.S., it will be able to provide me with new knowledge and skill sets. Through my experiences studying and working abroad, I learnt to step out of my comfort zone to learn new things and live independently, which are essentially key skills to have in business. Some of the advantages that I reaped through my experiences include the ability to adapt to new environments swiftly and having a firmer grasp on cross-cultural experiences. During my studies abroad, I was exposed to liberal education that demands analytical and critical thinking, which has empowered me to deal with complexity, diversity and change.

You’ve had a broad career in asset management, banking, market research, etc. How do you believe technology has most effected the financial services industry in the past 5 years, in particular the Asian marketplace?

Over the past decade, particularly after the 2008 financial crisis, we have seen significant changes in the financial services industry. At the same time, we saw how technology has developed and adapted, revolving around the concept of mobility, has played a role in transforming financial services.

• Mobile technology: The use of mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets have become common. Mobile penetration in Asia is extremely high and smartphone penetration has been skyrocketing. People do not just connect from their home computers anymore. They do so from their mobile devices, while they are out and about. This has a significant impact on how financial services are offered and consumed.

• Cost reduction and improved efficiency: Technology has allowed for seamless processes within financial services and has spurred the emergence of smaller, more specialist fintech firms. Fintech firms allow for higher transparency and lower costs for customers, which is an upgraded fix compared to traditional solutions. In particular, mobile technology has made it more convenient to reach to new consumers and maintain relationships with current consumers. Innovations in the field of mobile money and digital wallets have also spurred in the recent years, with high adoptions rates in regions with a younger population such as Asia and Africa.

• New markets: The lack of good banking infrastructure alongside the big unbanked population has stirred interest and allowed for higher adoptions rates in digital payments using mobile devices. We believe that this has contributed to the potential of fintech in solving the issues of the unbanked population, underserved SMEs and fragmentation in this Asian region.

The alternative investment space is a growing market globally. Do you believe fintech has had a major factor in this?

Yes. Fintech plays a big role in the alternative investment space globally. Fintech speeds things up even more and allows for a wider distribution scope. One of the most popular fintech platforms currently is crowdfunding. Equity crowdfunding, which leverages the Internet to raise equity capital from accredited investors, is on the rise now, and we are observing this trend in Asia as well.

Peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms have been thriving globally, as it connects borrowers and lenders who are seeking for higher returns than those offered by traditional banks. This is one of the alternative investment opportunities available compared to China’s risky stock market. Lufax, China’s largest P2P platform, which is also a subsidiary of Ping An Insurance, was valued at $10 billion earlier this year during a funding round. This is only one of the 1,400 loan platforms that have emerged in China.

Going forward, I believe that Fintech offers a more transparent and institutional-level access to alternative investment opportunities.

Your extremely active with the accelerator 10k project. Can you provide an overview of this program?

10k is a members-only co-working space and accelerator based in Asia. We offer a variety of programs to help startups and entrepreneurs succeed in the global business world and to ensure the successful transformation of entrepreneurial ideas into fundamentally sound and financially viable companies. The 10K accelerator will be a 3-month program where we provide funding, mentoring and networking opportunities to startups that are part of the network.

My role is multifaceted. I come as a mentor, advisor and investor. I try to help companies and members in anyways where I can value-add, whether it is financial structuring, overseas business development or connecting with governmental agencies.

How important is mentorship to you and what is your own approach when working with someone as a mentor?

Mentorship is important, especially in business. Mentors are valuable resources and should be a collaborative experience between both parties. The mentor should have their own stories and experiences to share, be able to provide knowledge, motivation, advice, encouragement and help with personal development. The role of a mentee is as important as the mentor. A successful mentorship relationship also requires effort from the mentee, to maintain contact, actively participate, be honest as well as reliable.

Who(m) do you believe has had the most influence with respect to your own career?

My father who started his own bakery with his brothers and adapted to the market by turning it into an OEM bakery goods manufacturer. He taught me how to think out of the box and using business to serve a bigger purpose.

My first boss, Shiv Taneja whom I worked with at Cerulli Associates. He was a mentor and a great motivator. He gives plenty of room and opportunity for me to grow as an analyst and see things from different perspectives.

My husband and business partner, Joe Seunghyun Cho. He only sees possibilities and sparks in people. We support each other in everything and being in the same industry, we understand things that we go through together.

What do you see as the 3 leading future trends for FinTech?

Fintech is disrupting the financial services industry through three major areas: payments, lending and investment. Underlying these developments would be the use of big data, learning machine, authentication and biometrics, cloud computing and blockchains.

• Payments: Asia has been rising as a promising market. Payment solutions such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Alibaba are set to replace physical wallets and credit cards. There is a large unbanked population, especially in developing countries, and lack of sound financial infrastructure in Asia. The rapid growth of smartphone penetration has stirred alternate opportunities for financial inclusion, which has been made possible through digital payments.

• Lending- Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) Financing is also a big fintech trend to watch, especially in Asia. Since the global financial crisis in 2008, the ability of banks to lend has been crimped, tightening regulations especially in. Based on the data obtained by the Asian Development Bank, in most of Asia, the SME to GDP ratio is around 50%. Yet, less than 60% of SMEs in these countries are financed through bank loans. Hence, SMEs present a unique opportunity within fintech as they are too small for big financial institutions to cater to, however, they are also too small a segment to be ignored.

• Investment— There is a lot of potential behind both automated online wealth management and traditional services delivered via digital tools, such as video conferencing and chat. The reason behind the success of wealth management so far, and its ability to be further flourish in the fintech space is because of its highly customisable platform which is also transparent, simple and cost-effective.

As fintech becomes an essential part of our lives, we will be seeing fintech services move towards providing an ecosystem of products to customers.