Tag Archives: leadership

Yann Magnan, former EMEA head at Duff & Phelps, joins 73 Strings, Financial Advisory powered by AI

AMSTERDAM, 9-Jun-2020 — /EPR FINANCIAL NEWS/ — Yann Magnan, who was earlier EMEA head of Duff & Phelps has joined 73 Strings as Co-founder and CEO. The firm which was mostly focused on developing products so far, will now deploy itself towards a complete solutions offering, including delivery of traditional financial advisory services with enhanced analytics powered by AI algorithms already embedded in the existing product suites.

Abhishek Pandey – Co-founder and Deputy CEO of 73 Strings said – “Yann is a former colleague and an established global leader. In his previous role, he was managing 27 offices and over 800 employees across service lines including Valuation, Disputes, Corporate Finance, Restructuring, Tax & Compliance. He has a strong vision of building a financial advisory business fused with the latest technology. His leadership allows us to bring more comprehensive solutions for our clients. The entire team at 73 Strings is looking forward to working under Yann’s leadership and providing a more comprehensive offerings to its clients leveraging Yann’s experience.”

Yann Magnan – “I am delighted to become part of this great project and the highly capable, unique, and ambitious team that have developed it until now. I think 73 Strings has everything that it needs to be an important building block of the vision I have been working on. With the pace at which AI is evolving, there is a clear opportunity to create a firm which can use this powerful tool and create an offering for our clients which can significantly improve financial analysis and inputs for investment and monitoring decision-making processes. I have a firm belief that technology can play a significant role in assisting advisory teams with execution of mundane work so they have more time to focus on what really matters and what they are best at, i.e. forming opinions and making decisions, ultimately delivering higher value for clients in the financial advisory industry.”

About 73 Strings
73 Strings has been set up to fuse the best in technology with a deep understanding of critical insights to make capital more efficient.

We understand and can manage complex financial and non-financial data. Our mission is to synthesize diverse data with expertise in financial advisory – to deliver clear thinking and aid sensible decision making. Many firms try to ‘bolt-on’ technology offerings. We want both advisory skills and the integration of technology to be at the core of our DNA – both for what we deliver to clients and how the firm is managed.

This allows us to be flexible, keep ahead of the market and continually embrace change – allowing for maximum future growth and investment, by making capital more efficient.

SOURCE: EuropaWire

Axiom Prepaid Holding’s CEO Steven Foster will grace the cover of Total Prestige Magazine’s January 2020 issue

Axiom Prepaid Holding’s CEO Steven Foster will grace the cover of Total Prestige Magazine’s January 2020 issue

LONDON, 31-Dec-2019 — /EPR FINANCIAL NEWS/ — It seems only fitting that in a year filled with new product launches, new office openings and expansion across three continents, that Axiom Prepaid Holding’s CEO would grace the cover of Total Prestige Magazine’s January 2020 issue. After all, Steven Foster, a 40-something entrepreneur and banking industry veteran, has been at the helm of a company that has exceeded its growth expectations and then some, arguably vaulting the company to a leadership position in the prepaid card and app solutions arena. And Total Prestige profiles exceptional members of the business club of the same name, which is comprised of some of the world’s best-known business leaders as well as heads of start-ups and emerging businesses.

In 2017, Foster and his business partner, Steven P. Urry, set out to disrupt the banking industry with the launch of Axiom, which uses advanced digital tools to power prepaid Visa® and Mastercard® products, programs and services for consumers and businesses. They had one ambitious mission in mind: Simplify banking for all people – globally.

“We’d been firsthand witnesses from inside the banking industry to the significant shift in the availability of financial products. But it was notable to us that it was not carrying over to the prepaid space. No matter what country we visited, there was a gap in access to products engineered for the unbanked and global traveler. We decided to go all-in on launching a business that would turn the prepaid model upside down and give all consumers and businesses easy-to-use, digitally driven products and services,” said Foster.

That goal appears to have resonated broadly as this year alone, their enterprise:

• Expanded into Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Portugal, and Greece in Europe and grew the business in the Americas
• Entered the Asia-Pacific region
• Introduced brand- and revenue-building White Label Programs
• Rolled out hundreds of thousands of new prepaid cards, a plethora of new white label programs, including one that caters to the unique needs of millennials and Gen-Z
• Opened new offices in Romania
• Continued to invest in high-tech digital products to ensure the highest levels of intuitive, secure, compliant backend systems

As noted in the Total Prestige article, those accomplishments do not come without hard work and sacrifice. This year alone, Foster flew 725K miles for business and manages a workday that typically goes from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m.

“You can’t be an effective company leader if you aren’t in touch with your customers and employee teams. I meet them where they are to be sure I understand how their geography and culture may affect banking needs in each market. I try to give 150 percent every day so I can go to sleep knowing I did everything I promised and more for Axiom’s clients, my business partners and employees,” he said. “I have to spend a lot of time away from my wife and son so I want to be certain that the time I spend on-the-job truly counts.”

“I’m very honored to be chosen for this feature article but I am just one part of the much bigger Axiom story. There would be no article if the company was not accomplishing what it set out to do. That has only been possible through the collective efforts of the entire Axiom team and my partner and friend, Steve Urry – and we are just getting started,” said Foster.

SOURCE: EuropaWire