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MBMG appoints Nick Morton
as senior private client advisor
Expands general in-house expertise and specialist
services for Australian nationals
MBMG Group, Thailand’s foremost financial and legal
advisory for expatriates, has expanded its general in-house expertise and
specialist services for Australian nationals with the appointment of Nick
Morton as a senior private client advisor with immediate effect.
Nick Morton.
Morton is a certified financial planner and a member of
the Financial Planning Association of Australia, the highest professional
designation available to Australian financial planners. He also holds an
Advanced Diploma in Financial Services.
His 14 years experience in the financial services
industry includes service at BDO Kendalls practice in Australia. Most
recently, Morton was a senior private client adviser with ipac Singapore
where he managed a large and diverse client base of high net worth clients
for three years.
MBMG Group Managing Director Graham Macdonald, said,
“MBMG Group and the high-level services we offer to Australian expatriates
have been further enhanced by Nick’s appointment to our team.
“Nick brings an unrivalled knowledge and expertise of
Australian financial planning, investing and tax planning to the Bangkok
market with him,” said Macdonald. “Beyond these specialisms, he can also
draw on his broad technical skills to offer a full spectrum of financial
advisory services to expats of all nationalities who are seeking counsel on
matters such as superannuation, retirement strategy, wealth creation,
investment, mortgages, insurance and debt optimisation.”
Morton said, “I’m very excited to be joining MBMG Group
and I look forward to helping build on the firm’s reputation for providing
sound, ethical financial advice to expatriates. I consider it my personal
duty to ensure clients fully understand any investment product, which I
recommend to them. Once that has been achieved we can confidently proceed
with the process of investment and generating sustainable returns.”
In his spare time, Nick is an avid follower of Australian
football and enjoys travelling throughout the region.
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January Consumer Confidence Index rises for 2nd consecutive month
Thailand’s Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) edged up in
January for the second consecutive month, according to a survey by the
Economic and Business Forecasting Center of the University of the Thai
Chamber of Commerce (UTCC).
Wachira Khuntaweetep, an academic at the centre,
announced on Thursday that the CCI on the overall economy in January
increased to 64 from 63.1 in the previous month while the Consumer
Confidence Indices on job opportunities and future income rose to 65.4 and
93.1 from 64.2 and 92.1 respectively in December.
The growth in indices in all categories was due to the
recovery from the late 2011 flood crisis which had returned to normal as
well as to the government’s post-flood economic rehabilitation measures,
which were expected to drive the country’s overall economy in 2012 to expand
by 4.5-5 percent.
Meanwhile, Thanawat Ponwichai, the centre’s director,
added that risk factors for the economy included lower confidence in
political situations, followed by consumers’ concern about the high cost of
living due to rising energy prices.
As the consumer confidence index in January did not rise
significantly, Thanawat said, it reflected the unstable economic recovery.
However, the overall Thai economy was projected to
improve in the second quarter or the second half of this year owing to the
Bt300 daily minimum wage hike.
The centre viewed the Thai economy this year is likely to
grow 4.5-5 percent. The 7-percent growth targeted by the government is
possible thanks to the satisfactory growth of the global economy and
exports.
If the government can implement good policies and manage
energy policies effectively, the economy in the second half of this year is
likely to grow 6-8 percent.
Currently, the fund flow can be seen in the robust Thai
stock market. (MCOT)
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Rose sales robust sales
for Valentine’s Day
Rose sales are forecast to be lucrative during the week
of Valentine’s Day when prices are normally hiked in response to high
demand.
Kasikorn Research Center conducted a survey on consumer
habits in the capital of Bangkok for Valentine’s Day 2012 from February 1-7
among 400 persons - mostly students as they were the target group - paying
attention to this festival.
The survey found that most students will buy less
expensive roses at the price of 50-100 baht, while university students and
office workers tend to buy a bouquet of 5-20 flowers worth around 500-1,500
baht. The budget to buy flowers this year is about 355 baht per person on
average, about 9.6 percent higher than that of last year.
The price of roses normally rises one week gradually
before the Valentine’s Day to reach a peak of several times their normal
price on February 13-14.
This year, however, rose prices at Pak Klong Market,
Bangkok’s most popular flower market, increased earlier than usual. A rose
from the Netherlands increased from 700-800 baht to 1,000-1,200 baht per
stem, while a rose from China increased from 100-150 baht to 150-200 baht
while a Thai-grown rosebud from 15-20 baht to 25-50 baht each. (MCOT)
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Nearly one-third
of flooded factories
resume production
About 30 percent of Thailand factories hit by flooding
last year have resumed production, lower than the number originally
targeted, according to Witoon Simachokdee, Permanent Secretary for Industry.
Among the total of 838 plants forced to halt operations
due to flooding, 30 percent have already resumed production, while at the
end of March, about 60-70 percent of closed plants are expected to restart
production, he said.
Industry Minister Pongsvas Svasti ordered his ministry’s
senior officials to visit the factories to learn about their problems so the
ministry can help them rehabilitate their operations as soon as possible.
Regarding construction of dykes to protect seven
industrial estates, the permanent secretary said they will be completed in
August as planned ahead of the upcoming rainy season.
The Ministry of Industry is working with the Finance
Ministry and models of the dykes have been submitted to the industry
ministry for certifying. Managers of the industrial estates will later seek
loans from the Government Savings Bank.
Touching on news that there have been business closures
in some industrial estates, he said the number is not great, but about ten
operators at the Saha Rattana Nakorn Industrial Estate in Ayutthaya
dissolved their businesses.
The head of the ministry’s working committee has checked
the facts regarding them. Meanwhile, there are no shutdowns in six other
industrial estates hit by flooding. (MCOT)
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