Corporate business advisory services are a fastevolving market in Singapore. This is especially so after the borders are reopened as foreign investors and businesses are returning to the country in waves. The main driving forces of the growth have been the country’s stable political climate and the nation’s attractive tax policies that are conducive to the setting up of family offices, deep-tech start-ups and fund management companies in Singapore. However, the primary problem in the industry is the lack of deep regulatory expertise and one-stop solution providers to serve their sophisticated and often cross-border needs. Increasingly complex and evolving regulations make it challenging for both newly established and incumbent companies to keep up with the developments.
Keeping the growing expectations of the clients in mind, Cambridge Advisers, one of the fastest rising corporate service providers, has been fast to plug the market gaps. Headquartered in Singapore, the company is well regarded for its deep technical expertise in financial regulations and complex accounting, and using technology to streamline the process of incorporation and tax reporting. “We pride ourselves in our expertise, and believe in building long-term relationships with all our clients, helping them connect to our ecosystem and facilitating their growth in the region,” mentions Nicole Chen, Co-Founder & CEO, Cambridge Advisers.
Leveraging its dedicated teams of experts formerly from Big 4, investment banks and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the company offers high-quality yet cost effective professional services for foreign-owned startups and SMEs, family offices, fund management companies, and recently expanded to provide anti-money laundering solutions to real estate developers in Singapore.
A Handholding Approach
Cambridge Advisers provides a holistic one-stop solution and assists clients to navigate Singapore’s efficient yet complex environment.The process works by first offering prospects non-obligatory preliminary discussions so that it can better understand their needs. Once the relationship is established,
a dedicated project manager will be allocated to handhold the client in every step of their journey with the company.Chen firmly believes in taking ownership and value adding the downstream businesses of her clients. “Our team’s all-rounded expertise and extensive network have benefited our clients in their growth journey in the region,” Chen says. “We see increasing number of queries from both local and foreign clients by word of mouth, as we continue to build strategic capabilities to serve our clients well. Our portfolio now includes clients and partners from Southeast Asia, Greater China, India, Australia, South Korea and Europe,” she adds.
Talking about one of the recent successful deliveries, Cambridge Advisers provided full-suite family office advisory services for the single-family office (SFO) customers of a large external asset manager licensed by MAS. The firm provided consultancy for structuring and tax incentive scheme, alongside complex accounting, FATCA and CRS tax reporting solutions. They have been appreciated for their clear strategic approach and fast turnaround advice, which aid the client to secure more funding from the SFO customers.
We pride ourselves in our expertise, & believe in building long-term relationships with all our clients, helping them connect to our ecosystem & facilitating their growth in the region
The company has also ridden on the bandwagon of the recent wave of technology startups expanding to Singapore. One of the FinTech startups has provided excellent feedback of Cambridge Advisers who has helped them relocate their headquarters to Singapore. The startup’s business activity potentially falls into the regulated act, and the team at Cambridge Advisers patiently guided them to navigate the regulatory complexities. They went above and beyond by connecting the startup to their wellconnected ecosystem which helps to shape the latter’s commercial model, and further gives confidence to their investors.
Redefining the Future of Professional Services
To deal with the onslaught of new regulations, Cambridge Advisers is also pioneering a Regulatory Technology (RegTech) solution, a first-of-its-kind automated compliance assessment and monitoring software. The solution solves the pain point of small and mediumsized regulated entities not being able to keep up with the continuously evolving financial regulations, and that experienced compliance talents are in dire shortage. “With this software, companies can have full visibility of their compliance health and strengthen their staffs' competencies. This raises the confidence of their stakeholders and allows them to focus on their core competencies”, concludes Chen. As a commitment to continuously adding value to their clients, the company is also embarking on a technology drive to develop a pipeline of RegTech innovations through its impending innovation laboratory.
Nicole Chen, Co-Founder & CEO, Cambridge Advisers
Nicole Chen, Co-Founder & CEO of Cambridge Advisers, is a member of ISCA and Chartered Accountant Worldwide. She graduated from the Business School of National University of Singapore and received her FinTech and Regulatory Innovation executive education from the University of Cambridge. Her track record includes having successfully established over 50 family offices including both single and multi-family offices, and fund management companies for APAC clients.