Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1105939
18.04.19 5 NEWS JESMOND Mizzi Financial Advisors (JMFA) have announced the appoint- ment of Colin Vella as head of wealth management, adding yet another member to its growing management team. Vella has been working in the finan- cial services sector for the past seven years, after graduating with an hon- ours degree in banking and finance from the University of Malta. He joined JMFA in 2013 as part of the investment advisory team and responsible mainly for providing investment advisory and portfolio management services to high net worth investors. Vella later obtained his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 2017 and today specialises in tailor-made investment portfolios of high net worth investors and corporate clients, in line with their risk profile and in- vestment objectives. As a niche market with further po- tential for growth, the company is strengthening the wealth management team to be able to provide the best in- vestor experience to high net worth clients. Vella has proven his capabilities and leadership qualities in dealing with this customer segment. New head of wealth management at Jesmond Mizzi Financial Advisors APCO Systems, the payment solutions specialist and owner of the APCO Pay brand, has appointed George Kak- ouras as its new managing director. Kakouras will lead the implemen- tation of APCO Systems' ambitious growth and innovation strategies and steer the expansion of the company's international client portfolio. APCO Systems provides payment services for online retailers in diverse sectors under its APCO Pay brand. Its reach extends to the United States and South America, Europe, North Africa, the Middle East as well as the Far East. APCO Pay is a scalable, integrated global payments proposition, with localised solutions and multi-curren- cy, multi-channel options. APCO Pay supports more than 240 payment op- tions, 35 languages, 100 currencies, and 40 acquirers. Kakouras, who brings many years of international leadership and strategic management experience to the helm of APCO Systems, joins the company from Intralot Group and Maltco Lot- teries where he served as chief oper- ating officer and as a member of the board of directors. APCO Systems is part of 1923 In- vestments plc, the investments arm of Hili Ventures. APCO Systems appoints new managing director MORE than 100 guidance teachers and job advisors at Jobs Plus attended a training seminar on fintech and block- chain, organised by the finan- cial services watchdog. e seminar held in con- junction with the Educational Consultative Council, sought to equip participants with the necessary knowledge to be able to give direction to students and job seekers interested in career paths within this new industry. e training seminar follows recent developments that saw the Malta Financial Services Authority issue in-principle registrations for the first VFA Agents. Malta is the first juris- diction to regulate the crypto asset sphere. In light of the development of this new sector, the MFSA said it was actively contributing to- wards ensuring the required human resources were availa- ble to grasp such opportunities. During the session, the MFSA fintech team provided an intro- duction on fintech and block- chain technology and provided visibility of what Malta is doing on this front. ese training seminars are part of MFSA's efforts to strengthen the quality of hu- man resources in this field, complementing its more am- bitious project which involves the establishment of an Acad- emy for Financial Supervisors. e academy is being estab- lished with the objective of training young and upcoming financial supervisors as well as giving the opportunity to experienced supervisors to grow further and update their knowledge. Training for guidance teachers and job advisers in fintech and blockchain THE Malta Asset Servicing Association has announced that this year's funds confer- ence will be held on 3 May 2019 at the Hilton Malta Ho- tel in St Julian's. e theme of this conference revolves around the impact of technology and innovation which will drive the next par- adigm shift in the asset man- agement industry to sustain its growth going forward. e Conference will be ad- dressed by Parliamentary Sec- retary Silvio Schembri, who will speak about the importance of the financial services industry as one of the key enablers to Malta's economic growth and the need to ensure that inno- vation drives the growth of the industry going forward. is year's keynote speaker is Agathi Pafili, Senior Regu- latory Policy Advisor within the European Fund and As- set Management Association (EFAMA). Pafili, who has ex- tensive regulatory experience, will speak about the regulato- ry trends in the European as- set management industry and beyond and the way this will impact business and opera- tional models. e Conference programme also includes two panel dis- cussions. e first panel will discuss the next wave of in- novation that is needed to sustain business growth going forward. e discussion aims to iden- tify the potential key innova- tions that may be introduced in the Malta's Funds Industry within the context of the rap- idly changing regulatory and operational environment as well as investor preferences. e second panel will dis- cuss the way technology and particularly blockchain is changing the business and operational landscape in the asset servicing sector focus- ing on a number of use cases and the onset of new applica- tions in the years ahead of us. For more information and to register for this conference, visit www.masa.mt or send an email to daniela.murgo@out- look.com. MASA funds conference driven by focus on technology and innovation Colin Vella George Kakouras