Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/535515
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 1 JULY 2015 11 Business Today www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt VacancyCentre teams up with ISL to offer eLearning content Leading recruitment agency Va- cancyCentre has signed a collabo- ration agreement with Information Systems Limited (ISL) to sup- ply the full SkillSoft portfolio of award-winning eLearning content to its clientele. Today's diverse, multi- generational workforce needs access to learning 24/7. They expect information to be delivered on-tap – when and where they want it, in a form that's customised to their needs. They want opportunities to master critical skills and grow in their careers. And they expect to be part of the discussion, adding their expertise on key issues. Supporting all of these needs can seem like an impossible task. The introduction of SkillSoft's eLearning solutions provide a constant flow of rich and varied learning resources that support a multitude of job roles, learning styles and business imperatives. A steady stream of learning content and technology helps organisations achieve the highest possible performance with the people they have today. ISL has introduced the Learning Management System (LMS) from SkillSoft, global leaders in web-based training, targeting key competencies in the areas of IT skills, desktop skills, soft business skills and global banking and financial services. The award-winning LMS offers a vast repertoire of assets which include videos, slideshows, simulations, testpreps, mentoring with global experts, as well as practice labs and live events such as webinars. Hosted on the cloud, this web-based platform needs no local installation, bringing with it efficiency, speed of skills-transfer as a well as a reduction in costs of training. In addition, the online mentoring service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, to provide support to learners following popular certification courses. The Leadership Development Channel further consists of bite-sized video clips, featuring stories from top CEOs around the globe that can easily be incorporated within in-house HR development programmes. In addition, SkillSoft's ebook24x7 also offers 40,000 ebooks by over 300 top publishers in digital format that are available 24x7. One may easily share information with other users, bookmark, take notes and recommend books to the community. Added benefits include easy and fast contextual searching, no waiting in a queue, no pilferage, no reservations, no vandalism, no physical space taken up by the books, no maintenance. The cloud-based library is always open for business. SkillSoft is a pioneer in the field of learning and talent management, delivering highly effective content through innovative technology. "Intelligent, adaptable enterprises require intelligent, adaptable learning solutions," said ISL director Simon Calleja Urry. This is the main message that we aim to deliver to our clients. ''By helping learners achieve their goals, we ultimately help businesses achieve their goals.'' VacancyCentre HR and Training Consultant Robert Delia said that this collaboration was the natural step towards continuing the brand's expansion with the intent of delivering what clients are really seeking. VacancyCentre.com brings 27 years of experience in recruitment, HR consultancy, payroll and employment law. For more information, direct your request to training@vacancycentre.com Chocolate Factory Studio, Sloane team up to refresh Intercomp's Easy Payment scheme Intercomp, in collaboration with Sloane and Chocolate Factory Studio have just launched a new 360° communication campaign. Chocolate Factory Studio is an international advertising studio that has recently opened a new base in Malta and started to work with Maltese brands. The whole campaign focused on Intercomp's unique benefit: the Easy Payment Scheme, which allows customers to purchase most electronics and pay in monthly instalments instead of a lump sum. Chocolate Factory Studio and Sloane started by refreshing the brand image, giving a new design and style to the Easy Payment Scheme logo, together with a new brand tagline: "We make it affordable". The campaign was launched with outdoor billboards, a radio ad and a TV commercial, clear and straight to the point, with an ironic approach, typical of Chocolate Factory Studio. The protagonist is a poor dad, swamped by his family's electronic devices requests. Chocolate Factory Studio wanted to portray a very realistic situation, which every family in target could identify with, adding a positive twist. It felt so real that during the shooting the actors felt just like an ordinary day of their everyday lives! The integrated campaign includes also an online campaign, created and managed by Sloane, who has quickly become the largest online advertisers on the island. The campaign is currently on air at tinyurl.com/pf7too2 Market commentary: Financial markets in controlled de-risking Following the announcement of the referendum to decide whether the Greek people will accept further austerity measures, markets expectedly sold off albeit they held off better than expected. Top European fi gures, including Commission President Junker and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, are hailing the vote to be more of an in-out decision. In terms of price movements, the Stoxx 600 recovered slightly over the course of the session after opening nearly 3.5% lower at the open, eventually ending -2.69% at the close. There were similar moves for both the DAX (-3.56%) and the CAC (-3.74%), while the bulk of the pain was felt in the periphery where the IBEX (-4.56%) and FTSE MIB (-5.17%) both tumbled. The Greek equity market was closed yesterday however indications coming out of US ETF tracked Greek stocks tumbling 19% and another Athex ETF falling 15% before trading was suspended. In a live interview on a Greek TV station, PM Alexis Tsipras was typically defiant, saying that 'the referendum will give us a stronger negotiating position when the talks resume' before then going on to say that the higher the participation and number of people voting 'no', the stronger the government's position will be. He also hinted that should a 'Yes' vote pass he would most likely give up his post as leader. In the US on Monday the negative momentum continued into the session where the moves were in fact enough to take US equities back into negative territory year-to-date. The euro is down around 0.55% against the dollar to $1.117/€ as of this writing. Over in China meanwhile and after another volatile session on Monday the index followed up yesterday morning with another hugely volatile session. Having fallen as much as 5% intraday, the Shanghai Comp closed 5.53% higher. In credit we saw weaker bids across high yield with the Crossover (+48bps) and Main (+10bps). There was a predictable sell-off in the peripheral sovereign bonds meanwhile, although much of the move was fairly orderly. The risk-off tone extended into the US where we saw 10y Treasuries eventually end -14.8bps tighter at 2.325%. As if the drama in Greece weren't enough, Puerto Rico is also generating some default-related headlines after Governor Padilla said that the nation will look to delay payments on the current debt load of around $72bn for 'a number of years', while also seeking a debt restructuring plan. Greece will remain the focus of the news for the time being, however we expect some important economic data out of the euro area, with the CPI print for June already out, coming in at 0.2%, down from 0.3%, indicating that the ECB has lots of work to do to reach its medium term inflationary target of 2%. Meanwhile we also due to get German retail sales and unemployment data, as well as French consumer spending and the final UK Q1 GDP print yesterday. Over in the US yesterday afternoon, the May Chicago PMI was due, as was the ISM Milwaukee, S&P/ Case Shiller house price index and June consumer confidence reading. The IMF repayment for Greece was due yesterday and given the likely scenario of non-payment, there will be much focus on whether or not we see subsequent cross-default provisions triggered. This article was issued by Simon Psaila, Trader/ Analyst at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article are being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri & Co. Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing in this article. Download the MaltaToday App now Simon Calleja Urry (left) shakes hands with Robert Delia