OPTIMISING PREPARATION FOR GRADUATE BUSINESS EDUCATION POSSIBLE WITH GMAT FOCUS EDITION – GMAC

KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 (Bernama) — A global association representing leading business schools, Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), announced the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) exam has been updated with improved test taking experience and flexible new features.

In order to better support candidates of graduate business education, the GMAT, which has been the most widely used business school admissions exam in the past seven decades, was redesigned with improved test taking experience and flexible new features.

The updated version, GMAT Focus Edition, will open for registration on Aug 29 for testing in the fourth quarter this year, according to GMAC in a statement.

“It is our belief that GMAT Focus Edition will allow candidates to optimise their preparation for graduate business education while helping schools attract a global pool of qualified and diverse applicants,” said GMAC Chief Executive Officer, Joy Jones.

Three 45-minute sections will make up this edition, namely Quantitative Reasoning, which examines problem solving skills; Verbal Reasoning, which evaluates critical reasoning and reading comprehension; and the newly developed Data Insights section, which measures candidates’ data literacy skills and ability to analyse and interpret data and apply it to real-world business scenarios.

With these changes and the removal of the Analytical Writing Assessment, it is nearly one hour shorter than the current version of the GMAT and therefore requires less content to prepare.

Along with new features that allow test takers bookmark as many questions as they want, review questions within the remaining section time and change up to three answers per section, and to complete the three sections in any order, the enhanced Official Score Report now offers detailed performance insights that helps them assess strengths and identify focus areas at no additional cost.

The change to new score scale has been made to ensure that test takers and schools can easily distinguish from a GMAT Focus Edition score to the currently available GMAT Exam score.

As GMAT Focus Edition rolls out for the remainder of 2023, the current version of the GMAT exam will continue to be available to candidates until early next year to facilitate their in-progress preparation and applications for business school, and fees will remain the same as the current GMAT exam.

More information available at http://www.gmac.com.

— BERNAMA

AKWEL: 2023年第一季度营业额 +11.7 %

PARIS, France, May 5 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — 

2023年5月4日星期四

2023年第一季度营业额 +11.7 %

汽车和重型卡车行业设备-系统供应商、流体和机械管理以及电动车结构部件专家AKWEL（FR0000053027，AKW，符合PEA账户条件） 2023 年第一季度合并营业收入为 2.746 亿欧元，增长 11.7%。

在不断增长的全球汽车市场中，AKWEL 2023 财年第一季度的收入按固定范围和汇率计算增长了 14.6%

营业收入地域分布情况如下：

· 法国：77.5 M€（+10.9 %）
· 欧洲（法国除外）和非洲：80.6 M€（+16.6 %）
· 北美：74.1 M€（+4.2 %）
· 亚洲和中东（包括土耳其）：41.3 M€（+20.4 %）
· 南美：1.1 M€（-15.4 %）

大多数产品线都实现了增长，尤其是其中最重要的产品线，如冷却 (+14.8%)、机械 (+19.8%)、燃料 (+17.7%) 和进气 (+19.2%)。值得注意的是，新的电动汽车结构件业务快速增长，贡献翻了一番，达到 580 万欧元。

截至 2023 年 3 月底，合并净现金（不含租赁债务）达到 1.091 亿欧元，投资总额增加了一倍多，达到 1100 万欧元，而去年第一季度为 510 万欧元。

正如最近 2022 年业绩发布时所指出的，鉴于当前的国际经济和地缘政治紧张局势，汽车和卡车行业将在 2023 年继续受到影响，前景不明朗，AKWEL 预计其本财年的销售额将略有增长。

AKWEL 是一家独立家族集团，在巴黎泛欧证券交易所上市，是汽车和重型卡车行业的设备-系统供应商及流体、机械管理和电动汽车结构部件方面的专家。集团在材料（塑料、橡胶、金属）应用加工和机电一体化方面具备领先的工业和技术能力。

AKWEL的业务涉足五大洲的20个国家，在全球拥有9,500名员工。

Euronext Paris– B类– ISIN：FR0000053027 – Reuters：AKW.PA – Bloomberg：AKW:FP

Attachment
· 2023-05-04_AKWEL_CA-T12023_ZH_short

Source: Akwel

–BERNAMA

EXPEREO APPOINTS NEW CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER AND CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT OFFICER TO ACCELERATE GLOBAL GROWTH

LONDON, May 3 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) — Expereo, the Global Managed Services Provider that specialises in internet connectivity worldwide, has today announced the appointment of Adee Packer to Chief Financial Officer, and Remy Lammertsma to Corporate Development Officer. The two major updates to Expereo’s Executive Team will support Expereo’s growth ambition, with merger and acquisition (M&A) opportunities and strong financial performance.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: 
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230502005063/en/

The appointments come as Expereo enters the next major phase in its ambitious growth journey, to bolster the company’s position as the leading intelligent internet platform built for the digital enterprise.
Adee will lead Expereo’s global financial function as Expereo continues to gain market share and deliver secure, intelligent, enterprise grade, global connectivity. In his previous role Adee served as Group CFO and CTO at Refresco, the world’s largest independent bottler.

At the same time, Remy Lammertsma has been appointed as Corporate Development Officer, having served as CFO at Expereo for more than seven years. Remy will support Adee with the running of tight financial operations, and will be responsible for driving M&A ambitions, a key pillar for growth and market leadership in this next phase of growth for the company.

“Adee brings great experience, insights and skills to Expereo,” said Irwin Fouwels, Chief Executive Officer at Expereo. “Directly or indirectly, 60% of Fortune 2000 companies now use Expereo for their connectivity across 190 countries, it’s an exciting time in our development and evolution; we are growing rapidly by supporting businesses on their transformation journeys moving to next generation global connectivity across, people places and things. We are thrilled to add an accomplished financial leader to our global leadership team, working with us to achieve our ambitious growth goals over the next year and beyond.”

Adee Packer, Chief Financial Officer for Expereo, added: “I’m excited to join such an accomplished and innovative team and look forward to the opportunity to contribute to Expereo’s continued global growth. Expereo has a wealth of knowledge in internet connectivity, and I’m thrilled to support them in empowering enterprises to meet the business demands of today.”

Remy Lammertsma, Corporate Development Officer for Expereo concludes: “There’s a huge opportunity for Expereo to grow as a leading Global Managed Services Provider in Internet Connectivity, and running a tight ship when it comes to finance and M&A will be a core pillar in our strategy.”

About Expereo
Expereo is a leading global provider of managed network solutions including, Global Internet, SD-WAN/SASE, and Enhanced Internet. With an extensive global reach, Expereo is the trusted partner of 30% of Fortune 500 companies. It powers enterprise and government sites in more than 190 countries, helping customers improve productivity and empowering their networks and cloud services with the agility, flexibility and value of the Internet, with optimal network performance.

Expereo was acquired in Feb 2021, by Vitruvian Partners. The international growth capital and buyout firm, acquired a majority shareholding from leading European private equity firm, Seven2.

www.expereo.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: 
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230502005063/en/

Contact

Scarlett King
+447534252295

Source : Expereo

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=45997

BEST’S COMMENTARY: INDONESIA’S INSURANCE MARKET HAMPERED BY DOMESTIC REINSURER’S WEAKENED SOLVENCY POSITION

SINGAPORE, May 3 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) — Concerns over the actual and prospective solvency levels at what was recently Indonesia’s largest domestic reinsurer has limited its ability to write new business and prompted cedants to place coverage elsewhere during the 1 January 2023 renewals, according to a new AM Best commentary.

The Best’s Commentary, “Indonesian Market Hampered by Weakened Domestic Reinsurer Solvency,” notes that thinning capital buffers among Indonesia’s domestic reinsurers leaves them facing the challenge of withstanding further balance sheet shocks amid the increased likelihood for near-term economic uncertainties and unexpected catastrophe events.

PT Reasuransi Nasional Indonesia (Nasional Re) reported a negative regulatory solvency ratio in 2022 after being impacted by capital erosion from significant adverse reserve development, largely related to losses from credit reinsurance. The Best’s Commentary also notes that the magnitude of reserve strengthening at Nasional Re was so significant that both its shareholders’ equity and regulatory solvency ratios fell to negative levels.

This weakened solvency position at Nasional Re led to a coordinated replacement of capacity by cedents to other reinsurers during the recent reinsurance renewals.

“Replacing this reinsurance coverage was further exacerbated by the limited capacity available in Indonesia’s market given the reduced appetite of international reinsurers,” AM Best Director Michael Dunckley said.

Indonesia’s domestic reinsurers have long been favoured by cedents there, not only because of applicable regulatory requirements to cede their business locally, but also because of their associated lower reinsurance costs and more favourable reinsurance commissions. According to the commentary, non-life insurers in Indonesia favor the use of reinsurance, ceding approximately 45-50% of gross premiums in 2022, with more than half going to domestic reinsurers. However, domestic cedents are becoming more cautious in the selection of reinsurance counterparties given the realisation that even well-established domestic reinsurance market leaders like Nasional Re can pose a risk of default. Notwithstanding, some cedents continue to rely heavily on the use of basic measures such as the counterparties’ absolute capital bases and market positions as key indicators of creditworthiness.

“AM Best considers the market’s concentration to domestic reinsurers a source of systemic risk as the impact arising from the failure of the domestic reinsurers would also spill over to the primary market,” AM Best Associate Director Chris Lim added.

To access a complimentary copy of this market segment report, please visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=331173.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2023 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

View source version on businesswire.com: 
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Contact

Chris Lim, FCII, CFA
Associate Director
+65 6303 5018
chris.lim@ambest.com

Richard Banks
Director, Industry Research – EMEA
+44 20 7397 0322
richard.banks@ambest.com

Michael Dunckley, CFA
Director, Analytics
+65 6303 5020
michael.dunckley@ambest.com

Edem Kuenyehia
Director, Market Development & Communications
+44 20 7397 0280
edem.kuenyehia@ambest.com

Source : AM Best

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=46005

Planview Leader In April 2023 Gartner Magic Quadrant For Strategic Portfolio Management

KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 (Bernama) — Planview has announced being named a Leader in the April 2023 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Strategic Portfolio Management for the second year in a row, based on its Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute.

“At Planview, our goal is to unleash the power of connected work for organisations worldwide. For many companies, this means successfully executing their organisation’s transformation and cross-functional strategic initiatives, especially in times of significant change.

“To make this shift, leaders must eliminate the disconnects between strategy and delivery that slow down response times and make trade-off decisions and reprioritisation difficult.

“Our solution helps companies to stay ahead of the curve with scenario planning and prioritisation, driving business results in any environment,” said Planview Chief Product Officer, Louise K. Allen in a statement.

By 2025, 70 per cent of digital investments will fail to deliver the expected business outcomes due to the absence of a strategic portfolio management (SPM) approach, according to Gartner.

Planview’s SPM solution enables organisations to adapt to disruption and drive success in strategy execution and transformation by improving speed-to-value and market responsiveness, increase confidence in strategic investments, and unlock organisational capacity for priority initiatives.

By creating business agility and reducing the disconnects between strategy, teams and outcomes, organisations can adapt to disruption and deliver business success faster and with more confidence.

The company was also recognised in the Gartner companion research to the Magic Quadrant, the Critical Capabilities for Strategic Portfolio Management, which evaluates vendors on a set of product features and capabilities and discusses how those apply to important Use Cases.

Planview, the leading platform for connected work from portfolio planning to delivery, empowers enterprises to improve time-to-market and predictability, increase efficiency to unlock capacity, and ensure their most strategic initiatives deliver the desired business outcomes.

— BERNAMA

JUNIPER RESEARCH: OPERATOR LOSSES FROM BUSINESS MESSAGING FRAUD TO REDUCE BY 66% OVER 4 YEARS, AS SMS FIREWALLS DELIVER $4.4 BILLION GLOBAL SAVINGS

BASINGSTOKE, England, May 2 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) — Juniper Research, foremost experts in mobile messaging markets, has found that the operator revenue loss to SMS grey route traffic will decline by 66% over the next 4 years; owing to the increasing adoption and efficiency of SMS firewalls. It predicts that these firewalls will save operators over $4.4 billion in lost business messaging revenue between 2023 and 2027, by identifying fraudulent traffic and blocking it in real-time.

Find out more about the new report: SMS Firewalls: Future Outlook, Regional Analysis & Market Forecasts 2023-2027

SMS Firewalls Result in Declining Fraud

These savings will be driven by the ability of SMS firewalls to detect sources of fraudulent traffic earlier and more efficiently through the increasing use of machine learning. By 2027, the report predicts that less than 1% of business messaging traffic will be attributable to grey routes, compared to 4.3% in 2023.

However, as the role of business messaging evolves, the report urges operators to develop messaging firewalls to be deployed as part of a larger security value chain that protects operators over more channels than SMS alone. The report anticipates that RCS messaging will be a crucial technology over the next 4 years, and firewall vendors must tailor fraud detection and mitigation services to this technology.

Firewall Vendors to Compete on Messaging Technology Support

In turn, the report identified the Security-as-a-Service model as a key strategy for future firewall development. This business model includes providing managed security tools over multiple operator‑led technologies. It predicts that vendors will soon compete on the completeness of their multi‑format firewalls, including the efficiency of AI-based fraud detection solutions over multiple messaging technologies.

Report author Elisha Sudlow-Poole commented: “Operators must have the most effective tools to identify and mitigate future methods of messaging fraud regardless of messaging channel. However, they must outsource fraud detection services to experienced third-party solutions providers that benefit from the wealth of data that they derive from the traffic over multiple operator core networks.”

View the SMS Firewalls market research: https://www.juniperresearch.com/researchstore/operators-providers/sms-firewalls-market-research-report

Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary.

View source version on businesswire.com: 
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Contact

For further details please contact:
Sam Smith
Press Relations
T: +44(0)1256 830002
E: sam.smith@juniperresearch.com

Source : Juniper Research