Privately held investment firm Senjo Group has relocated its corporate headquarters to Singapore in recognition of Singapore’s growing influence in the Fintech sector. Representatives said the business-friendly environment and focus on financial innovation was key in their decision to lease the entire 56th floor of One Raffles Place. Senjo was only recently set up in 2015. The company was launched to manage a portfolio of payments processing, cross-border remittance, foreign exchange, trade finance, e-commerce, mobile payments, commodity trading and factoring businesses. Senjō also has regional offices in Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Luxembourg and the UK, and operations in most major markets.
Yoshio Tomiie, Head of Commerce at Senjō Group said their strategy tis to invest in profitable Fintech firms with high growth potential in Asia and around the world.
“Our goal is to build a world-class financial technology group, and to do that we need the right space. Singapore has established an enviable position as a leading Asian financial technology centre with an exciting innovation eco-system, a great talent pool and fantastic infrastructure. It also boasts a business-friendly environment so it was therefore an obvious winner when considering locations for new headquarters for our global operations.”
Senjo invests in both startups and later stage Fintech firms. Management stated its intent to “increase its portfolio significantly over the coming years”. Senjo has recently hired new executives to help guide its investments. Galvin Lock has assumed the position of COO. He was previously at Accenture. Sam Evans is the newly appointed VP of Business Development and Head of Ventures. Evans has worked for big name firms like Unilever and Sun Microsystems.
“Our mission is to make commerce better, faster, easier. All our portfolio companies are dedicated to identifying and addressing inefficiencies – in transactions and payments, e- commerce, financial markets and trading – to create value for our customers, our partners and our shareholders,” said Tomiie.
The Singapore government has defined a strategic objective of becoming a major Fintech hub. Some observers have stated Singapore is well-positioned to top the UK as the leader in disruptive finance. Singapore is regularly recognized as a very business friendly nation with excellent infrustructure and ease of access to the Asia-Pacific region.
