Over the summer, FinanceAsia (FA) engaged with Asia’s capital markets community to seek feedback regarding editorial coverage. Our aim was threefold, we wanted to:
- Ensure market relevance. Are we fulfilling our role as a news service and are we providing value to our audience? Are there gaps in our coverage? What needs to be improved?
- Enhance FA content. Identify areas for improvement and put together a strategy to advance the scope of our coverage.
- Elevate our brand and increase readership engagement. Fulfil our role as a leading news provider; and increase the reach of our brand.
We were delighted to yield a significant response rate, with the majority of comments coming from seasoned finance professionals. 63.4% of responses came from buy-side constituents of senior management or c-suite level, based at financial institutions, corporates, fund managers or asset owners/managers. The FA team was pleased by how this reaffirms that our content is reaching Asia’s influential market leaders.
Most responses came from Asia, from those based in Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Australia & New Zealand, and Malaysia. Outside of Asia Pacific, responses came from the UK, USA, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and South Africa.
The results
Overall, 94.9% of respondents said that our content sufficiently caters to their interests. They value our coverage of: capital market updates; macro trends; research and reports; sector- and market-specific features; and exclusive interviews that offer strategic insights. Respondents highlighted our once-a-week news bulletin as ideal in terms of timing and frequency, in order to stay on top of key market updates.
The survey reiterated that our coverage is on track in terms of the three key themes around which our content focusses: Sustainability; Fintech; and Accessing Local Markets.
- ESG remains a core interest of Asia’s investment professionals and responses indicated that content around the strategic execution of ESG – such as the composition and rollout of green financing frameworks – is particularly valuable.
- Digital developments, in the form of fintech trends bolstered by emerging tech, as well as new forms of intangible assets and decentralised finance including cryptocurrency and the metaverse, continue to excite our audience.
- The vast nature of Asia Pacific and its cultural, regulatory, linguistic and political nuances continue to generate interest, as Asia’s emerging markets become increasingly internationalised and accessible. Specific content requests across this topic include currency and cross-border activity, and accessing China’s markets for investment.
In terms of macro themes, our readers are most interested in receiving regulatory updates – the policies and local developments that are impacting their activity and business decision-making.
When it comes to key markets, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Korea and Vietnam came out on top.
With the possibility to select multiple markets, it was no surprise to find China reigning high, with 77.2% of respondents highlighting it as an important market of focus, followed by Asia’s two key financial hubs – with Hong Kong having a slight but noticeable edge over Singapore.
The survey found that coverage of Australia remains important, given its sophisticated investor base, its significant superannuation community and its experienced ESG landscape. Meanwhile, it was interesting but not exactly surprising to learn that our audience is keen to keep abreast of Japanese and Korean activity given the markets’ significant institutional depth and the institutional dry powder that comes with ageing populations.
Additionally, the results showed that review of opportunity in Indonesia and Vietnam continues to soar. Both markets are well-positioned to lead regionally in terms of manufacturing and tech developments and they offer reliable, high-achieving and capable bases in which to deploy a “china plus one” strategy, in order to seek geopolitical and supply chain diversification.
The 5.1% of respondents who indicated that our editorial coverage could do more, highlighted a desire for improved coverage across Asia’s debt capital markets (DCM). In particular, these respondents specified that they want to read more on private credit.
Furthermore, readers said they want more content around the emerging players who are set to dominate Asia’s investment banking scene in coming years – those currently engaged in private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) fundraising.
Our response
While we were delighted with the positive feedback shared by our readers, we acknowledge that there is always room for improvement. Following the valuable feedback and suggestions provided, we are striving to adapt our content to improve the overall experience for our audience.
- The introduction of an Editorial Board. Plans are underway to launch a diverse editorial panel of capital markets experts who will help inform our content coverage and ensure that it remains refreshed, timely and relevant to our audience. The board will provide frank and unfiltered feedback about topics, people and formats that are of interest in Asia’s fast-changing environment.
- New feature formats. We are putting together a number of new content formats to better cater to our readership request for more DCM and deal case studies. We are strategically reviewing the boundaries of our coverage universe and coming up with new and creative ways of content delivery, to better interrogate these subjects on behalf of our readers.
- Website overhaul. Finally, we want to make sure that our readers are getting the most out of our FA platform and so we are exploring a number of digital updates. This includes A-B newsletter format testing, better labelling and tagging of the FA homepage for improved navigation and a more user-friendly interface.
We would like to express sincere gratitude to our readers for taking the time to review our content and voice opinions, suggestions and concerns. The feedback we received has been extremely valuable and it will actively inform our editorial strategy as it moves forwards.
We will be sure to keep our readers posted regarding the ongoing evolution of FA as it continues along its 26-year – and counting – journey. The conversation does not end here, so please do get in touch if you have any additional thoughts or queries. You can contact the FA editorial team via: [email protected]
Thank you for your continued support.
