Month: January 2008

Integreon, a global leader in corporate, legal and financial complex knowledge process outsourcing (KPO), held a ceremony on Wednesday, January 30, to launch its new office in Makati City, Philippines.

The launch, held at the 6750 Office Tower on Ayala Avenue, was led by Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, chairman and chief executive officer of Ayala Corporation. In October 2006, LiveIt Solutions Inc., Ayala group’s investment arm for business process outsourcing, and Integreon announced a management-led buyout transaction that resulted in a majority stake for LiveIt.

Also present were Fred Ayala, LiveIt CEO; Liam Brown, Integreon President and CEO; and Erik Joseph Tabuena, Integreon Philippines Country Manager.

In his keynote address, Zobel cited the Philippines’ capacity to become a “powerhouse” in knowledge process services and stated that, “The Ayala group is convinced that the time is right for the Philippines to re-position itself to become a leading global provider of outsourced high-value, professional services.”

“Our greatest asset is that Filipinos are well-educated and have an excellent ability to operate successfully across both multiple cultures and knowledge domains,” he stressed.

Zobel noted that globally competitive business organizations are investing heavily to enable their workforce to manage knowledge and to be more productive. In the US alone, there are an estimated 48 million knowledge workers out of its total 137 million workers. The value that can be attained even with a one-percent gain in total productivity by its knowledge workers is substantial, he noted.”The Philippines is well-positioned to gain a significant share of outsourcing serving knowledge-intensive businesses. I expect to see rapid KPO growth here.” he stated.

Fred Ayala, LiveIt Solutions’ chief executive officer, said that Integreon has a strong track record in delivering the highest levels of quality outsourcing services for the world’s top legal and financial firms. Integreon’s customers include six of the ten largest global investment banks, two of three largest global law firms, many Fortune 100 and FTSE 100 corporations, several top private equity firms and hedge funds. Integreon’s services enable its corporate clients to spend more time on high-value work such as strategy and competence enhancement.

“The entry of Integreon into the Philippines marks a breakthrough for the country into the high value add and rapidly growing KPO and LPO (Legal Process Outsourcing) sectors. For Integreon, the opening of our new Philippine operation will enable it to expand its geographic footprint, gain access to a large new pool of skilled managers and professionals, and enhance Business Continuity Planning capabilities,” Ayala said.

Liam Brown, Integreon’s CEO, added that Integreon, which has offices in New York, Mumbai, Delhi, London and North Dakota, has long viewed Manila as a potential strategic delivery site. Its relationship with Ayala Corp. brings a host of advantages from recruitment to commercial real estate procurement.

“The quality and abundance of talent as well as the affinity for US legal and financial frameworks are definite advantages in locating here” Brown stated, adding that, among popular offshore destinations, the Philippines offers the highest percent of graduates who are suitable for knowledge intensive tasks.

According to Brown, Integreon’s presence in the Philippines enhances the firm’s ability to seize opportunities in the Offshore Legal Services sector, which is expected to grow to nearly $500 million; E-Discovery, which involves the process of securing electronic data for litigation purposes and which is expected to grow to $3.4 billion within five yeas; as well as in Offshoring Research and Analytics in banking and financial services, which is projected to grow to $620 million within five years.

Founded in 1998, Integreon is a pioneer in the KPO and LPO sectors, and was named last year as the world’s leading provider of Research and Analytics outsourcing for the second year running, and the world’s leading provider of Legal Document outsourcing in the fourth annual “Black Book of Outsourcing” which is the Brown Wilson Group’s prestigious annual survey of outsourcing vendors and advisors.

About Integreon
Integreon provides knowledge support services such as research and analytics, electronic discovery and litigation document review, accounting, and document and graphic services, which enable professionals to focus their time and energy on their “highest and best use”. Clients include leading financial services institutions, major international law firms, and Global 2000 corporations. For more information about Integreon, please visit www.integreon.com.

About LiveIt
LiveIt Solutions, Inc. is the holding company for Ayala Corporation’s investments in business process outsourcing. It owns significant stakes eTelecare, Affinity Express, and Integreon. Founded in 1834, Ayala Corporation is the oldest business house in the Philippines and one of the largest conglomerates in the country. Ayala and its listed subsidiaries have a combined market capitalization of approximately $20 billion.

Ayala Corporation and its listed companies, Ayala Land, Inc., Bank of the Philippine Islands, and Globe Telecom, earned four of the five highest rankings of the 2007 Corporate Governance Scorecard Project conducted by the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD).

A total of 138 companies, or more than half of the 249 companies listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange, participated in the ICD study, which was for the first time undertaken jointly with the PSE, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Ateneo Law School, and supported by the Center for International Private Enterprise. The top five rankings, which also included PLDT, were announced at the PSE Awards Night held on January 8 at the InterContinental Manila.

ICD is a professional, non-government organization that conducts training and advocacy for corporate governance and citizenship. It has been at the forefront of promoting corporate governance reforms in the country and has developed a corporate governance scorecard, a tool that public corporations can use to rate and benchmark their corporate governance practices relative to global and regional standards.

The CG Scorecard Project is envisioned to provide empirical data on the state of corporate governance among Philippine companies, help publicly listed companies strengthen their governance structures, and assist the SEC in reviewing principles for possible adoption by publicly listed companies. The scorecard is used to evaluate practices in the areas of shareholder rights, equitable treatment of shareholders, role of stakeholders in governance, disclosure and transparency, and board responsibilities key governance principles established by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and used as basis for corporate governance practices globally.

Led by the parent company, Ayala group companies assessed their own governance practices using ICD’s scorecard and submitted supporting documents including the latest annual report, manual of corporate governance, code of conduct, amended articles and by-laws, as well as information on stockholders’ meeting, public ownership, board attendance, and ethical standards. Accomplished scorecards from all companies were validated and analyzed within or outside the SEC in coordination with ICD. Students from the Ateneo Law School also helped verify the survey results against publicly disclosed information.