Indonesia to Ease Import Rules to Bolster Trade and Tariff Talks
Southeast Asia's largest economy said Monday it would ease or eliminate import restrictions on 10 groups of goods and raw materials, including forestry products, pearls, subsidized fertilizer, some fuels and chemicals, plastic raw materials, food trays, footwear and bicycles.
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Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Polen Global Growth Sold Globant (GLOB) for a Better Risk Opportunity
Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its 'Polen Global Growth Strategy' second-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The market entered 2025 embracing the new U.S. administration's pro-growth policies, often overlooking potential tariff and valuation headwinds. International stocks have outperformed U.S. stocks since 2009. Despite the positives, global equities remained vulnerable due to geopolitical tensions and growing uncertainty. The Strategy returned 8.16% gross of fees (7.87% net of fees) in the quarter compared to the MSCI ACW Index's 11.53% return. In addition, please check the fund's top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025. In its second-quarter 2025 investor letter, Polen Global Growth Strategy highlighted stocks such as Globant S.A. (NYSE:GLOB). Globant S.A. (NYSE:GLOB) is a Luxembourg-based technology services company. The one-month return of Globant S.A. (NYSE:GLOB) was -23.81%, and its shares lost 66.85% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 19, 2025, Globant S.A. (NYSE:GLOB) stock closed at $68.65 per share, with a market capitalization of $3.024 billion. Polen Global Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Globant S.A. (NYSE:GLOB) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter: "We've fully exited our position in Globant S.A. (NYSE:GLOB) following the company's weaker-than-expected Q1 2025 earnings report and disappointing FY25 revenue guidance. While the company has managed to maintain outsized revenue growth relative to its IT services peers for several quarters, recent guidance projecting low single-digit revenue growth for FY25 brings its outlook roughly in line with the peer group. This outcome speaks to the more protracted IT services spending weakness that may continue, and the potentially more discretionary nature of Globant's business model (which is heavily consulting-based and less reliant on multi-year outsourcing contracts than many larger competitors). Globant may be worth revisiting at a later date, if and when growth reaccelerates. For now, however, we see better risk / reward opportunities elsewhere." A close-up of an experienced game engineer's hands typing a complex code on a laptop. Globant S.A. (NYSE:GLOB) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 31 hedge fund portfolios held Globant S.A. (NYSE:GLOB) at the end of the first quarter, which was 25 in the previous quarter. Globant S.A. (NYSE:GLOB) reported revenues of $614.2 million in Q2 2025, reflecting a 4.5% year-over-year growth. While we acknowledge the potential of Globant S.A. (NYSE:GLOB) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. In another article, we covered Globant S.A. (NYSE:GLOB) and shared the list of best mid cap AI stocks to buy. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors. READ NEXT: The Best and Worst Dow Stocks for the Next 12 Months and 10 Unstoppable Stocks That Could Double Your Money. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Sign in to access your portfolio
Business Wire
15 minutes ago
- Business Wire
Retail Giants and Tech Leaders Shape the $2.98 Bn Market with AI-Powered Personalization, Seamless Rewards, and Gamified Engagement
DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "South Korea Loyalty Programs Market Intelligence and Future Growth Dynamics - 50+ KPIs on Loyalty Programs Trends by End-Use Sectors, Operational KPIs, Retail Product Dynamics, and Consumer Demographics - Q3 2025 Update" report has been added to offering. The loyalty market in South Korea is expected to grow by 15.5% on annual basis to reach US$1.83 billion in 2025. In value terms, the loyalty market in the country has recorded a CAGR of 17.4% during 2020-2024. The loyalty market in the country will continue to grow over the forecast period and is expected to record a CAGR of 13.0% during 2025-2029. Loyalty market in this region is expected to increase from US$1.58 billion in 2024 to reach US$2.98 billion by 2029. This report provides a detailed data-centric analysis of the loyalty market opportunities and risks across a range of end-use sectors and market segments in South Korea. With over 50 KPIs at the country level, this report provides a comprehensive understanding of loyalty market dynamics, market size and forecast, and market share statistics. South Korea's loyalty program landscape rapidly advances through digital integration, government-backed incentives, and hyper-personalization. Companies like Spoqa leverage digital technologies to enhance customer engagement, catering to a highly tech-savvy consumer base that values seamless and efficient reward experiences. Simultaneously, government-supported cashback reward programs are crucial in stimulating consumer spending and supporting economic recovery, reinforcing a broader trend toward immediate financial incentives. These developments indicate a growing emphasis on convenience, personalization, and financial rewards, shaping the future of loyalty programs in the country. The success of brand-specific and transportation loyalty programs further highlights South Korea's strong consumer engagement with loyalty initiatives. Programs such as Starbucks Korea's rewards system, boasting over 10 million members, demonstrate the effectiveness of exclusive perks in driving customer participation. Transportation loyalty programs such as the KTX Family Card also incentivize repeat usage, aligning with national efforts to promote public transit. As businesses refine their strategies through micro-segmentation and data analytics, loyalty programs in South Korea are expected to become even more personalized and deeply embedded in consumer lifestyles, fostering long-term brand loyalty. Competitive Landscape: South Korea's Loyalty Program Market Large conglomerates, financial institutions, and technology-driven platforms drive south Korea's highly advanced and competitive loyalty program market. Established players such as OK Cashback (Lotte), Happy Point (SPC Group), and Naver Plus Membership dominate the landscape, leveraging extensive partner ecosystems and digital innovations to enhance customer engagement. With South Korean consumers being tech-savvy and reward-conscious, companies are integrating AI-driven personalization, super apps, and blockchain-based security to differentiate their offerings. Digital transformation, regulatory changes, and evolving consumer expectations will shape the future of South Korea's loyalty market. Programs that offer hyper-personalized rewards, subscription-based benefits, and sustainability incentives will gain a competitive edge. While major players leverage their strong brand equity and large customer bases, new entrants must focus on niche value propositions, fintech integrations, and strategic partnerships to establish a foothold in this dynamic market. Key Attributes: Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 130 Forecast Period 2025 - 2029 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2025 $1.83 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2029 $2.98 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 13.0% Regions Covered South Korea Expand Current State of South Korea's Loyalty Program Market South Korea's loyalty market is led by major retail and financial conglomerates, with OK Cashback (Lotte), Happy Point (SPC Group), and Shinhan Fan (Shinhan Bank) being key players. Retail-driven loyalty programs dominate the landscape, with Lotte's OK Cashback and CJ Group's CJ ONE offering extensive partner networks covering shopping, dining, and entertainment. Super apps and fintech disruptors are reshaping loyalty programs, with platforms like Naver Plus Membership and Kakao Pay Rewards integrating Cashback, e-commerce benefits, and digital content subscriptions. Subscription-based loyalty models are growing; Coupang WOW, Naver Plus, and TMON Club offer premium-tier benefits for a fixed monthly fee. Banking and credit card loyalty programs are highly competitive, with institutions such as Shinhan Bank, KB Kookmin Bank, and Woori Bank offering reward points, Cashback, and travel perks linked to spending. Competition Intensity in South Korea's Loyalty Market Retail conglomerates dominate, making market entry challenging for standalone programs. Lotte, CJ Group, and Shinsegae leverage their retail dominance to retain customers through integrated loyalty ecosystems. AI-driven personalization is a key differentiator, with Naver and Kakao using big data analytics to recommend tailored rewards and promotions based on user behavior. Consumers prioritize convenience and seamless redemption, pushing loyalty programs to offer real-time rewards, flexible Cashback, and cross-platform integrations. OK Cashback allows users to convert points into airline miles, gift cards, and cryptocurrency, enhancing its appeal. Gamification is widely used to boost engagement, with programs such as Happy Point and CJ ONE incorporating interactive challenges, referral bonuses, and digital stamp collections. Types of Players OK Cashback (Lotte), CJ ONE (CJ Group), and Happy Point (SPC Group) dominate, covering shopping, dining, and entertainment rewards. To retain subscribers, Coupang WOW, Naver Plus, and TMON Club offer free shipping, exclusive deals, and streaming content. Shinhan Fan, KB Kookmin Bank, and Woori Bank offer credit card-based rewards and high-value redemption options. Kakao Pay Rewards and Naver Plus integrate loyalty benefits with payments, social media, and digital content, creating a one-stop digital experience. Korean Air's SKYPASS and Asiana Airlines' Asiana Club cater to frequent travelers, offering premium benefits and extensive partner networks. Market Structure Retail and fintech giants lead the loyalty space, leveraging their ecosystem advantages to offer integrated and seamless rewards. Coalition loyalty programs (such as OK Cashback and Happy Point) are widely used, allowing consumers to accumulate and redeem points across multiple brands and industries. New entrants face high barriers to scaling, as existing programs offer deeply integrated omnichannel experiences and cross-brand partnerships. Digital-native loyalty platforms are rising, with fintech-driven solutions offering cryptocurrency-based rewards, real-time Cashback, and AI-powered recommendations. Evolving consumer data protection regulations are increasing operational complexities, pushing companies to prioritize transparent and secure data management practices. Future Competitive Landscape AI-driven hyper-personalization will become a key differentiator, with loyalty programs leveraging machine learning to provide real-time, behavior-based incentives. Naver and Kakao are expected to expand their AI-driven loyalty offerings. Coalition loyalty networks will continue to grow, with businesses seeking cross-industry partnerships to enhance point accumulation and redemption options. Sustainability-focused rewards will gain momentum, as South Korean consumers become increasingly eco-conscious. Programs that offer incentives for green purchasing, carbon offsetting, and ethical consumption will attract more engagement. Regulatory oversight will intensify, requiring brands to adopt privacy-first loyalty models and enhance consumer protection mechanisms. For more information about this report visit About is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.
Forbes
16 minutes ago
- Forbes
Meet America's Top CPAs Specializing In Valuation Services 2025
W ith 2025 reshaping business as usual—through economic uncertainty, inflationary concerns, tariffs, trade barriers and even wars—Americans are increasingly in need of a steady, trusted professional to define value. In times of global volatility, the CPA profession provides services in valuations for everything from bankruptcy to restructuring to hostile litigation. And as always, the market does not lie: The U.S. valuation advisory space (including intangible assets and business models) was valued at $5.3 billion in 2024 and projected to reach $8.9 billion by 2033 according to Verified Market Reports. Over the past year our editorial team set out to identify CPAs with premium valuation skills from across the United States to produce Forbes ' inaugural list of America's Top CPAs in Valuations. We curated this elite cohort of CPAs specializing in valuation services through outside nominations, independent research and consultation with experts and industry insiders. And through that research journey, we've gleaned insights into the state of the profession—and what today's top CPAs in valuations can deliver for you. T oday's valuation professionals are united in their assessment: these are extraordinary times for the field. While business valuation has long been the process of determining the economic value of a business using financial statements and a comprehensive analysis of factors—including but not limited to projected financial performance, economic outlook, realistic operational efficiency, tangible property, intangible assets and goodwill—those determinations are now increasingly more complex. As listmaker Mac Lillard with GRF says, 'One of the challenges confronting CPAs in valuation services in 2025 is navigating the growing tension between traditional valuation methodologies and rapidly evolving business models—especially those driven by intangible assets, AI and subscription-based revenue structures. As the economy becomes increasingly digital and asset-light, many valuation engagements require deeper qualitative judgment, broader data interpretation and a more forward-looking perspective. In conjunction with the growing uncertainty regarding global trade policies … and their impact on future cash flow projections, we are in a time of increasing complexity when performing valuations for growing companies.' 'These challenges are compounded by heightened regulatory and stakeholder scrutiny, particularly in contexts such as tax reporting, transaction advisory, and financial reporting. CPAs are being called on not just to value businesses, but to bridge the gap between historical financials and future performance narratives.' Indeed, with accelerating technological change, daily economic headlines and a renewed avalanche of mergers and acquisitions, clients are looking for their CPAs to be proactive, providing counsel, direction and expertise now more than ever in valuation services. As listmaker Harold Kremer, of Barnes Dennig, notes, 'In our current rapidly evolving business environment, the most intriguing challenge our profession faces is uncertainty—understanding the full impact of changing tax laws, economic policies and how they may impact the value of the business.' It's a role that manifests in a multitude of ways. CPAs in valuation services provide analysis on anything from valuing Anthony Bourdain's estate to a valuation of a near-bankrupt company in a distressed private equity firm's portfolio. They offer valuations for stock options, goodwill impairment testing, discounted cash flow models, as well as federal and gift taxes. They assist in determining fair market value for buying or selling a business, estate planning, providing related expert testimony in divorce settlements, shareholder disputes, bankruptcies or breach of contract cases. They determine business value for obtaining loans, employee stock ownership plans, potential investors, or issuing equity. They're needed when there's a pending lawsuit, or an existing shareholder wants to sell shares. As listmaker Carol Carden of PYA Accountants and Advisors says, 'We have in-depth knowledge of accounting principles and must adhere to the rigorous standards promulgated by the AICPA regarding independence, objectivity and quality of work. Unfortunately, others in the valuation profession that are not CPAs sometimes do not necessarily have the same level of accounting acumen and certainly don't have the same professional standards requirements governing their work.' In truth, while various appraisal professionals perform valuations, CPAs offer distinct insights—including their understanding of accounting principles, financial reporting and tax laws, as well as adherence to rigorous ethical guidelines and professional standards to ensure unbiased objective assessments from a broad range of experience across various industries. And that's to say nothing about the creditability a CPA carries with financial institutions, regulatory bodies and legal entities. 'By having and maintaining credentials, I signify to my current and future clients that I am capable and ready to handle the task of valuing one of their most precious assets—their business,' says CPA and listmaker, Kevin Yeanoplos. Still, according to listmaker Mark Gottlieb, at MSG, 'What often gets lost in this conversation is a basic but critical distinction: Being a Certified Public Accountant is not, in and of itself, a sufficient qualification to conduct business valuation work. While CPAs bring a strong foundation in accounting and financial reporting, business valuation is a specialized field that requires additional training, experience and credentialing. Professionals who perform valuations in a manner that aligns with industry standards typically hold advanced designations such as the Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) issued by the AICPA, the Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) granted by NACVA, or the Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) credential conferred by the American Society of Appraisers. These designations not only reflect technical proficiency but also require adherence to rigorous ethical and methodological standards. The public—and the courts—should be reminded that business valuation is a profession in its own right.' L ike seemingly all professions today, business valuation is also contending with a massive new variable: the promise and peril of artificial intelligence. Consider listmaker James Hitchner of Financial Valuation Advisors, who literally wrote the book on financial valuation—titled, appropriately enough, Financial Valuation . Like many in the profession, he stresses the importance and impact of AI, noting that 'the business valuation community has been hit with an artificial intelligence 100-mile per hour fastball.' Still, he cautions: 'Anything new in business valuations, especially something coming in at a fast pace with many unknowns as in AI, must be viewed equally as a huge advantage but also a possible disadvantage. We must be careful and diligent.' It's a sentiment listmaker Stacey Udell of HBKGV seconds. 'While AI can take the place of work traditionally done at the entry level and do so at a lower cost, that basic work is foundational,' Udell says. 'It is where evaluators learn how to ask good questions, clean data, understand context and make meaning from information. If we remove entry-level experience too quickly, we risk losing the pipeline of skilled valuation analysts and losing the critical thinking needed to perform valuation services. AI can be a powerful tool, but it can't yet replace the human insight from a deep involvement with the data.' It's a refrain we heard time and again. Says PYA's Carson: 'The emergence of technologies like artificial intelligence will impact not only the valuation of companies that may find themselves falling behind their specific industry in terms of technology, but it will also challenge the valuation profession to find ways to capitalize on the efficiencies of technology without compromising the professional judgment necessary to render a well thought out and defensible valuation opinion.' According to listmaker Harold Martin, with Keiter CPAs and adjunct faculty member of The College of William and Mary, the most significant challenge in 2025 for CPAs who specialize in valuation is, how to successfully and responsibly integrate artificial intelligence into their practice. 'The use of AI has many potential benefits,' Martin says. 'For example, AI provides the ability to leverage automation in lieu of using staff, with the result being increased staff productivity and efficiency, and decreased personnel costs. With respect to valuation services specifically, AI may be employed in performing certain types of analyses currently performed by staff, such as summarizing economic, industry, and company data. 'However, there are also potential issues in employing AI in practice. AI is not a substitute for an analyst's professional judgment. Valuation is often referred to as both an art and a science. [It's] a science in that accepted financial valuation approaches and methodologies are used for calculating estimates of value. However, valuation is an art in that mathematical calculations alone cannot be used to estimate value. Instead, the determination of value requires an analyst to consider, for example, the implications of economic, industry and company data, and use their professional judgment to determine the effects of these factors on a company's prospective financial performance and, ultimately, its value. Consequently, similar to Microsoft Excel, AI should be considered a tool and not a substitute for professional judgement.' Adds Mike McCarty, listmaker with Baker Tilly: 'The most unique thing I see in valuation, which is very hard to put a value on, is the 'first to market' value for AI and tech start ups. So many new apps and AI interfaces and AI tools are coming out. The latest may be better than the one from last year, but if the one from last year has significant followers and traction, that's all that matters. The new one, while better tech or better features, will never take off.' All of which has left the valuation profession facing more uncertainty than at any point in the recent past. As McCarty says, 'These uncertainties do not fit well into typical predictive models. Markets and therefore valuations reward stability and predictability and we just don't have that right now.' Clearly, as MSG's Gottlieb says, the evolution of artificial intelligence exacerbates the uncertain economic climate and highlights the need for CPAs experienced in valuation services: 'The bottom line is this: Business valuation is not a plug-and-play exercise, and it is certainly not something that should be left to artificial intelligence without oversight. . . . In 2025, the defining challenge for valuation professionals will be to harness the promise of AI without compromising the integrity of their conclusions. It's a delicate balance—and one that demands more, not less, of those entrusted with the role of valuation expert.' For the full list of America's Top CPAs in Valuation, click here . As with all Forbes lists, candidates do not pay any fee to be considered or selected. For questions about this list, please email cpalist [at] .
