Latest news with #EricChen
Business Times
20-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
IPCG accuses Deutsche Bank of breaching agreement, files lawsuit
[SINGAPORE] Asset manager Invest Partners Capital Group (IPCG) is suing Deutsche Bank for allegedly breaching a contractual agreement governing their external asset management arrangement, according to court documents filed with the High Court on Jul 11 and seen by The Business Times. The bank allegedly offered better pricing and terms directly to IPCG's former client, Splendor Lights Holdings – conduct that the asset manager claimed 'seriously undermined' IPCG's ability to carry out its advisory role. The pre-trial conference is scheduled for Aug 18. Deutsche declined to comment when contacted by BT. However, a person close to the matter said the bank disagrees with the reported allegations and intends to vigorously contest any claims filed. The case Singapore-based IPCG holds a Capital Markets Services licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and advises high-net-worth individuals and family offices. Eric Chen, a senior director at IPCG, previously managed Splendor Lights through a Limited Power of Attorney, authorising IPCG to handle Splendor Lights' investments at Deutsche. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Under the external asset manager agreement, Deutsche was to hold Splendor Lights' assets and execute transactions initiated by IPCG, which was 'solely responsible' for managing the client's assets and determining the suitability of investments, court documents said. The dispute centres on Deutsche relationship manager Sean Poh, who allegedly provided Splendor Lights with direct quotations for financial products that undercut IPCG's pricing. Poh also made statements to Splendor Lights that 'were seemingly to disparage' IPCG's professionalism, according to court documents. Splendor Lights subsequently terminated its Limited Power of Attorney with IPCG in November 2023 and began working with Deutsche directly for asset management services, said IPCG in the filing. At the time, Splendor Lights' assets managed by IPCG at Deutsche were worth about US$42.8 million. Court documents showed that from 2021 to 2023, when the Limited Power of Attorney was in force, IPCG earned retrocession – a form of commission – and performance fee payments of a combined US$3.4 million. In the suit, IPCG is seeking for damages to be assessed, a declaration that Deutsche breached its contractual and fiduciary duties, as well as interest, legal costs, and other relief. The asset manager is represented by Lin Yuankai and Annabel Kwek of Premier Law. 'We initiated this legal action to protect the rightful interests of our relationship managers and our company, and to call on banks to meet their duty of care toward their partners,' said an IPCG spokesperson. 'Banks should act as custodians and execution roles – not compete unfairly with external asset managers for clients or pricing advantage.'
Business Times
20-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Asset manager IPCG accuses Deutsche Bank of breaching agreement, files lawsuit
[SINGAPORE] Asset manager Invest Partners Capital Group (IPCG) is suing Deutsche Bank for allegedly breaching a contractual agreement governing their external asset management arrangement, according to court documents filed with the High Court last Friday (Jul 11) and seen by The Business Times. The bank allegedly offered better pricing and terms directly to IPCG's former client, Splendor Lights Holdings – conduct that the asset manager claimed 'seriously undermined' IPCG's ability to carry out its advisory role. The pre-trial conference is scheduled for Aug 18. Deutsche declined to comment when contacted by BT. However, a person close to the matter said the bank disagrees with the reported allegations and intends to vigorously contest any claims filed. The case Singapore-based IPCG holds a Capital Markets Services licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and advises high-net-worth individuals and family offices. Eric Chen, a senior director at IPCG, previously managed Splendor Lights through a Limited Power of Attorney, authorising IPCG to handle Splendor Lights' investments at Deutsche. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Under the external asset manager agreement, Deutsche was to hold Splendor Lights' assets and execute transactions initiated by IPCG, which was 'solely responsible' for managing the client's assets and determining the suitability of investments, court documents said. The dispute centres on Deutsche relationship manager Sean Poh, who allegedly provided Splendor Lights with direct quotations for financial products that undercut IPCG's pricing. Poh also made statements to Splendor Lights that 'were seemingly to disparage' IPCG's professionalism, according to court documents. Splendor Lights subsequently terminated its Limited Power of Attorney with IPCG in November 2023 and began working with Deutsche directly for asset management services, said IPCG in the filing. At the time, Splendor Lights' assets managed by IPCG at Deutsche were worth about US$42.8 million. Court documents showed that from 2021 to 2023, when the Limited Power of Attorney was in force, IPCG earned retrocession – a form of commission – and performance fee payments of a combined US$3.4 million. In the suit, IPCG is seeking for damages to be assessed, a declaration that Deutsche breached its contractual and fiduciary duties, as well as interest, legal costs, and other relief. The asset manager is represented by Lin Yuankai and Annabel Kwek of Premier Law. 'We initiated this legal action to protect the rightful interests of our relationship managers and our company, and to call on banks to meet their duty of care toward their partners,' said an IPCG spokesperson. 'Banks should act as custodians and execution roles – not compete unfairly with external asset managers for clients or pricing advantage.'
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
AI Star Mila Headlines Golden Melody Festival's Virtual Idols Discussion
Taipei's Golden Melody Festival conference lineup drew music professionals from across Asia and beyond, offering matchmaking sessions, showcases, and forums to promote the Mandarin-language music scene. At the opening pitching session of the event, industry leaders gathered to explore a frontier that's quickly becoming less science fiction and more pop reality: AI-generated virtual artists. More from Variety Blackpink Firm YG Entertainment's Mojo Kim Talks K-Pop's Global Strategy at Golden Melody Festival: 'It's About Emotional Language' Recording Academy President Panos A. Panay Talks Cross-Cultural Creativity at Taipei's Golden Melody Festival: 'Your Truth Is Your Superpower' CJ ENM Unveils Artificial Intelligence Strategy With Debut of 100% AI-Generated Animation 'Cat Biggie' Titled 'Creating the Artist of the Future: An AI × Metaverse Innovation Lab,' the talk introduced Mila, a virtual singer powered by AI and designed to exist seamlessly within the metaverse. On stage, Enjoy Record Co.'s CEO Eric Chen and Inventec Corporation's senior VP Chaucer Chiu discussed the opportunities and philosophies behind this synthetic starlet. Mila isn't just a 3D avatar with a synthesized voice. She's the result of a complex ecosystem that includes AI-driven personality development, real-time interaction in the metaverse, and cultural hybridization in her visual and vocal identity. Her creation involved everything from sound engineering and text-to-speech software to AI computing servers. She represents 'an extension of human emotion' and a new blueprint for fan-artist relationships. 'The emotional connection between virtual idols and fans is, in fact, no weaker than with real artists,' Chen told Variety. 'On the contrary, it can more easily overcome limitations of language, geography, and time.' When developing the virtual singer, the team discovered that AI-powered personality design, interactive voice functions, and tailored social media content enabled fans to engage with her around the clock, which can lead to emotional bonds. 'This 'co-creative companionship' allows for a scalable connection that is difficult for traditional artists to achieve,' said Chen. Still, the path to virtual stardom is fraught with creative and ethical questions. From a technical standpoint, the goal is to make virtual artists feel both natural and distinct, but the real creative challenge lies in giving them a sense of 'soul,' in making audiences believe there's more behind the avatar than just code and synthesis. Just as crucial is ensuring that an AI artist's personality doesn't cross cultural or ethical boundaries. 'Everything from her behavior and language to visual identity must go through a responsible design and review process,' said Chen. 'As music producers, we also pay close attention to attribution, originality, and emotional authenticity in creative works. These are the ethical issues we need to scrutinize most in virtual music creation.' Looking ahead, Chen said that AI music will become more widespread, but its chart-topping potential still depends on something algorithms can't manufacture: human touch and emotional resonance. 'We don't see AI as a replacement, but as a collaborator,' Chen explained. 'The future of the mainstream market might involve 'AI-assisted creation,' 'AI-optimized production processes,' and even 'AI personality artists charting,' but the core will remain the resonance of content and value. Without that resonance, even the most powerful algorithms will just be background music.' Best of Variety Oscars 2026: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, Wagner Moura and More Among Early Contenders to Watch New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts?
Forbes
28-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
AI PCs Will Dominate By 2027, Says Asus Executive
So-called AI PCs will account for more than half of PC shipments by 2027, according to a senior Asus executive. Demand for AI PCs – which ship with a neural processing unit (NPU) to assist with AI tasks – has been relatively modest so far. The market share of AI PCs is 'still single digit', Eric Chen, Asus's senior corporate vice president told me in a briefing to coincide with last week's Computex trade show. 'It's not that big,' he admitted. However, he said that growth over the next couple of years will mean that by 2027 'over 50%' of total PC shipments will be AI PCs. Asus's predictions are roughly in line with that of major analysts such as Gartner, IDC and Canalys, all of which have predicted steep growth in AI-capable PCs over the next few years. The big challenge for PC makers is giving businesses and consumers a solid reason to pay a premium for an AI PC. Popular AI services such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini or Anthropic's Claude are cloud based and don't directly benefit from the presence of an NPU. Meanwhile, Microsoft has struggled to deliver compelling AI features in Windows, with the highly controversial and much delayed Recall feature only arriving on Copilot+ machines at the end of last month. Microsoft was forced to pull an early test version of the all-seeing Recall after serious security flaws were discovered by testers, which have now been fixed. Chen said 'the big bottleneck" right now is that users don't fully understand how AI can help them. He gave an example of how Asus is deploying AI within its own business to check the paperwork that comes with business transactions. Previously that task was done by hand, but now the company is using AI to process the paperwork. 'They used to spend 200 hours to do the checks,' said Chen. 'Now, three hours. That's a big, big difference.' It's those kinds of tasks involving sensitive customer data that companies might not want uploaded to cloud services that will really take advantage of the local processing power offered by AI PCs, Chen claimed. 'A lot of companies and people, they don't want their data to upload to the cloud,' he said. Although Asus has been developing a suite of its own applications, such as Muse Tree, which offers AI image generation without relying on expensive, resource-hungry cloud services, Chen concedes that professionals will still turn to the cloud when they need the optimal quality. He said that 'local is already good enough" for many lightweight tasks, however, and that cloud AI services will eventually start tapping the power available to AI PCs. 'The cloud and the local, they will work together. That is one of the trends that will happen,' Chen added. AI PCs may well hold more appeal to businesses than consumers right now, and that's perhaps one of the reasons that Asus has decided to ramp up its commercial offering, pitting the company into even stronger competition with rivals such as Dell and Lenovo. 'In the past 35 years, we are more focused on the consumer PC business,' said Chen. 'In the coming years, Asus will develop our commercial business as well.' IDC's figures for 2024 worldwide PC shipments put Asus in fifth position, with a market share of around 7%. But Chen said the company had 'very aggressive' plans to attack the commercial market in a bid to close the gap to market leader Lenovo, which shipped more than three times as many PCs as Asus did in 2024, according to IDC's figures.
Business Mayor
24-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Injective leads AI token surge with 12% rise – Is $17 possible for INJ?
INJ, on the daily time frame, completed a clean inverse heads and shoulders pattern. Injective's $2B annualized trading volume for iAssets could accelerate the onboarding of tokenized stocks & RWAs. The altcoins are back to performance with most AI tokens, including Injective [INJ] and Artificial Superintelligence Alliance [FET] among others, gaining ground after potentially finishing the correction. Price analysis and market sentiment Injective completed an inverse head and shoulders pattern on the daily timeframe, and a breakout verified at the $11.16 level. Once it settled above the neckline, INJ made a big move up, rising 12% in just a day. The volume followed with an 87% daily rise. The price crossed both the 50-day EMA at $10.81 and the 100-day SMA at $11.16 and continued rising, showing momentum was bullish, and the trend could keep going. As trading increased on the breakout, it proved the structure was strong after the crossover. Should Injective's price remain supported at the neckline and by both averages, it could continue moving upwards and test the $16.50 to $17.00 level in the short run. Source: TradingView However, a failure to hold above $15.00 may trigger a slide back to $12.80—or, in a deeper retracement, to the 100-day SMA near $11.16. If that level breaks, the bullish setup would likely invalidate, opening room for downside risk. At the same time, statistics showed over 95% of respondents thought JasmyCoin [JASMY] and Injective were poised for growth. Due to the strong investor conviction, INJ was probably doing well following ongoing media appearances, keeping the project in the limelight. Read More How FTX can impact ETH's future price movements There were also sentiments of 94.90%, 94.70% and 93.40% for Jupiter [JUP], Virtuals Protocol [VIRTUAL] and Cardano [ADA], respectively. With both INJ's high ratings and the momentum, there was a real chance the protocol's ecosystem could grow over the long term. Injective's annualized volume for iAssets The media presence also helped. Ongoing exposure—including Eric Chen's recent appearance on CNBC—keeps INJ in the spotlight, boosting investor confidence. On top of price action, Injective recently hit a $2 billion annualized trading volume for its tokenized assets (iAssets). These include tokenized stocks and real-world assets (RWAs), key growth areas that are drawing both institutional and retail interest. Source: X While publicity from the DAO can lift the project's credibility, INJ's price responsiveness would rely on continuous platform implementation and changes in the market. An increase in institutional interest could bring upside movement to INJ. However, future growth needed the network to attract users and for the overall market to improve.
