Asean-focused. Ex-Head of Thai Research

Athaporn Arayasantiparb, CFA

Athaporn served as Head of Research for UOB and ANZ in Thailand and was an award-winning telecoms analyst at UBS in 2010 (AsiaMoney Thailand category) and Regional Strategist for DMG in Singapore. Prior to that, he also served as Kasikornbank credit analyst and scholar. He has a total work experience of 22 years, of which 19 were in research and 9 in research management roles. He started his career as an engineer for PTT and currently manages family investments. He holds an MBA from Stern (NYU) and CFA Charter since 2006.

Apart from IPO Radar, which focuses on future listings, MCorp Review also performs financial advisory services for TKC Services and provides 11 other on-going thematic series ranked by frequency in descending order, namely:

1) Snippets (news-driven);
2) Sathorn Series (financial services);
3) Silicon Stories (technology); 
4) Thai-Coons (billionaire origin series);
5) Reality Check (data-driven, investigative);
6) Thai Media Spotlight;
7) Political Pit Stop; 
8) Telecom Review; 
9) Thai Macro Watch (read-through from foreign events);  
10) Small Cap Diary; and
11) Property Grid

There are also 3 limited-time series driven by specific events or locations, namely:
1) Thai Corona Crisis;
2) South Series; and
3) Mechanics and Details (deal forensics).

Thai-Coons (Ep. 3): RBS Logo...Seriously?

The New Abnormal (Part II): Boosting Consumption & Hypermarket Wars

Thai Hotels: Sky's the Limit! (...for Most)

Silicon Stories B: Airbnb...Zero to Hero in the Digital Age

Asean (Thailand) Focused Independent Research

M Corp Review

M Corp is led by Athaporn Arayasantiparb who served as Head of Research for UOB and ANZ in Thailand and was an award-winning telecoms analyst at UBS in 2010 (AsiaMoney Thailand category) and Regional Strategist for DMG in Singapore. Prior to that, he also served as Kasikornbank credit analyst and scholar. He has a total work experience of 17 years, of which 14 were in research and 4 in research management roles. He started his career as an engineer for PTT and currently manages family investments. He holds an MBA from Stern (NYU) and CFA Charter since 2006. Apart from IPO Radar, which focuses on future listings, MCorp Review also provides six on-going thematic series ranked by frequency in descending order, namely: 1) Silicon Stories (technology) 2) Sathorn Series (financial services) 3) Thai-Coons (billionaire origin stories) 4) Reality Check (data-driven, investigative) 5) Thai Media Spotlight; and 6) Thai Macro Watch (global market drivers).

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Thailand Retailing / Thematic (Sector/Industry)

In his biography of The Mall Group founder Supaluck Umpuj (ranked no. 15 by Forbes), author Thanomsak details how Thailand's richest woman parlayed her father's single mall into Central Group's biggest competitor through joint ventures such as Paragon and Emporium. We teased out a few important points from the book (150 pages in Thai), including:<ul>
<li>
Market landscape. The department store industry is basically a duopoly between Central and the Mall Group. Competition is fierce.</li>
<li>
Alliances and strategy. Siam Piwat (MBK is largest shareholder) and Bangkok Bank have partnered with the Mall Group in Paragon and Emporium, their two biggest malls. It is customary for smaller players to partner against the market leader. The Mall's biggest strength is their focus on event marketing.</li>
<li>
Differences in corporate cultures. The Umpuj family is much smaller than the Chirathivat who run Central Group. They are also rather focused on Bangkok, while their rivals have stronger presence abroad and upcountry.</li>
<li>
Risks and outlook. The entire industry is susceptible to e-commerce's expanding role in Thailand. Increasing expansion and new players like IconSiam only raises their vulnerability.</li>
</ul>

In his biography of The Mall Group founder Supaluck Umpuj (ranked no. 15 by Forbes), author Thanomsak details how Thailand's richest woman parlayed her father's single mall into Central Group's biggest competitor through joint ventures such as Paragon and Emporium. We teased out a few important points from the book (150 pages in Thai), including:

Market landscape. The department store industry is basically a duopoly between Central and the Mall Group. Competition is fierce.

Alliances and strategy. Siam Piwat (MBK is largest shareholder) and Bangkok Bank have partnered with the Mall Group in Paragon and Emporium, their two biggest malls. It is customary for smaller players to partner against the market leader. The Mall's biggest strength is their focus on event marketing.

Differences in corporate cultures. The Umpuj family is much smaller than the Chirathivat who run Central Group. They are also rather focused on Bangkok, while their rivals have stronger presence abroad and upcountry.

Risks and outlook. The entire industry is susceptible to e-commerce's expanding role in Thailand. Increasing expansion and new players like IconSiam only raises their vulnerability.


Hidden Tigress 2019: Central Group's Biggest Competitor