INTHEBLACK September/October 2025 - Magazine - Page 39
KYLE PHAM FCPA
CFO, THE GRAND HO TRAM RESORT & CASINO
HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM
Taking on a leadership role in the hospitality
industry during a global pandemic may sound
risky, but Kyle Pham FCPA had a clear vision
for change when he joined The Grand Ho Tram
Resort & Casino in 2020.
“The business wasn’t doing great,” he says.
“But, over the past four years, we’ve turned it
around and quadrupled our profitability.”
Pham moved to Australia from Vietnam as
a refugee when he was 12. While working as a
senior manager at Deloitte in Adelaide, he returned
to Vietnam for business trips and relocated in
2006. Since then, he has held diverse roles
across ecommerce, the textile industry and
financial consulting.
Pham has been instrumental in transforming the
integrated resort into a global destination for events.
“We host combat sports, beauty pageants,
fashion and musical shows. That has helped us
YAO LOONG NG FCPA
HEAD OF EQUITIES,
SINGAPORE EXCHANGE (SGX)
SINGAPORE
Many of Singapore’s young retail investors
look beyond their local market for investment
opportunities, due to the convenience of online
brokerages and the lure of Wall Street players.
Yao Loong Ng FCPA, a Singapore Divisional Council
member for CPA Australia, is working to strengthen
young investor engagement with the Singapore
Exchange and enhance their trading experience.
“Younger investors are more exposed to global
markets and a range of asset classes, including
cryptocurrencies,” he says. “They’re digitally native
and comfortable using online platforms to trade
across borders. So, it’s important for SGX to engage
with this younger demographic.
“We need to work with our brokers to provide
investors with a comparable trading experience, as
trades are ultimately executed through intermediaries
connected to SGX,” Ng says. “Investor education is
attract a significant volume of customers over
the past four years.”
Pham has also improved the company’s
operational and financial analytics capacity.
“When I stepped into the role, that capacity
wasn’t there, and it took a lot of time and
effort to work with the team to develop these
capabilities,” he says. “I’m happy to report that
we now have the capacity to provide timely and
relevant analytics on operational and financial
aspects, which helps us to make decisions
very quickly.”
Pham is also committed to the development
of his team.
“Senior people like me need to be significantly
involved in system development, analytics and
understanding how those numbers translate into
business strategies,” he says. “I have been able to
bring our people along with that, to develop them,
nurture them and motivate them.
“I can see a marked improvement in how people
contribute to the business, and that continues to be
very satisfying for me.”
important. We know that people love the Magnificent
Seven Wall Street tech stocks, but it’s also important to
understand diversification and local stocks.”
Ng’s career spans public policy and investment
banking. He joined the Monetary Authority of
Singapore in 2011 and held senior positions including
assistant managing director of the development and
international group. Ng joined SGX in 2020 as deputy
CFO, became CFO later that year and was appointed
to his current role in December 2024.
Ng sees potential for capital market growth
throughout the region.
“I am lucky to be based in a region that is growing,”
he says. “Often, we think of the financial sector in
terms of just ‘movement of capital’, but our role
is to facilitate the efficient allocation of capital
to companies that need it and support broader
economic growth.
“As an exchange, there are things we need to do
to drive the liquidity of our stock market, to attract
listings and to broaden the investor outreach, but it’s
important to remember that we’re working toward
a larger purpose — serving the broader economy.” ●
GLOBAL GAME CHANGERS intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au 39
