Day: April 5, 2022

Growth through ESG is demonstrated with innovative portfolio launches as Responsible Solvers™ program increases farmer income and quality of life for broader community

WILMINGTON, Del., April 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — With a renewed strategy that includes an intense commitment to environment, social and governance (ESG) as a growth driver, Ashland Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ASH) today revealed several high performing natural, nature-derived and biodegradable skin and hair care innovations at in-cosmetics Global in Paris, France.

The company also showcased an innovative supplier partnership for the sustainable farming of guar under their Responsible Solvers^™ program which is powering sustainable, profitable growth for local farmers and small villages in the Sriganganagar district of Rajasthan, India. The STEM education program, held in partnership with the SM Sehgal Foundation, is increasing farmers’ yield and income, lowering production costs, expanding the local economy, and positively impacting the environment.

Ashland sensiva go natural multifunctional

Hair care
Styleze™ es-dura ingredient is a plant-based, hair care ecostyler for leading edge styling performance and sustainability. This novel ingredient draws on Ashland’s expertise in guar-based polysaccharides to deliver outstanding all-weather style durability. It was developed to give a uniquely strong sustainability profile offering naturally derived, biodegradable, vegan and clean INCI claims in hair styling, conditioning, and treatment formulations. Styleze^™ es-dura ingredient was designed to be highly versatile, so formulators can easily create both modern and traditional styling products which deliver naturally flawless styles and crisp curl definition, without weighing down the hair.

Skin care
Caressense™ biofunctional powers love’s ageless beauty over time. This phytofermented extract from fresh, organic jasmine flowers is sustainably grown in Provence, France. It is inspired by research on the connection between skin and emotions, and the “science of love.” It can activate biologically the sensors of touch, releasing “feel-good” molecules inside the skin. The product delivers age-relaxing benefits with emotional, well-feeling improved immune defense, and a healthy-looking effect. Caressense^™ biofunctional was developed using the power of a novel, sustainable, patented phytofermentology^™ technology, creating a unique signature composition. It unveils bountiful and bioactive phytonutrients such as flower peptides and polyphenols for the beauty of skin while emphasizing new trends about “love beauty” and “emotional beauty” along with health and wellness tendencies for good-mood and feel-good mindcare.

Ashland caressense biofunctional

Microbial protection
Sensiva™ go natural multifunctional is a COSMOS validated, 100 percent natural origin based, and readily biodegradable new multifunctional with antimicrobial properties. It has broad spectrum efficacy combined with well-known humectant properties. The carefully selected ingredients are highly effective and gentle on the skin. Its wide applicability, effectiveness and broad pH range make it the perfect fit for natural-driven formulations around the globe.

Ashland also highlighted the following innovations that the company introduced last fall:
Texturpure™ sa-1 ingredient for hair care, a naturally derived and biodegradable thickening, texturing and suspension agent for sustainable hair, hand and body care cleansers. Inspired by the global trends for clean INCI, naturally derived and sustainable personal care formulations, this sustainable ingredient delivers a rich, smooth and luxuriously viscous texture with a clean break on pouring and suspension of oils and actives in shampoos and cleansing systems. Utilizing Ashland’s expertise in sustainable polysaccharide technologies, texturpure^™ sa-1 ingredient was developed to be naturally derived according to ISO 16128, sustainably and ethically sourced, and biodegradable. The product incorporates a specific ratio of high performance clean INCI ingredients in order to deliver a sensorial effect and yield value, which match or surpass many leading synthetics.

Natrathix™ bio cellulose for skin care enables more natural skin textures. This sustainable innovation is a nature-derived, readily biodegradable thickener with suspension capabilities that maintains emulsion stability of skin and sun care formulations while delivering a desirable skin feel. Developed through Ashland’s market leading expertise in sustainably sourced cellulosics and rheology modification, natrathix^™ bio cellulose enables the creation of more natural skin care creams, lotions and gels, including organic and inorganic sunscreen formulations, with the texture, skin feel and sustainability that consumers demand.  Natrathix^™ bio cellulose is non-GMO, vegan suitable and globally compliant.  This versatile rheology modifier is electrolyte and minerals tolerant, effective across a wide pH range (4-8), cold processible, and does not require neutralization.  It is a great alternative to carbomers in formulations.

Ashland also highlighted the recently launched antaron™ eco gel, a biodegradable, water-resistant film former for lighter, non-greasy sun care and cosmetics applications. It is easy to use because it requires less time and heat to incorporate in formulations. This novel product provides excellent water resistance and improves the sustainability of sunscreen or cosmetic formulations. It is also vegan suitable.

“As a global leader in personal care solutions, Ashland is taking a leading position in natural, nature-derived and biodegradable ingredients, polysaccharide-based rheology, premium biofunctionals actives, microbial protection, hair fixatives, and more” said Xiaolan Wang, senior vice president and general manager, personal care. “We have built ESG into our operating plans so that as we innovate, we take a thoughtful approach to our sustainable portfolio of products.”

Responsibly solving for a better world
During in-cosmetics Global, Ashland showcased the first of a series of sustainable business initiatives, which resulted in positive economic, environmental and social impacts from the company’s recently announced Responsible Solvers™ program.

In partnership with the SM Sehgal Foundation, in 2021 Ashland initiated a STEM education program applying scientific solutions for sustainable farming to increase the volume of guar harvested annually while respecting the sourcing relationships and local cultures of small village farmers in the Sriganganagar district of Rajasthan, India. The relationships are critical to Ashland, which uses guar to formulate specialty ingredients such as styleze™ es-dura ingredient for personal care, life sciences and coatings applications.

The pilot program included 250 farms from 10 villages. Using modern technologies, farmers were taught sustainable agronomic practices and water conservation. The program’s successful results include helping farmers lower their production cost while increasing their crop yield by approximately 30 percent. In addition, the program has helped increase farmers’ income, thus expanding the local economy in the small villages.

At the same time, Ashland’s commitment to gender equality led to specific training focused on the local female population to empower them, improve their technical knowledge and skills, and help elevate their standard of living. Based on the success of the pilot, Ashland is moving forward with plans to increase the number of farms to 5,000 by 2025.

In addition to aiding the farmers with guar production, Ashland’s Responsible Solvers^™ mindset led the team to also provide training and other technical guidance for mustard and wheat crops during the guar off-season. This training also improved the yield of these crops, making a holistic impact on the farmers’ annual income.

“Driven by our desire for profitable, sustainable growth and global megatrends in the resilient markets that we have selected, Ashland is increasing the speed of our innovations, while proactively and consciously focusing on their holistic impact for customers, the environment and the welfare of society,” said Guillermo Novo, chair and chief executive officer, Ashland. “More than a year ago, Ashland integrated ESG into our strategic operating plans, and globally, we are continuing to take an earnest and heartfelt approach towards profitable innovation, sustainability and positive impacts for the local communities in which we operate.”

Ashland plans to share more success stories and best practices from the Responsible Solvers^™ program in the weeks and months to come.  To learn more, visit ashland.com/incos22 and  ashland.com/guar and https://www.ashland.com/about/stem-and-responsible-solvers

About Ashland
Ashland Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ASH) is a focused additives and specialty ingredients company with a conscious and proactive mindset for sustainability. The company serves customers in a wide range of consumer and industrial markets, including architectural coatings, automotive, construction, energy, food and beverage, nutraceuticals, personal care and pharmaceuticals. Approximately 3,800 passionate, tenacious solvers – from renowned scientists and research chemists to talented engineers and plant operators – thrive on developing practical, innovative and elegant solutions to complex
problems for customers in more than 100 countries. Visit ashland.com and ashland.com/sustainability to learn more.

^™ Trademark, Ashland or its subsidiaries, registered in various countries.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Media Relations:

Carolmarie C. Brown

+1 (302) 995-3158

ccbrown@ashland.com

Attachments

• Ashland styleze es dura
• Ashland caressense biofunctional
• Ashland sensiva go natural multifunctional
• Ashland reveals natural, nature-derived and biodegradable personal care solutions, and nature-positive STEM education program FNL 20220405

Gotrade is an investing platform that allows users to trade fractional shares of U.S. stocks and ETFs.

LABUAN, Malaysia, April 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Gotrade allows users to invest in stocks and ETFs without commissions or hidden fees. Gotrade – the investing app on a mission to make investing accessible to everyone, everywhere – has raised $15.5 million in a Series A round led by Velocity Capital Fintech Ventures. The round also saw participation from investors around the globe including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) [Japan], BeeNext [Singapore], Kibo Ventures [Spain], Picus Capital [Germany] as well as returning investors LocalGlobe [UK], Social Leverage [US] & Raptor [US].

• Gotrade allows users to invest in stocks and ETFs without commissions or hidden fees.
• It has racked up over 500,000 users from over 140 countries in its first year.
• Gotrade Indonesia, launched in partnership with local broker Valbury, the Jakarta Futures Exchange and the state-backed Futures Clearing House of Indonesia, is the first platform in Indonesia to offer market access to the U.S. stock market through fully backed contracts.
• Andrew Haryono, the owner of the Valbury group, a financial services conglomerate in Indonesia, joins Gotrade as co-founder.
• The funding round was led by Velocity Capital Fintech Ventures with participation from MUFG, BeeNext, Kibo Ventures, as well as returning investors LocalGlobe, Social Leverage, Picus Capital and Raptor Group.

The funding was revealed one year after Gotrade launched, racking up over 500,000 users from over 140 countries with no marketing. The app’s viral growth has been fueled exclusively by word of mouth and customer referrals.

Investing for everyone

The company was founded in 2019 by Rohit Mulani, Norman Wanto and David Grant with the mission to make investing accessible to everyone, everywhere. Together, they developed the Gotrade app to allow users globally to buy fractional shares in global giants on the NYSE and NASDAQ from as little as $1.

Gotrade raised a $7 million seed round in 2021 from LocalGlobe and Social Leverage, both early backers of Robinhood. Once it received clearance from the Labuan Financial Services Authority of Malaysia, Gotrade rolled out an invite-only platform in March 2021, launching publicly in September 2021.

With zero marketing, the app has attracted over 500,000 users – with close to 90% of them being new to the U.S. stock market. Gotrade users have transacted over $400 million to date across more than 5 million trades.

Like Robinhood, Gotrade charges no commissions on its trades. Unlike Robinhood, it does not adopt the controversial practice of monetising from payment for order flow. Instead, it generates revenue by charging 0.50% to 1.20% in FX fees (depending on the source currency) if users choose to deposit their funds in local currency that is then converted into U.S. dollars for trading.

Included in this fee, Gotrade powers instant deposits – enabling users to capitalise on trading opportunities without having to pre-fund their accounts. Gotrade is also currently testing a premium membership product called Gotrade Black that gives its users access to premium features including candlestick charts, analyst ratings, target prices and a risk measurement, all for a $2 monthly membership fee.

Now, Gotrade is looking to go local thanks to the $15.5 million round led by Velocity. The round brings Gotrade’s total funding to date to $22.5 million as Velocity’s Don Montanaro joins the Board alongside LocalGlobe’s Remus Brett. Velocity Fintech is a veteran in the space with previous investments in TradeKing (acq. Ally Financial), 8 Securities (acq. SoFi) and a current investment in Bux. Montanaro was the founder and CEO at TradeKing, prior to joining Velocity.

“Everyone deserves the right to invest in their own future and control their financial destiny, and from the first moment we met Rohit and the fantastic Gotrade team, we knew they would succeed in delivering this power to Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and beyond,” said Velocity’s Montanaro. “Combining a simple, safe and friendly mobile app experience with fractional trading at zero commissions is a proven winning formula around the globe. As experienced investors and operators in this space, we’re thrilled to lead this investment round and excited to support Gotrade through every step of their journey forward,” said Don Montanaro.

The money will help Gotrade grow its team of 40 and launch localized versions of its product in various markets, starting with Southeast Asia. Launching local versions of Gotrade will allow the company to start offering its product in local languages with local deposit methods across the region, which the company expects will unlock significant further growth.

“Investing in Southeast Asia is broken. Over 600 million people can’t access quality investment products at fair prices. They are subject to mutual funds with expense ratios exceeding 5%, savings products like gold with 3% spreads and hidden fees peppered across their portfolios – not just by the incumbents but also by the companies that are meant to be the disruptors. We believe that investing should be fair and users should not have to bear these predatory costs,” said Gotrade founder Rohit Mulani.

Giving Indonesians access to the U.S. stock market  

In conjunction with its Series A funding, Gotrade announced the launch of Gotrade Indonesia – a platform built to enable users in Indonesia to invest as little as $1 in the likes of Tesla, Apple, Netflix et al. on an easy-to-use, commission-free platform.

Gotrade picked Indonesia as the first market to launch a local version of Gotrade simply because it was there that the problem seemed most pressing with mutual fund fees frequently exceeding 5%.

Interestingly, local brokers are not permitted to offer foreign securities within Indonesia, but are permitted to offer derivatives of foreign securities.

This led Gotrade to partner with Valbury Asia Futures, the Jakarta Futures Exchange and the Futures Clearing House of Indonesia – all regulated by Bappebti, the derivatives regulator in Indonesia, to design a fully backed derivative that gives the end users market access to U.S. stocks.

As per local regulations, funds are sent to the state-backed Futures Clearing House of Indonesia with trades made through Valbury and registered on the Jakarta Futures Exchange.

All trades are sent to Alpaca Securities LLC, a FINRA licensed broker-dealer in the U.S. and executed at the National Best Bid and Offer as per the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission’s regulations. As the trades execute directly in the U.S., all contracts on Gotrade are fully backed by real shares held in the U.S. This arrangement is supervised by Bappebti, the derivatives regulator in Indonesia.

Gotrade Indonesia is the first platform in Indonesia to offer this market access for U.S. stocks. Historically, people who wanted to buy U.S. shares from Indonesia would have had to either use a foreign stockbroker or trade CFDs locally with the latter resulting in substantial hidden fees of up to 1% per trade built into the bid-ask spread on the contracts.

The teams at Gotrade, Valbury, the Jakarta Futures Exchange and Kliring Berjangka Indonesia worked closely with local regulators to enable dollar-based investing and nine-decimal places fractional share investing – in another first for the industry. For instance, if Tesla is trading at $1,000/share, you can buy 1/1,000th of a Tesla share with $1.

A new-old co-founder

Together with the launch of Gotrade Indonesia, Gotrade announced that Andrew Haryono is being recognized as a co-founder of the company. Andrew is the owner of the Valbury Group – the same Valbury that is powering the Gotrade Indonesia platform. The Valbury Group is a financial conglomerate in Indonesia that owns securities, derivatives and capital management arms.

“Andrew has been involved since the earliest days of the business in 2019 and has been instrumental in helping us achieve the success we have had so far. With the Valbury partnership and the launch of Gotrade Indonesia, we’ve been able to take our partnership to a new level and everyone felt it was time to recognise him for the pivotal role he’s played in the company’s past as well as the role he will continue play in the company’s future,” said Gotrade founder Rohit Mulani.

“The team at Gotrade is on a mission to completely reinvent investing for millions of Indonesians. I’ve been in the industry for over 20 years but as soon as I met the team in 2019, I knew that this was the team that would transform the industry. I am thrilled to be a part of the team at Gotrade and am excited to be a part of the next phase of the company’s hypergrowth,” said Gotrade co-founder Andrew Haryono.

Industry veterans jump onboard

Gotrade is rapidly building one of the most experienced teams in the wealth management space in Southeast Asia.

In addition to incoming co-founder Andrew Haryono, who boasts over 23 years of financial services experience, David Grant was the former CEO of Charles Schwab Singapore, also bringing over 20 years of retail brokerage experience.

Gotrade also announced two senior executive hires with Tan Hui Lynn and Jeremy Ng joining Gotrade as General Counsel and Chief Financial Officer respectively.

Prior to joining Gotrade, Tan was a former partner at Zaid Ibrahim & Co, Malaysia’s leading law firm, whilst Ng was previously the financial controller for Asia Pacific at Oanda prior to taking up his new role.

About Gotrade

Gotrade is a mobile app-based stock investing application that enables users to invest as little as $1 in fractional shares of U.S. stocks on an easy-to-use, commission-free platform. It was launched in 2019 with the vision of making investing fun, fair and simple for everyone, everywhere. Instruments on Gotrade are offered through Gotrade Securities Inc. Instruments on Gotrade Indonesia are offered through PT Valbury Asia Futures, a Bappebti licensed broker-dealer established in 1999 in Indonesia.

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For inquiries, contact support@heygotrade.com

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