In a world where everything has become digital, personal touch is what customers seek. In the legal service industry, it is observed that businesses somewhere fail to maintain that personal relationship with their clients. It was an aspiration to fill this gap that led Anna Homenko to form Fiduciana Trust (Cyprus) Limited, a ‘boutique’ Cyprus trustee and fiduciary service provider with international coverage.
As the Founder and Managing Director of the company, Anna has brought her 20 years of experience, knowledge, and resources to the table.
Anna has cemented her reputation in Cyprus and abroad as one of the most knowledgeable people in the administrative services industry. Her passion for her work and constantly striving for excellence in all that she does has made her the inspirational leader she is today.
Considered as a doyen in the industry, Anna leads by example, taking a hands-on approach and inspiring her teams to utilize all that they learn, create, and believe in. Furthermore, she is a solution-oriented leader, who believes that there is never a problem that cannot be solved. Instead of exploring obstacles, she believes in taking responsibility and focusing on the desired outcomes.
Advising budding entrepreneurs in the legal services and tax planning industry, Anna says “Be passionate about what you do, be honest and committed to the needs of your clients. Love the people you work with. Be practical and invest time to nurture client relationships.”
Setting Benchmarks of Excellence
By combining its legal knowledge, fiduciary experience, and business sense, Fiduciana ensures to consistently deliver the best possible outcome for its clients. The firm takes pride in the fact that it offers friendly and personal service to its customers.
Operating as a ‘home office’, the company focuses on offering the highest level of trust, corporate tax and accounting services and solutions to its clients. The ‘boutique’ nature of the firm ensures that its clients’ affairs are kept strictly confidential and the most personal approach is offered in the handling of all matters.
Fiduciana’s team is passionate and dedicated professionals from a diverse list of experts, chartered accountants, lawyers, and paralegal administrators who are high-caliber professionals, carefully recruited, and suitably trained to not only to meet but to exceed the needs of the most demanding situations.
The firm is evidently a leader in delivering added value to its clients, where it provides directors expertise for management of client’s company. It has the ability and experience to understand the business of its clients and thus conduct the entire business of the company, liaising with the company’s owners only where appropriate.
Overcoming Adversities
Anna’s journey so far has been full of undulating moments. “Most of the entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals around the world can attest that excelling in any industry requires perseverance, commitment, and discipline. But women have an additional task to do which is to challenge accepted gender norms. This was no different in Cyprus – an island traditionally dominated by men in most areas of corporate and commercial business,” Anna expresses.
But Anna never shies away from a challenge. There have been additional difficulties along her way. The unprecedented banking crisis of 2013 ushering Cyprus into a recession was definitely one of the most widely felt. However, Anna’s focus was always on delivering impeccable client service by maintaining a flow of communication and offering the highest level of support, guidance, and advice to all her clients during the most turbulent times.
Another biggest challenge in today’s profession Anna mentions, is staying abreast of the ever-changing tax, legal, trust and regulatory landscape globally and adapting Fiduciana’s practice to find a fit for Cyprus so that it remains compliant but, at the same time, competitive.
Upholding the Virtue of Gratitude
When it comes to giving back to the community, Fiduciana looks at it as encompassing the transparent nature of the work it does, the ethical nature of its clients’ businesses, and how it can support the community and fill the needs that arise outside its doorstep. The firm supports a plethora of community initiatives by providing resources, funding, and time wherever possible with the intent of giving back, with gratitude.
In this way the company leads by example – not only through its day-to-day work, but by being an active and involved member of its community. “A corporation can only be socially responsible when it takes responsibility for its own actions also – caring for our people, our planet and raising awareness whenever we can,” Anna expresses.
Sustaining Competency
We asked Anna her opinion regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Legal Services industry, and how she and her team at Fiduciana managed to overcome the challenges, to which she said, “the legal and corporate services industry was greatly impacted as a result of the pandemic. Most firms reported a significant drop in new enquiries and a hold on existing transactions and instructions across a variety of different matters.”
“The issue with transactions not being pushed forward to completion and a lack of new instructions was the jeopardizing of the pipeline of work with so much future uncertainty. In fact, the start of 2020 saw the slowest rate of deal making for seven years. There were no new listings and M&As in the market and business, globally. Also, local lockdowns and a restriction on working on site raised many new challenges in the industry.”
“Fiduciana has always been investing in top technology, which in this case has helped the company to continue working without interruptions from any part of the world and/or home and to continue delivering its usual top-quality service around the clock as it assisted its clients during these turbulent times,” adds Anna.
Anna knew that flexibility and adaptability have become cornerstones of any successful business during these times and her team at Fiduciana did what they could to ensure their clients had a range of options and the ability to make decisions as quickly as possible to ensure that their own businesses would be disrupted as little as possible.
Voyaging towards New Horizons
“Fiduciana will continue to cement its place as a leader in the provision of top quality corporate and business services through the promotion of holistic business, conscious management, and investment in our people,” Anna asserts.
To achieve this, the firm continues to work through its growth strategy but with flexibility and adaptability at the forefront. Anna mentions that current events have shown her that every business has to be resilient, flexible, and quick to pivot.
“Fiduciana is future focused but comfortable in letting go whatever no longer serves the company and its clients, to ensure that everyone keeps moving forward,” concludes Anna.