SOLID backing
TMF Group, while relatively new to Colombia, has quickly established itself as a solid partner for multinational companies as well create a regional base in the country for its services.
TMF Group has been in business for 35 years but arrived in Colombia in 2006. How has it contributed to strengthening Colombian corporations and the wider corporate ecosystem?
Over those 35 years, we have become a wellknown company in Europe. We started working in Colombia in 2006, and since the beginning, we decided to help not only foreign companies invest in Colombia, but also companies in Colombia to invest abroad. We provide administrative services, and help companies understand the global environment better. Our mission is to leverage our experience and knowledge to help companies expand worldwide, and also to bring companies to Colombia and Latin America overall. In doing so, we help those companies introduce a means of development while also helping Colombian companies grasp the best practices that are in place around the globe. In 2023, TMF Colombia started with approximately 200 employees; however, we ended 2023 with a staff count of over 400. We have also created the Regional Delivery Center (RDC), an entity tasked with providing various services from Colombia to other jurisdictions all across North and South America. So, today we provide a diverse range of administrative services from TMF Colombia and the RDC in Colombia: the traditional administrative services, such as human resources and payroll, accounting and tax compliance, and legal entity management, and, also, special administrative services for funds, as well as other services in capital markets.
How do you study the environment to be able to provide the right information for each company?
Having a presence in 86 jurisdictions with over 120 own offices and personnel with local technical knowledge in the areas we serve allows us to have first-hand information to share with our customers. In addition, every year we conduct a study of the complexity of doing business in all the countries where we have a presence. This study helps us to update our knowledge and be at the forefront of local and global trends that affect business in each country. All the knowledge that we have and that we have built up over the years in each office is shared with other TMF colleagues around the world. This is facilitated by the matrix structure that governs TMF, in which we are a single company, with multiple offices around the world but ultimately, a single corporate structure which implies standardized and agile processes for sharing information internally.
Uses Colombia as a base for its new Regional Delivery Center for Latin America
How does TMF establish a relationship with companies that you work with or work for?
Most of our clients are multinational companies in a constant process of expansion or companies seeking to become multinational. In those cases, the relationship that starts abroad, for example in the Netherlands, the UK, the US, or even in Latin America, has a much wider scope that depends on the investment or expansion strategy of the company. So, any kind of relationship with this company is multinational in nature and that multinational factor is what our clients find most attractive in us, as they do not have to deal with multiple service providers with their particular risks and operational complexities. The relationships are based then in a global single solution infused with local flavor. In terms of establishing relationships with local companies this regularly occurs through recommendations from our clients. We approach potential clients through our sales force to understand their needs and offer our services accordingly.
Developing talent and relationships with workers at every level
What are your goals for 2024?
We are working to become the most important administrative services firm in Latin America. We intend to focus not only on the traditional service lines, but also on the segments we are developing and deepening in Latin America, drawing on the knowledge and mature practice we already have of these services in Europe and Asia. Our focus in Latin America for 2024 is on administrative services for funds, capital markets services, and Global Entity Management (GEM). We, as well as our customers, are in a constant process of growth and expansion. We have decided to grow much more in Colombia, not only because we believe in Colombia but also because we trust in all the opportunities that this market offers for our expansion in Latin America.