Let’s grab a coffee in the City

This Summer we’re not only seeing record temperatures, according to the Bloomberg Pret Index, there is some very positive news as signs of normality are returning to the City – and by that we mean pre-Covid levels of footfall and coffee sales.

Back in February, our LinkedIn poll revealed a different picture. Out of those polled, 68% said they were hybrid working, while 17% were working in the office 4 or 5 days a week and 11% full time at home. That’s obviously changed now and it’s great news for networking and catching up face to face which is something we feel is really important for us as an industry.

There are continuing challenges in the industry that should be on the top of your mind.

Last month the FCA issued its 2023-2025 business plan with a significant focus on outcomes for investors and regulation that is more based on the potential harms to the investor, the market and your company. We believe that this is not just a shift in terminology but has wider impacts on culture, governance, responsibility and accountability, and needless to say therefore on the operating model.

Digitalisation in the industry remains an important challenge for our industry and technologies like blockchain, tokenisation and NFT are likely to enable the industry to create more bespoke portfolios for (professional, retail) investors and equally significant efficiency as well as business management improvements.

With the EU recently labelling gas and nuclear power generation as “green” (climate friendly and needed for energy transition) new investment opportunities arise. There is a clear need to define the narrative as to why these investment, despite the EU parliament backing, are acceptable within asset managers investment portfolios and how they will be managed over the long term. Equally it raises the question if asset management needs to diverge its offering of products in EU countries that remain opposed to nuclear or gas.

And finally, matters for debate are inflation and or stagflation which remain at the top of asset managers portfolio management. What this means for product development in the short and medium term and how associated (investment, liquidity) risk will be dealt with will be a long conversation over the coming months.

The list of topics is almost unlimited. So while you enjoy the Summer holidays, switch off and after your break it would be great to have a discussion of the above and the potential implications to your business over a coffee with us – drop us a note here enquiries@algome.com and we’ll be in touch.