Financial services is key to our economy. If you’re in business, or you’re an individual, you need banks that will lend, that can help you manage risk and can deal with maturity transformation. Whether you’re a business or an individual, you need insurance, to give you protection and savings. And as many of the countries of the world get older, and we need to save more for retirement, so the investment management industry is key to making that safe and secure.
The challenge for anybody in financial services is how to cope with the regulation that is shifting the landscape. And let’s be very clear, that regulation is going to dominate thinking over the next three, four, five years, it’ll change the nature of the industry and people will change their institutions, depending upon what comes out from the regulators. But at the same time, the question is how do I get the growth, is it about new markets and new geographies? Or can I reinvent myself to give the customer a very different proposition?
These problems are multi-faceted. We need to look at them with a tax angle, with a risk and regulatory angle, with a cost/income ratio angle, with an operating model angle. And what we want to do is to be able to help clients assess where to go and then be co-pilots of change with them, as they go on their journey, to deliver the business benefits. It doesn’t matter whether they need access to audit specialists, or transaction specialists, or regulatory specialists, or tax specialists, we give them integrated, practical advice that focuses on solving their issues. It’s really making sure that we bring all of KPMG’s experience to bear.
It’s the way that we get alongside organisations that enables us to give the very practical, yet independent, advice that people value. We work with almost all the major banks, the insurance companies and the asset management companies, right across the world, and that gives us a unique insight into what people are thinking about, where the trends are emerging and I think, what are the practical issues that our clients are going to overcome.
Our goal is to really help management and directors make their business successful. We want to be the sounding board of choice, we want to bring all our experience, but most of all we want them to know that KPMG is brand enhancing to them because of our reputation and that it should help them manage their dialogue with stakeholders.
It is a fantastically challenging industry, but we have a great team globally, we have a great reputation and we have an awful lot to give to our clients.
Financial services is key to our