PIMFA
Press Release
3 June 2020
Treasury’s John Glen signals government stands ready to do ‘whatever is needed’ to support financial services at PIMFA’s inaugural Virtual Fest
Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen has said the government stands ready to do “whatever is needed” to support the financial services industry and economy achieve “the maximum and most rapid bounce back” from the impact of COVID-19 in his opening address to delegates at PIMFA’s inaugural Virtual Fest today (3 June).
PIMFA, the trade association for the wealth management and financial advice industry, welcomed the Treasury minister as a keynote speaker to its first ever entirely virtual, two-day conference to speak to financial services professionals about the government’s approach to rebuilding the economy and the role the sector would play in supporting government.
Opening the conference, Mr Glen said: “We are at a critical time and financial services and the whole sector in all it’s dimensions has been core to the government’s economic response,” adding the Treasury was “committed to getting the county and economy back to as normal a state as soon as possible”.
“We have gone through difficult times as a country and as an industry before and we will come through the other side, and the government stands ready to do whatever we need to do to support the industry to return to better times through the back end of this calendar year and into 2021.”
The current crisis, he said, had underscored once again how critical financial advice and support was to the country. The MP for Salisbury added it was important for financial services to continue to adapt to current circumstances and that it remained vital that “the sector was responsive to people’s rapidly changing situations as the country strives to return back to normality as quickly as possible”. This would, he said, depend on the shape of the economy and how it evolved over the coming weeks and months, adding that it was “very difficult to give a clear projection”.
However, there was “a great desire to keep things joined up, to look thoughtfully and creatively at how we move forward in a clear and understandable way but at the same time have an eye to continued growth and prosperity for financial services, which have been such a significant part of the economy for a very long time”.
In order to do this, the Economic Secretary said the government would continue to listen to the concerns of wealth managers and financial advisers and work closely with them to try to make sure there was “a joined up approach” between industry, government and regulators to ensure a strong bounce back to the economy over the next 18 months.
“What we have tried to do is maintain the capacity in the economy to ensure the conditions are set for the maximum and most rapid bounce back for the economy as a whole and we will need to look at how we will then support that in ways that maximise the chances of a fast recovery bouncing into a strong period of growth,” he said. “The fusion of capital markets and retail investors working together is key. Business is going to have a lot more debt. There is a lot of work going on across the City and we welcome ideas that are well considered and that we can work with”.
Liz Field, Chief Executive of PIMFA, commented: “We are very grateful to John Glen for his time and insights. Wealth managers and financial advisers stand ready to support the government in safeguarding individual’s financial and mental wellbeing and helping our economy return to normality as soon as possible. How the economy evolves, and how we as an industry and as a country emerge from the current crisis, will have long term and significant implications for future generations, so it is important that we all contribute to the recovery and find the right way forward.”
PIMFA’s online Virtual Fest will continue over the 3 and 4 June and registrations remain open, find out more here. This groundbreaking event would not have been possible without the support of PIMFA members and partners including Royal London Asset Management, SIX Group, Worksmart, Mitigo Cyber Security, Octo Members and Money Marketing.
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Notes for Editors
About PIMFA – the Personal Investment Management & Financial Advice Association
- PIMFA is the trade association for firms that provide investment management and financial advice to everyone from individuals and families to charities, pension funds, trusts and companies.
- The sector currently looks after £1.5 trillion in private savings and investments and employs over 55,000 people.
- PIMFA represents both full and associate member firms. Full members provide a range of financial solutions including financial advice, portfolio management, as well as investment and execution services. They assist everyone from individuals and families, to charities and pension funds, all the way to trusts and companies. Associate members provide professional services to the PIMFA community.
- PIMFA leads the debate on policy and regulatory recommendations to ensure that the UK remains a global centre of excellence in the wealth management, investment advice and financial planning arena. Our mission is to create an optimal operating environment so that its member firms can focus on delivering the best service to clients, providing responsible stewardship for their long-term savings and investments.
- PIMFA was created in 2017 as the outcome of a merger between the Association of Professional Financial Advisers (APFA) and the Wealth Management Association (WMA) with a history as a trade association since 1991 – read more.
- Further information can be found at www.pimfa.co.uk
- To become a member of PIMFA for access to training, benefits and discounts, please visit https://www.pimfa.co.uk/
become-a-member or contact us directly at membership@pimfa.co.uk
Contact
For further information on this release or other press matters please contact:
- Matthew West, PIMFA PR Manager – MatthewW@pimfa.co.uk, +44 (0)20 7382 0376 / +44 (0)7843 903258
- Sheena Gillett, PIMFA Communications & PR Director – sheenag@pimfa.co.uk, +44 (0)20 7011 9869 / +44 (0)7979 493225
