WMA Summit: Industry gathers to discuss the future of Wealth Management – 11th November 2015

More than 400 delegates are attending the day-long event

Leading figures from the wealth management community are taking part in cutting-edge discussions today (12 November) at the Wealth Management Association (WMA) 18th Annual Summit.

The theme of the day is “2015 and beyond”, marking the association’s 25-year anniversary. Award-winning journalist Anthony Hilton is chairing the event as guest speakers look back at the last quarter of a century and where the industry is heading.

Topics covered so far in the day-long event have ranged from disruptive technology, to the changing face of Europe, and how culture relates to wealth management. The packed audience was also given a regulatory overview from the Chairman of the FCA, John Griffith-Jones who stated: “Whilst we are going through a painful period as we bed in regulatory changes, it is not sustainable that boards spend a disproportionate amount of time on what the regulator wants rather then what the clients want.”

He ended his speech by looking at how the industry should work together in the future.

This was followed by Liz Field, Chief Executive of the WMA, announcing the launch of their new “Millennial’s Forum”.  This forum will look into real business issues on how to attract, retain, and engage with the younger generation of clients.

Liz comments: “After travelling the length and breadth of the UK, it has become clearly apparent, after speaking to numerous CEOs, that there is a real concern about how to get younger generations engaged with wealth management.

“As a result of this, the WMA has launched this forum with support from Simon New and Roopalee Dave from EY. We will be asking firms to put forward their promising new talent to contribute to this important forum. The outcomes of this will allow us to delve into the issues and provide blueprints for development in our industry. The findings will be published in 2016.”

Thought-leaders from the industry, with decades of experience between them and representing a variety of firms, then took to the stage to discuss the changing nature of wealth management. The panel included Nick Hungerford, Director and Chief Executive, Nutmeg; Stephen Ford, Head of Wealth & Investment Management, Brewin Dolphin; Tracey Reddings, Managing  Director, JP Morgan; Adam Seale, CEO Interactive Investor; Jonathan Wragg, Investec Wealth & Investment.

Nick Hungerford summarised Nutmeg’s own recent Millennial study which highlighted that  while 41% of respondents would invest with a Wealth Manager, 61% would invest with Google or Apple which he said was the “scariest bit of data” he’d seen as a financial expert.

Paul Killik, Senior Partner at Kllik & Co; Angela Knight CBE, Senior Independent Director at Brewin Dolphin Tullet Prebon; Dr  Iain Saville CBE, Chair of the Risk Oversight Committee; Marcus Stuttard, Head of AIM, LSE then came together to look back over the last 25 years, discussing  lessons learned.

Both panels highlighted the need to embrace change but ensure that they continue to put the client at the heart of everything they do.

Today’s conference will continue throughout the afternoon covering a range of relevant industry issues and will hear from keynote speaker and noted journalist Michael Portillo.

ENDS