Tag: conferences

The importance of industry networking: ALFI Conference London 2024

Posted on by Pierre-Yves Rahari

We have written about the importance of industry events recently and shared our insights. This time I would like to reflect on what going to conferences and the attendant networking can mean for a Fintech like ours.

The ALFI London Conference and Cocktail 2024 took place recently in October. It cements the longstanding relationship between Luxembourg and London with respect to the European and global asset management stage and is extremely well attended. Over 1,000 members of the local investment fund community, which included the Reseo team, joined the event.

This annual gathering of key players in the Investment Management industry includes a diverse yet complementary group of Asset Managers, Distributors, Fund Administrators, Lawyers, Regulators, System Providers, and Fintechs like ours.

The agenda included existing challenges such as converting household’s savings into investments, legislative and regulatory innovations, and new horizons such as the emerging extraterrestrial space economy.

While the conference provides in-depth updates on the state of the industry (economy; investment horizon; investor preferences; distribution; regulation; product development; technology), one of the key features of this conference is the opportunity to network with all of these industry players.

There are many advantages to in person networking and here are our top three:

People focused

Attending an event with a large audience to engage with engenders a sense of belonging in our industry, which is a very nice aspect of our work and helps us reaffirm our bonds with each other. In Finance, like most industries, doing business is predicated on the quality of human relationships we develop with others and as such attending conferences, it is always a great pleasure to catch up and reunite with friends and colleagues of the industry, and of course, making new connections.

Listen and learn about the industry

Attending conferences takes us out of our natural habitat, the Fintech laboratory, and exposes us to the realities of the industry. Conference agendas can inspire and generate new ways of thinking, problem solving, ideas and knowledge sharing. It is really important for us to hear what people think, see where the industry trends are heading, and also gather new ideas, which we bring back to base to help refine Reseo’s product and value-proposition.

Exchange and collaboration

We are always keen to discuss our solutions and exchange ideas. At Reseo, we believe in the power of interoperability of tech solutions and the benefits of collaboration with a view to meet the market needs and offer most value for our clients. Networking means we can really test how our ideas are received and explore opportunities to help our future customers. As a result, we hone our ideas where needed in order to meet the demands of the market.

So, if you meet a member of the Reseo team at your next industry conference, please grab us and engage in a conversation, let’s share that pleasure of meeting and connecting.

 

Photo credit: ALFI – Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry via @LinkedIn

 

Industry conferences: Where innovation meets trust

Posted on by Luuk Jacobs

We’ve been attending several high-profile industry conferences recently and have noted some clear trends emerge, namely in the discussion around data, products and services. The Financial Services industry is looking at how it can harvest the value of all the data it holds and equally how new insights of these data, and the data itself can, or should be used to create the new products and services of the coming decade.

With data comes great responsibility and the need for trust.

New technologies often claim that their objectives are to reduce the need for trusted intermediators, arbitration costs, and fraud losses, as well as the reduction of malicious and accidental exceptions.

Not only do we believe that trust remains critical to ensure users’ funds and personal information are secure but equally that the technology proves that they can be trusted in replacing the intermediaries.

Here are three examples of where innovation meets trust;

Tokenisation

Tokenisation is a huge opportunity which relies on trust. It is important as an aid to the wider adoption of alternative assets by broadening the accessibility and appeal of alternative asset classes. This means they can be brought to a broader group of investors and even to the retail sector. What is currently holding it back from adoption is not so much the technology, but the regulation around investor suitability and ability to trade as well as liquidity requirements.

Alternative assets often have long term capital and investment horizons (>5 years) and therefore need an aligned commitment of the investors. Tokenisation can (partly) compensate for the capital commitment ie a £100 million building can be tokenised into smaller parts to invest in. Equally the tokens will be easier to trade if and only if regular valuation is trusted and reliable.

Smart contracts

A smart contract is, despite its name, not a legal agreement but instead a series of transactions which are automatically self-executed by a computer programme, according to the terms of a contract or an agreement.

The smart contract runs autonomously, requires no need for manipulation by humans, as is the case with paper contracts, and there are no intermediaries. According to this definition, trust is not a requirement because the blockchain automatically executes the contract once terms are met.

We beg to differ. It most certainly can be argued that if the smart contract does not deliver the expected outcome, the trust is quickly lost.

As comparison is often made between a smart contract and a vending machine in which you put a certain amount of money and choose a certain product with a push on a button. If the smart contract would not execute in line with the price indicated and choice of product, the vending machine (smart contract) would not be trusted.

Another example often used for comparison of a smart contract is that of currency exchange. High street banks were known for charging significant exchange fees and tried to compete with neo banks by incorporating these fees within the exchange rate offered. The “smart” contract was quickly seen for what it was and trust in the process was lost.

Blockchain, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)

Blockchain is another technology which is boosting the shift towards digitalisation in finance. Often associated with crypto currencies, the use goes well beyond that.

Blockchain is not a single-player game it is a team sport. Therefore, organisations that insist on forging ahead to create their own blockchain solutions are likely to be disappointed. There is little value to be had from a blockchain that only has one participant. The value of a blockchain lies in its participants and the extent to which they commit to the platform.

The original purpose of blockchain technology was to enable the transfer of value within trust-less networks, where the different parties did not have to trust each other to conduct transactions involving the exchange of value1.

However today, blockchain solutions require a network of parties to agree to use the network, agree on the underlying business processes that will govern the network, and then to integrate their systems with the network. Without trust between the parties, in the processes and governance of it the willingness to integrate the party’s system within the blockchain network are unlikely to happen. Equally, the processes need to be fit for blockchain purpose and need to fulfil the requirements of reliable, repeatable and at speed.

Innovation and trust as equal partners

In today’s world, the distribution chain consists still of processes that are paper based, convoluted and do not actively involve all parties. Innovation and digitalisation are more than often initiated from an efficiency point of view and less so from the perspective of effectiveness of the overall chain.

Although all of the above examples of innovative technologies may claim trust is not a requirement because the technology automatically executes the transaction once terms are met, it is clear trust in the technology itself is paramount.

Crypto currencies over the past decade have suffered significantly from the lack of trust in its technology or the companies executing it.

We therefore believe that innovation only thrives when it is coupled with a foundation of trust, ensuring the new ideas are accepted, adopted, and sustained over time.

Industry conferences: Innovation is also about taking a different perspective

Posted on by Pierre-Yves Rahari

I have just returned from a short Summer break. Disconnecting from my emails and app notifications, even for only a few days, has given me the space to look at a few things with a slightly different perspective. After all, this is the bedrock of new discoveries and the innovation we profess and encourage at Reseo. I am taking this approach to think about the Investment Management conferences I have attended this year and reflect on a nagging feeling that something is missing in the conversations held by and with my peers.

Secular and cyclical topics

On that basis, I perused through the agendas of several conferences and observed that most conversations in our industry evolve around two main pillars, one that I would call the industry “core” or secular concerns, and the other one, the more cyclical questions. “Core” or secular concerns include a review of the fundamentals affecting the industry; investment trends; product development; macroeconomic and geopolitical issues; and of course, the ongoing regulatory updates. On the other hand, cyclical questions – at least for the most recent conferences – include conversations about private markets (and “retailisation” of thereof) and alternative asset classes; anything and everything technology, innovation, blockchain and AI; and of course, anything ESG[1] (with a marked decrease in the volume of conversations on this topic lately). Besides these secular and cyclical topics, space is made for a few conversations on governance and leadership, and more sporadically on people and talent.

All these topics are interesting and relevant, but I can’t help but notice that most of our industry conferences are designed on the same model, bar a few exceptions. Which often leaves me with a feeling of déja-vu or repetition, despite the high professionalism of most events, and the fantastic learning and networking opportunity they offer.

My wish list

With that in mind, what innovation would I like to see in our industry conferences?

  • Diverse speakers: For once, I would very much promote a greater diversity in the pool of speakers. The pay-to-play model that now prevails in most industry conferences tends to favour established corporations and exclude smaller start-ups[2] from panel conversations. Established corporations offer extremely valuable insight from their experience, yet I firmly believe that the industry would strongly benefit from alternative, equally innovative voices which deserve to participate in the public debate.
  • Focus on people: Then, I would very much table more topics on people, talent and leadership, which includes looking at these questions not only within the organisations within our industry, but also from an external viewpoint. For example looking into the demographics and motivations of our investors; understanding the perspective of our stakeholders and so on.
  • Macro and systemic analysis: My bias is that understanding people and talent cannot be divorced from looking at the organisations within which they operate, and even further, from an examination of the macro systems within which our organisations operate. I would encourage more of these conversations within our industry conferences. These would offer more opportunities to compare and contrast our industry with others as well, and allow us to engage in more societal and sense-making conversations[3].

From an innovation perspective, I see great benefits in these gentle questioning of our industry, in contrast to the too often self-congratulatory tone of our conversations.

Call for action

What other topics or questions would you like addressed in our industry conferences? Please share your thoughts at reseo@reseo.global , which we will compile and publish in our next article.

 

 

[1] ESG: Environmental, Social and Governance

[2] With limited marketing budgets to participate in conferences

[3] CogX comes to mind, as a model of cross-systems conference

 

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