Future of Finance Study: a Positive Outlook
In a time of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, the majority of the financial industry remains confident. Many of the reasons for the expected growth cited in the Future of Finance Study are in line with the business model of SIX.
Everywhere around the world, business leaders in finance expect the overall economic environment to improve over the next 12 months. This is one of the key findings in the Future of Finance Study by SIX. Despite the current inflationary pressures and the low economic growth, the vast majority of them believe they are well positioned for the future.
During the global Future of Finance study, in August 2022 SIX surveyed executives across 297 international financial institutions. The respondents work in asset management, wealth management, asset servicing, banking services, retail banking, and investment banking.
As to what is driving the growth expectations, the adoption of new business models is one of the most commonly given reasons, as well as the internal efficiency gains generated by digitalization. Advanced data & analytics are also recognized as a major driver for expansion. Other drivers for growth are new and alternative asset classes, including crypto. For almost all of the respondents, distributed ledger technology will be important in the next three years – for just under a third of them, it will be critical.
ESG Gains Traction
Emerging sustainability concerns are also seen as opportunities to be grasped rather than the imposition of unwanted regulation. When it comes to ESG-related data products, the biggest data gaps prevalent in the market relate to alternative ESG data sets, aggregated ESG data sets, and the raw, underlying data points.
The biggest drag on growth is likely to be the industry’s continuing skills shortage. Financial institutions are looking at more flexible working models that also include hybrid and remote working, but also strategic partnerships that complement the existing in-house capabilities.
Download the study: six-group.com/future-finance-study
