Brexit

egulation, today many new FinTech start-ups do
not have the same mind-set. Companies have a
more professional sense and the sooner firms get
a grip with bureaucracy, the quicker they could be
expected to enter the market.
London – The Fintech Capital?
London 15-20 years ago was not regarded as the
best place to establish a startup. London has since
become the FinTech capital of the UK, Europe and
perhaps the world, however this must not be taken
for granted. Other places offer huge opportunities,
Asia and Africa……and with Brexit now weighing
heavily with everyone, we must continue to attract
talent from Europe and further afield. London faces
the real risks of losing its prized ‘FinTech Crown’ if it
does not remain open to the best talent from Europe
and the rest of the world.
HOW WILL FINTECH IMPACT IN TEN YEARS’ TIME? We
know the sector will be completely different to how
it looks today. Banks will still exist, FinTech will
operate similarly in the way the advertising sector
does today, traditional advertising agencies are
now competing with the Google and other similar
established new entrants. The next ten years will
be a journey of continued and innovation for the
FinTech Sector. The Financial Services Industry
needs to keep pace with the ever changing
business model.
OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS we have had an
increasing number of FinTech firms approach us
looking for Angular contractors with knowledge
around Angular2. With Angular2 still in Beta there
are questions whether firms should be using the
framework, but it is believed that last month it went
through its last major change so it would only be
tweaks from here on out. With this well known in the
community, many organisations are seriously starting
to consider building new applications using the
Angular2 framework. So any developers lucky enough
to be working on a current project, are working on
home projects, or are learning the ins and outs of it
can expect to be in high demand in the second half
of the year and with that having the ability to demand
high rates.
WALLSTREET DOC has created a SaaS post trade
templating software providing an efficient automated
documentation solution for legal professionals and
soon to roll out KYC and cross-sector solutions.
ARE SETL.IO the only functioning Blockchain business
in the UK?
Crypto Facilities and Elliptic bring enterprise
standards to bitcoin trading
Elliptic, a Bitcoin analytics and security firm and
Crypto Facilities a bitcoin derivatives exchange have
launched a settlement and clearing mechanism that
separates bitcoin custody from all other exchange
functions. This solution overcomes the hurdle of
setting up bitcoin trading venues which cannot be
audited externally
Brex-what?
With the summer hotting up we are seeing lots
of exciting change within the financial markets.
Large numbers of firms are looking to make
structural changes to allow their businesses to be
more profitable in the long run with new systems,
new projects and lots of new talent within the
teams. Hiring has actually become more decisive
and we are seeing a large number of managers
offer candidates directly in interview, wanting to
guarantee their hire and start plans for the day
they start. As partners to these businesses we
are adapting too. Vacancies are out there and we
are leveraging our long term built relationships to
prioritise the vacancies and ensure the people put
forward for roles are ones who are wholly committed
to the opportunity from interview one so that days
of debating is at a minimum.
WITH LESS OF A CANDIDATE POOL DURING the late
summer months we have been solely using our
networks to attract the sort of talent needed for
vacancies and because of our solid relationships
with clients without the typical uncertainty some
areas of this market are seeing.
Large numbers of firms
are looking to make
structural changes to
allow their businesses
to be more profitable in
the long run with new
systems, new projects
and lots of new talent
within the teams.
ASSET/WEALTH/INVESTMENT
MANAGEMENT & HEDGE FUNDS
WE’VE HEARD A LOT OF NEWS about how the financial
markets have reacted to the Brexit vote but a less
widely reported story is the amount of money made
by the Hedge Funds on the night/morning of the
result. We’ve heard that a number of funds made
considerable money off the back of the volatility in
the market as well as having bets that went the right
way. It’s safe to say whatever happens with Brexit it’s
likely the Hedge Funds will still come out on top.
THE BUY SIDE is looking as though they may be more
resilient to the current global market conditions
compared to the sell side. There have already been
rumours of Morgan Stanley moving staff to Dublin
and more cuts following Nomura’s Equities cull at
the beginning of the year however the Hedge Funds
have not had the same affect. We are seeing hiring
continue within the systematic and automated
trading space that shows no sign of slowing. However
it’s not as simple as moving from the sell to the buy
side, with the buy side focusing more of their time on
hiring smart technologist from any background.
ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT has lifted the
suspension of its multi-billion UK commercial
property fund. The company was one of several fund
managers to suspend redemptions from property
funds worth £18bn in the wake of the UK's Brexit vote
last month - the value of Aberdeen's fund was cut by
17%, leaving it worth about £2.7bn.
THE ASSET/WEALTH MANAGEMENT SECTOR is seeing a
change in mind-set with some companies looking to
work with WealthTech/FinTech companies or focus
on internally delivering UX focused products, which
client investors can benefit from. This can be seen as
a result on the FinTech sector showing the power of
user experience with cutting-edge technology and
better all-round customer service with a product that
is transparent.
WE ARE FORECASTING MAJOR CHANGES within the asset
management sector, which could see this sector
re-structure itself with business revenue models and
software systems.
THE ASSET MANAGEMENT has seen a lot of activity as of
late within technology with many of firms around the
city investing in extra head count across development.
The Asset management has notoriously been quite
hard to get into in the past with many choosing only
to bring in candidates with prior industry experience,
but recently I have seen a change and I talk from
experience with several hiring managers valuing
technology skills over business knowledge. I expect to
see a lot of hiring in the latter half of 2016 with many
investing in different projects in the post Brexit world.
Regulations are what is on everyone’s mind so stay
ahead of curve and keep an eye out for this space.
A NUMBER OF THE TIER 1 ASSET MANAGERS have joined
Project Neptune, the group of buy and sell side
firms collaborating on a new fixed income platform.
This spells further bad news for the independent
platforms seeking to rejuvenate fixed income trading
but promises to help overcome the major complaint
from fixed income traders over liquidity and pricing
difficulties. Project Neptune remains one of the major
technology projects to watch and we wait with bated
breath over how this will develop.
Fixed income analytics
The number of Investment Management companies
that we have spoken to are concerned and are
currently creating RFP for new system selection post
POINT close.
Some of the major issues are the timeframes set from
Bloomberg. Usually a full implementation including
RFP for selection takes 24 months but the system
is going to cease in 18 Months, the maths don’t
add up. It will also be a very big challenge finding a
suitable solution that has the functionality to meet
the demands on the business and the ongoing issues
with Migration and transition of Historical Data.
What to do next or now?
Key challenges that need to be done including:
• Mapping out the impact of POINT across
the business Front to Back
• Review Licences and users
• Review Global footprint
• The impact of Data - Map all Data
requirement IN & OUT of POINT
• Data Sourcing – Benchmarks, Indices, pricing
• Creating your RFP – Long list vs Short List
• Leverage of current technologies
• Review Operating Model
• Approve Budgets
• Plan resources
The list can go on and on. There are multiple options
and multiple avenues and certainly multiple Pain
Points. This will only increase as the deadline looms.
BUY-SIDE REGULATION
FINANCIAL DATA MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST to the
investment management community, RIMES
stated in a seminar in June that was focussed on
the upcoming EU Benchmark Regulation that the
buy-side is likely to face increasing compliance
challenges unlike any they have faced before. Rimes
compared the increasing buy-side regulation to what
banks had to go through ten years ago and firms
need to recognise that compliance monitoring is now
a core part of their operational requirements.
GLOBAL LEADERS IN FINANCIAL SERVICES AND COMMODITIES TECHNOLOGY RECRUITMENT
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