ME Newswire / Business Wire
DAVOS, Switzerland - Wednesday, January 22nd 2014
World Economic Forum 2014
Today
Oliver Wyman, the leading international management consulting firm,
launches its 17th annual State of the Financial Services industry report
at the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual meeting in Davos. This
year’s report focuses squarely on the growth challenge for the industry
and identifies several “blind spots” that could impede the industry’s
recovery and growth.
The report examines the factors that drove
healthy growth in financial services before the crisis and argues that
few of them will drive similar growth in the future. Both credit
expansion and greater uptake of financial products will continue, but
will be bounded by leverage limits and conduct rules. They will be
skewed across regions and only emerging markets will experience high
growth. Aging in the developed world also poses challenges for the
industry. Globalization is in reverse and larger players are
constrained. Consolidation will benefit only mid-sized firms, some of
whom will leap to the top. Finally, developments in technology and data
will challenge firms that are slow to adapt.
There is a range of
unmet societal needs that financial services will be instrumental in
solving. These include healthcare and aging populations; managing the
cost of living challenge; effectively matching society’s long-term
saving and long-term financing needs; and, filling the shortfall in
global infrastructure and energy finance.
“Despite the severity
of the growth challenge, we remain optimistic about the outlook for
those firms in financial services that can adapt rapidly to the new
world,” said Nick Studer, managing partner of Oliver Wyman’s financial
services practice. “Much work remains to resolve the problems of the
last decade, but the industry is transforming and the leading firms can
begin to return to the challenge of future growth.”
The report
identifies the need for more imagination in addressing the industry’s
productivity problems, and further identifies six potential “blind
spots” that may impede growth.
The role of central banks – the report argues that many countries are asking too much of central banks
Stress testing – a vital new tool which will improve bank management
and regulation, as long as the risks of over-standardization and
regulatory capture are avoided
The importance of digital –
potential changes in payments, branch banking, financial advice and the
use of social media will accelerate change in the industry, most likely
to the benefit of fast-moving incumbents
Talent management – as
financial services has lost its cachet, the industry needs to up its
game in finding, motivating, and developing its people
Growth in insurance – the challenges and importance of returning the industry to healthy and profitable growth
De-risking pensions – the closure of defined benefits pensions and
resulting pension buyouts, moving risk from corporate balance sheets to
individuals and insurers
Oliver Wyman has launched this report at the annual WEF meeting in Davos for the last 17 years.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Oliver Wyman
Oliver
Wyman is a global leader in management consulting. With offices in 50+
cities across 25 countries, Oliver Wyman combines deep industry
knowledge with specialized expertise in strategy, operations, risk
management, and organization transformation. The firm's 3,000
professionals help clients optimize their business, improve their
operations and risk profile, and accelerate their organizational
performance to seize the most attractive opportunities. Oliver Wyman is a
wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies [NYSE: MMC].
For more information, visit www.oliverwyman.com. Follow Oliver Wyman on
Twitter @OliverWyman .
Contacts
Media:
Oliver Wyman
Shahla Haque, +44 20 7852 7381
shahla.haque@oliverwyman.com
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