Apologies for a month long pause in our communication. June turned out to be a month of travel. During my recent business trip to California, it was clear that the US economy is recovering and that inflationary pressures are easing. Of course, you must be careful not to extrapolate the situation in one state to the whole nation. It’s the same in the UK where we often talk about London centric issues that may not apply outside the capital. We took the opportunity between trips to hold the first of a planned series of alumni meetings first in London and then again in Marbella (it’s a tough life). It was great to see familiar faces and to reminisce and discuss the here and now. We plan to set up a WhatsApp alumni group so that there will be no excuse for saying you didn’t know about it.

PMi Consult has hopefully always been a friendly place to work with a commitment to growing and developing our staff with internal and external educational programmes. What you also realise is that our geographic reach was indeed global, and it would be hard to get everyone together in one place. In Marbella we were delighted and surprised to welcome an original member of our Moscow team. There are no good stories about the conflict in Ukraine and recent events go some way to show that Russia ai a country divided and misled by its political leaders. So many people displaced on all sides or choosing to vote with their feet. We have ceased all operations in Russia but still have so many valued friends and contacts for whom we wish a better future.

This week we relaunch our website which will provide links to valuable content including newsletters and will allow us to update the information and news more easily. We have also finally made the decision to take down the www.bankingskills.com site as this has outlived its useful life. We will instead direct the domain to the www.pmiconsult.com site with links to high quality and vibrant financial services job opportunities. I would like to thank our social media team for all their hard work.

The Thames Water saga will roll on, but the pattern of a sound business with a conservatively leveraged balance sheet, being acquired by private equity style investors, and then milked for dividends to repay the purchase price, while increasing leverage to risky and unsustainable levels is a lesson for all Fintech’s. The era of privatisation of public services is slowly unwinding for both railways and water companies. The latter is such a vital commodity that it requires politically directed investment to achieve modern standards and reliability.

Tonight, BCS Finsig will host a hybrid event on the subject of: Is the Wealth Management Industry ready for evolution through technology (AI and more)? Mary Agbesanwa, Fintech Growth lead at Seccl will be sharing about how emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), application programming interfaces (APIs), and other advancements will transform the wealth management industry. Mary will explore the current state of the industry and consider the challenges and opportunities presented by these technologies and how they can be used to increase efficiency and improve customer experiences, ensuring the benefits WealthTech can reach many more people.

Mary Agbesanwa is passionate about how technology is transforming wealth management and supporting millennials to achieve their full potential. She has spent several years working as a Management Consultant working with banks and fintechs looking to scale or adapt their business models. Now Mary works at Seccl, a B2B fintech building the ‘Stripe for Investments’. As their Fintech Growth Lead, Mary is focused on turbo charging the firm’s growth and expanding their portfolio of fintech clients.

Outside of work, Mary runs a professional community for women called the ‘Now You’re Talking Network’ which has over 1,000 members working in technology and financial services. She is also the Learning Facilitator for Imperial College Business School’s quarterly Fintech Programme and a board trustee for Girlguiding, the UK’s largest charity for women. Mary’s recent accolades include being part of Brummell’s 30 Inspirational Women in the City list 2022; Shortlisted for Black Tech Achievement Awards ‘Fintech Professional of the Year 2022 & 2023’; MCA Young Consultant of the Year Finalist 2021 and Innovate Finance Women in Fintech Powerlist 2020.

All of which is very impressive. It’s too late to register but you can find the recording on the BCS website. Don’t forget, if you want the best professional support for your wealth management change programme do give PMi Consult a call.