Dean Berry
LSEG has hosted the inaugural event in the “Financial Markets Connect 2024” series in London, bringing together a wide range of industry leaders, tech experts and finance professionals to discuss the role of AI and the impact of ongoing digitalisation in financial services.
- Against the backdrop of ongoing digital transformation within the financial services sector, LSEG has launched a series of flagship events to bring together a broad range of financial services stakeholders.
- Discussions saw industry leaders and tech experts unpack the future of finance through the lens of AI and the increasing interoperability that is shaping the industry.
- Panellists addressed some of the key ethical and regulatory challenges of integrating AI functionality into workflows.
Financial Markets Connect, an LSEG initiative
Against the backdrop of ongoing digital transformation within the financial services sector, LSEG has launched a series of flagship events to bring together a broad range of financial services stakeholders to discuss the key themes impacting the industry today – from the productivity and efficiency benefits of an AI-enabled approach to the ethical and regulatory challenges that define this space, and more.
Under the banner “Financial Markets Connect”, the first event was held in London in late September, attracting over 300 senior finance professionals, with additional events planned for New York and Hong Kong later in 2024.
AI: supercharging the financial services space
A thought-provoking panel discussion saw industry leaders and tech experts unpack the future of finance through the lens of AI and the increasing interoperability that is shaping the industry.
Panellists discussed how AI is supercharging productivity and transforming financial workflows by boosting efficiency and enabling more informed decisions – while simultaneously enhancing the customer experience – before addressing some of the key ethical and regulatory challenges of integrating AI functionality into workflows.
The experts also delved into the increasing interoperability of solutions in financial workflows, discussing both the challenges and benefits of seamless connections between financial platforms – and how these developments have further optimised the customer experience.
A riveting keynote address on how emerging technologies will impact business and how leaders should prepare was delivered by David Rowan, a renowned tech journalist at The Sunday Times, best-selling author, and founding editor-in-chief at WIRED UK. David reminded us not to be intimidated by AI and emerging technologies, and to embrace them as a force for good. He suggested we think of AI as electricity - powering everything in the background.
David Rowan speaking at Financial Markets Connect, London
Drilling down
Three breakout community sessions followed, in which panellists were able to drill into key themes and ideas within different sub-industries:
- Trading and asset management
With a core focus on strategies for navigating volumes of information in uncertain times, the trading and asset management breakout session highlighted a key theme: that the exponential rise in the availability of data, news and real-time updates does not always lead to better investment and trading outcomes.
Market participants now find themselves flooded with information. However, this data is only valuable if investors can identify the right signal and translate it into actionable insights.
This becomes even more critical as we face a series of political and geopolitical events that could reshape the global landscape – and consequently influence market behaviour. How providers transform this information into alpha-generating strategies matters for future success.
- Banking
The banking panel explored how AI is benefitting investment banker workflows, how productivity tools have fundamentally improved deal-making activities in recent years and unpacked innovative future developments.
Panellists also debated real-world user satisfaction and barriers to adoption – including some of the common challenges bankers face when adopting AI and efficiency tools, while assessing the key risks - ensuring that AI systems remain transparent and free from biases that could impact financial decision-making.
Other core themes explored included leveraging new AI technologies while safeguarding human expertise, and integration of AI into banking workflows in a compliant way aligned to evolving regulatory standards.
- Wealth
The focus of the wealth panel was on elevating the client experience in an omnichannel environment. The panellists discussed the key developments in the wealth industry, including better distribution models that span the full spectrum of traditional one-to-one meetings, hybrid meetings and self-directed online investment management.
With regard to the latter, experts highlighted that increased complexity of available portfolio assets could impact the future ability of customers to pursue fully self-directed strategies, which led to an in-depth discussion about the role of technology and data in enabling better investment decisions, both for advisors and self-directed investors.
Panellists further highlighted that, if the wealth industry shifts towards self-service, there will be implications for advisor pricing models, suggesting that complex products could potentially be offered to increase client retention.
Working together
Apart from joining these topical panel discussions, delegates had the opportunity to experience LSEG Workspace with Apple Vision Pro through an immersive, native app. This has enabled guests to encounter a world where Workspace content augments their workflow even “outside” Workspace.
Experiencing LSEG Workspace in virtual reality at Financial Markets Connect, London
Our Workspace ecosystem delights customers with seamless end-to-end workflows. Users can access data, insights, news, analytics and trading execution capabilities. It enables customers across key communities to leverage interoperable and collaborative workflows that streamline tasks and boost efficiency in an open community.
The key themes explored at this event contribute to success in the rapidly evolving financial arena. LSEG’s Financial Markets Connect event engaged industry participants with structural trends affecting customer financials workflows.
The true achievement of this initiative, however, is the tangible value delivered to all delegates: participants were able to connect with industry leaders and experts of different financial communities and gain real-world insights into both the current workflows landscape and the future challenges and opportunities.
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