Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Thursday 8 June, 2023. To get this in your inbox every morning click here.
@sipp non-standard asset reduction
Sipp and Ssas company @sipp has released its new due diligence guide, which delves into the company’s financial strength, strategy and Consumer Duty plans.
The guide, in which @sipp answers an unfiltered, rigorous set of questions from consultancy the Lang Cat, follows the FCA recently highlighting non-standard assets as one of its key concerns in its Dear CEO letter to Sipp [self-invested personal pension] companies.
Hope for legacy platforms?
Throughout history, great companies have faltered not because of any spectacularly wrong move but because they have been surpassed by more agile, innovative and energetic incomers.
The BlackBerry was once a dominant force in the smartphone market, but its unparalleled success came to an end with the advent of the Android and iPhone platforms.
Quote Of The Day
As the range of investment products available to mass-affluent and retail investors continues to expand, investor protection should be a paramount concern for the industry’s governing bodies.
– Nils Bulling, head of digital assets product domain at Avaloq, comments on today’s announcement from the FCA regarding the introduction of new rules for marketing crypto assets in the UK
Stat Attack
In this ]study, Lefebvre Sarrut finds that European companies are not yet fully aware of ESG criteria, covering environmental, social and governance issues. Among the 744 European companies surveyed, of various sizes and in various sectors of activity, the study found that:
40%
Of European companies are not familiar with ESG criteria
43%
Of European companies do not have a designated reference for ESG criteria
45%
Of European companies have not taken any action in anticipation of the forthcoming entry into force of the European CSRD directive.
While there are no disparities between European countries, this lack of maturity raises questions at a time when the EU’s expectations are becoming clearer.
500
Companies with more than 500 employees or more than €40m in turnover will be required to report on their environmental, social and governance impact, in line with the European CSRD directive, by 2024.
250
The scope will then be gradually extended each year: companies with more than 250 employees in 2025, listed SMEs in 2026, subsidiaries of non-European groups in 2028, etc.
Source: Lefebvre Sarrut
In Other News
TISA Commercial Enterprises (TCE), the commercial arm of cross-industry financial services membership body the Investing and Savings Alliance (TISA), has announced the appointment of Samantha Seaton, CEO of Moneyhub as director.
Mrs Seaton’s appointment is with immediate effect. She currently oversees Moneyhub’s roll-out of Open Finance across the United Kingdom.
On top of her work with Moneyhub, Samantha is also a member of the Pension Dashboard Steering Group, which is coordinating efforts to make pension pots more accessible and transparent for savers.
Commenting on her appointment, Mrs Seaton said: “Open Finance has huge potential to improve customer outcomes, and I’m thrilled to be joining a team that acknowledges and embraces this technology and the opportunity it represents. Having worked with TISA as part of the Open Savings, Investments and Pensions working group I know how committed the team are to investing in and implementing new digital initiatives and technologies.
“At Moneyhub, we have been at the forefront of the Open Data revolution moving from Open Banking to Open Finance and beyond. I hope to share what we have learnt with the senior team and Board at TCE to ensure we are creating the best possible experience and most useful solutions for consumers as an industry.”
TCE chief executive Larry Banda said: “We are very pleased that Samantha has come on board as a director of TCE. Her work with Moneyhub, on the Pensions Dashboard, and her extensive involvement in a range of vital not-for-profit organisations, are perfectly aligned with the needs, goals and values of TCE and TISA.
“Our industry is going through a vital period of innovation and consumer-oriented reforms. Samantha’s support will be vital to enable TCE, and TISA, to contribute constructively and build the future of financial services.”
Allfunds has announced that Pablo Sanz has been appointed as head of operations for Allfunds Alternative Solutions, effective immediately.
He has over two decades of alternative investments experience, having started working in the alternative funds industry in 2001.
He began his career at Banco Santander as an auditor. Most recently, Sanz was COO at Arcano Partners where he led the regulatory transformation of Arcano’s private equity management company into a global asset management company.
At Arcano, he also launched private equity, venture capital, sustainable infrastructure, real estate, credit, and multi-asset funds, as well as the ESG & Responsible Investment Strategy for the Group for Investment Banking.
Prior to this, Sanz was chief financial officer at Impala Capital Partners and JB Capital Markets, where he was involved in alternatives fund management, alongside leading and developing finance and risk management activity.
His responsibilities to-date have been international in scope, working with funds in Spain, the UK, Luxembourg, Ireland, the US, and Canada.
From Elsewhere
Britain to host first global AI regulation summit in autumn (Financial Times)
Russia, Oman sign agreement to avoid double taxation (Reuters)
Did You See?
One of the perks of attending industry events is the chance to gauge the sector’s direction of travel.
It is an opportunity to not only meet the movers and shakers but also familiarise oneself with key themes and issues.
In April, I was fortunate to cover the Women in Protection conference in London. The women-focused event, with the theme of empowering change, was a runaway success.
It was a truly inspiring and thought-provoking conference with lots of takeaways for the delegates — and for journalists like me.
