Payment specialist Renovite Technologies has been selected by the UK Department for International Trade and Scottish Development International to showcase its technology to Swiss and Austrian financial organisations on a fintech trade mission later this month.

Taking place in Vienna and Zürich from January 23 - 24 the mission aims to stimulate business between the UK delegation and financial institutions across the region. Renovite and a select group of other Fintechs will be meeting with banks, venture capitalists, and other organisations with an interest in fintech and innovation.

Previous fintech trade missions to Switzerland led by the DIT and have since generated €45 million in business deals.

Jim Tomaney, chief operating officer at Renovite Technologies, said:

“Austria and Switzerland offer business opportunities any fintech would doubtless have a keen interest in given the high number of banks and other financial institutions based there. We are thrilled to have been selected as a delegate for the mission and look forward to showcasing how our work is enabling positive change using state-of-the-art cloud technology.

“It’s really a very positive sign that major financial organisations are now rising to the challenges and demands of an increasingly complex payments environment by looking to businesses that can offer the kind of agility and innovation they can’t source from traditional suppliers.”

Dr Patrick Kunz, senior trade specialist at Scottish Development International, said:

“We hope that this Mission stimulates new business relationships amongst participants, resulting in job and wealth creation in Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and in the United Kingdom. The previous Swiss Missions recorded new business worth over €45 million.”

Stephen Ingledew, chief executive of Fintech Scotland, who will be speaking in Zurich said:

"I'm looking forward to the trade mission to Switzerland and Austria with some of Scotland’s leading fintech firms. Sharing examples of fintech innovation is an important part of building our global collaboration, attracting investment into Scotland and supporting Scottish fintech firms in finding new routes to market in Europe.”

Renovite Technologies, which also has offices in California and New Delhi, established its European headquarters in Dunfermline in 2016. The UK team has grown from four to 20 during that time and plans to add another ten employees – including six trainees – by the end of 2019.

Accuity, the global provider of financial crime compliance, payments and Know Your Customer (KYC) solutions, has announced the appointment of David Wilson as its new Managing Director and CEO, effective 1^st January 2019. 

Wilson served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Accuity for the past 18 months, playing a key role in driving strategic growth and operational improvements. Wilson will ensure that Accuity continues to deliver innovative solutions for payments, risk and compliance; develop new strategic partnerships; and, continue to deliver a high quality of client service.

David Wilson, CEO at Accuity, said, “Accuity is an exciting business with a global base of clients, tremendous talent, and a dedication to technology innovation. I look forward to guiding our teams as we strive to lead the industry with solutions that transform the way our clients manage financial crime compliance and create efficiencies for global payments.”

Wilson previously held a number of senior management positions within RELX Group, the parent company of Accuity, including CEO of Proagrica. In this role, he successfully transformed the publishing firm into a global portfolio offering technology, software, data and analytics solutions for the agriculture and animal health industries.

As part of this change, Tom Golding has been appointed COO and will guide technology, product and operations across the company. Tom previously headed up product strategy and client delivery across the Fircosoft and Bankers Almanac for Risk and Compliance portfolios. Golding joined Accuity from Thomson Reuters in 2016, to manage the risk and compliance business line.

Hugh M. Jones IV, formerly CEO and President of Accuity, has been elevated to an expanded role within the Risk & Business Analytics division of RELX. He will continue to oversee Accuity, in addition to leading the FlightGlobal, EG and ICIS businesses.

Hugh Jones, Global Managing Director for Accuity, FlightGlobal, EG and ICIS, said, “I congratulate David and Tom on their well-deserved positions. They both have a track record of strong leadership and deep industry knowledge that will allow us to expand into new markets and deliver tremendous value to our clients.”   

Planbox, the pioneering provider of AI-Powered Agile Innovation Management software, and Imaginatik, the #1 ranked leader in Corporate Innovation Management according to Forrester Research, will join forces to seize on the innovation boom. Under the agreement, Planbox will acquire all of the assets of Imaginatik Plc (LON: IMTK) related to its Enterprise Innovation Management platform and global operations. This transaction is pending the final approval of Imaginatik shareholders by January 31, 2019. Going forward, Planbox and Imaginatik will combine their solutions to create a best of breed agile innovation management solution.

“Imaginatik has an incredibly talented team and product with a lot of potential. I cannot think of a better partner than Planbox to help us build on what we have achieved.“, said Angus Forrest, CEO of Imaginatik. “We know our employees, customers and partners will be in great hands with Planbox.”

The new combined company will expand Imaginatik’s UK and US operations and continue to work with its network of partners and suppliers around the world. Planbox’s track record of solid growth and its strong financial performance will accelerate product innovations and improve scalability for Imaginatik’s long-standing clients.

“We are honored to join forces with the Imaginatik team that we hold in very high esteem for their enduring commitment to providing global clients with unprecedented innovation results.”, said Ludwig Melik, CEO of Planbox. “We are thrilled to work closely with Imaginatik to combine both solutions and to further develop a unique best in class innovation management offering.“

All Imaginatik and Planbox agreements, support arrangements and operational data centers in the UK, US and Canada will remain intact. The new unified team also brings together two seasoned professional service organizations that combined have decades of consulting experience in the Innovation Management market and can now fuse their knowhow to deliver an unparalleled set of domain expertise services and next practices.

Planbox plans to invest in the most powerful capabilities of these two products and take advantage of the strengths of both offerings to create a superior value proposition. Imaginatik and Planbox customers will be able to continue to use their existing solutions on a standalone basis. Under this agreement Planbox will retain all existing Imaginatik resources and recruit new talent in North America and Europe to help the business continue to prosper.

Since the acquisition and merger of BrainBank Software and Planbox in November 2015, Planbox has transformed the innovation management landscape. Planbox was quickly recognized as a Leader by Forrester in the Innovation Management Wave Report in 2016. The company grew its revenue by more than 250% and doubled its workforce at a strikingly fast pace since 2016 while remaining profitable. The seasoned Planbox leadership and senior management team has a history of building strong, successful, leading and fast-growing software companies. The team is focused on creating a robust, secure and scalable operation capable of delivering the right solution to global organizations that are looking to innovate consistently and experiment more cost effectively.

Imaginatik’s deep bench of talent and premier standing in the innovation management market is widely known and well documented. The Imaginatik solution will now be combined with Planbox to deliver the most robust best of breed agile innovation management platform in the marketplace. Imaginatik results engine and analytics provides the necessary innovation governance with a comprehensive set of capabilities to evaluate, analyze and uncover impactful innovations. This will be augmented by Planbox’s powerful workflow engine, a native mobile app, patented AI technology called Self-Driving Innovation, agile experimentation and powerful innovation portfolio reporting and dashboarding. 

The digital asset market, long dominated by individual retail traders, is attracting the interest and participation of institutional investors.

Singapore-headquartered Hydra X, a next-generation trading technology provider, announced a partnership with leading Asian digital asset exchange, CEZEX

The New Year is here (how are your resolutions going?) and we’re already checking off some of our goals for 2019. We’ve been busy obtaining state-by-state approvals for Trov’s innovative approach to insurance over the past months. 

Amazon Pay’s former General Manager for the Americas, Kurt Bilafer, has joined Yapstone as EVP, Chief Revenue Officer. Bilafer will drive all sales and marketing initiatives for the online marketplace payments leader.

Total business volumes in the financial services sector fell slightly in the three months to December, marking the first contraction of demand since September 2013. That’s according to the latest CBI/PwC Financial Services Survey.

Meanwhile, sentiment among financial services deteriorated further, rounding off three full years of flat or falling optimism.

The quarterly survey of 84 firms reveals a marked divergence in business conditions between sub-sectors, with sentiment holding up among insurers amid a continued expansion in their business volumes. By contrast, volumes were flat or falling for banks, building societies and specialist lenders, while investment managers report the steepest fall in activity since the financial crisis.

Overall business volumes are expected to fall at a similar pace over the quarter to March, the first-time growth expectations have turned negative since December 2009. Financial services firms - particularly banks, building societies and general insurers - see macroeconomic uncertainty as the most important challenge over the year ahead, ahead of regulatory compliance and preparing for the impact of Brexit.

Profits in the financial services sector as a whole were remained flat for a third successive quarter, reflecting little change in business volumes and costs. Investment managers and general insurers reported declining profitability. In the three months to March, overall profitability is expected to fall for the first time in over three years, as a result of a more widespread deterioration in expectations across the industry.

Rain Newton-Smith, CBI Chief Economist, said:

“A combination of macroeconomic and Brexit uncertainty, regulatory compliance and global market volatility are taking a toll on the UK’s financial services sector. Financial services are a bellwether for the wider economy. The persistent weakness in optimism and the deterioration in expectations sound a warning for the outlook. 

“It’s clear the sector is grappling with a number of other challenges too, from using data to improve customer experiences, to new entrants to the sector. However, with new risks and demands come opportunities. Insurers in particular are pulling ahead, many of whom are moving into areas such as asset management outside of their traditional markets.” 

Andrew Kail, Head of Financial Services at PwC, said:

“Continued economic and political uncertainty means last year ended on a more pessimistic note than previous quarters for many working in UK financial services. It's a broad industry, meaning optimism varies between sub-sectors and companies, but this survey shows that investment managers, who have been more immediately impacted by volatile stock markets, are gloomiest heading in to 2019.

“The underlying reasons for this dip in optimism have been around for some time – political and Brexit-related uncertainty, regulatory pressures and a sustained low interest rate environment impacting margins. Competition from established peers as well as new market entrants is also high on companies' radars.

“UK financial services firms looking to prosper in 2019 should concentrate on issues they can control. Most importantly, by focusing on clear strategies for delivering value through products and services which meet their customers' needs, maximising the efficiency of delivering these services - keeping operating costs under control - and using technology to augment the quality and efficiency of activities across their business.”  

Despite this outlook, firms expect to increase headcount in the quarter to March and investment intentions for the year ahead remain broadly stable. Financial services firms plan to raise spending on marketing and IT at robust rates, and capital spending in other areas is expected to be unchanged. Firms indicated that efficiency and replacement were the main drivers of investment, alongside statutory legislation and regulation. 

Although growth in compliance spending continues to moderate, the regulatory environment is seen as the most important constraint on business expansion in the year ahead. Banks, insurance brokers and finance houses were most dissatisfied when asked whether regulators are keeping pace with digital innovations (such as digital documents, on-line platforms or apps) that could help support regulatory implementation and compliance. Common data standards/formats are seen as the most important digital innovation regulators could adopt in the next 18-24 months to help reduce the costs of regulatory implementation and compliance.

The more pessimistic outlook for the financial services sector in the near term is in keeping with the subdued prospects for the wider UK economy, with GDP growth expected to be held back by weak household income growth and the impact of Brexit uncertainty on investment. For more detail on our view of the economic outlook, see our December economic forecast.

Key findings:

• 24% of firms said that business volumes were up, while 32% said they were down, giving a balance of -7% (down from +12% in the quarter to September)
• Looking ahead to the quarter to March, business volumes are expected to be edge down further: 12% of firms expect volumes to rise next quarter, and 20% expect them to fall, giving a rounded balance of -9%, the weakest since December 2009 (-13%) 
• Optimism in the financial services sector continued falling in the quarter to December (-24%, compared to -30% last quarter), having declined in all but one quarter since the start of 2016.  

Incomes, costs and profits:

• Overall profitability was flat in the three months to December, with 24% of firms reporting that profits had increased and 20% saying they fell, giving a balance of +4% (following -1% in the previous quarter). Profits are expected to decline in the next three months (-14%)
• Income from fees, commissions and premiums fell (-17%) and is expected to fall further in the quarter ahead (-10%)
• Income from net interest, investment and trading was stable (-1%) and is expected to remain unchanged in the next three months (+1%)
• Total operating costs rose (+10%), but at a slower pace than last quarter (+17%), as did average costs (+6%, from +21% in September 2018). Both total costs and average costs are expected to rise more quickly next quarter (+23% and +15% respectively).

Employment:

• 14% of financial services firms said they had increased employment, while 9% said that headcount fell, giving a balance of +5%
• Numbers employed are expected to increase more rapidly (+21%) next quarter.

Investment over the next 12 months:

In the year ahead, financial services firms expect to increase spending on IT and marketing, and for other forms of capital spending to remain stable:

• IT: +65% (up from +49% in the quarter to September)
• Marketing: +31% (the same as in the quarter to September)
• Vehicles, plant and machinery: -2% (following -15% in September)
• Land and buildings: -2% (following -18% in September).

The main reasons for authorising investment are cited as:

• To increase efficiency/speed (70% of respondents)
• Statutory legislation and regulation (48%)
• For replacement (41%).

The main factors likely to limit investment are cited as:

• Inadequate net return (61% of respondents)
• Uncertainty about demand or business prospects (45%)
• Shortage of finance (20%).

Business expansion over the next 12 months:

The most significant potential constraints on business growth over the coming year are:

• Statutory legislation & regulation (49%)
• Level of demand (41% of respondents)
• Competition (39%).

Top three challenges for the year ahead:

• The most important challenge facing financial services firms over the year ahead is macroeconomic uncertainty (59% of maximum score achievable in a weighted ranking of challenges) 
• Regulatory compliance was also cited as an important challenge by many firms (26.7% of maximum score), alongside preparing for the impact of Brexit (25.3% of maximum score).

Satisfaction with digital innovation by regulators:

• 25% of firms said they were satisfied that regulators are keeping pace with digital innovations that could help support regulatory implementation and compliance. This compares with 28% saying they were dissatisfied
• Almost half (47%) of those expressing an opinion said they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with regulators’ digital innovations.

Most important digital innovations for regulators:

• 72% of firms said developing common data standards/formats were “essential” or a “high priority” for regulators in the next 18-24 months to help reduce the costs of regulatory implementation and compliance. 

Spending by financial services companies on improving customer interfaces may be coming at the expense of investment in crucial back office IT systems, suggests research by Pinsent Masons, the international law firm.

Just 2% of financial services companies surveyed have prioritised investment in back office technology over the last three years, whilst 77% have prioritised investment in enhancing customer experience.

FCA research shows the number of IT failures at UK financial services companies has increased 138% over the last year alone to 600. 

MPs have also been vocal in urging financial services companies to invest more in back office technology in order to better protect consumers. The call came as part of the launch of an inquiry by HM Treasury into IT failures in the financial services sector last month. 

Pinsent Masons explains that investing in back office technology is vital in reducing the risk of operational incidents, such as systems failures and data breaches. 

Alexis Roberts, Head of Financial Services and Partner at Pinsent Masons, says: “Financial services companies can be seriously undermined by underinvestment in the back office.”

“The race to capture market share through customer friendly technology is, understandably, very important but that shouldn’t be at the expense of essential architecture.” 

Only 3% of companies see investor feedback as important to growth

The research reveals that only 3% of financial services companies see investor feedback as important for growth over the next three years, down from 7% over the past three years (see graph). The low level of importance businesses place on investor/co-owner feedback is very surprising.

Pinsent Masons says the research also shows financial services companies now see acquiring IP or new technologies as the most important objective of M&A activity, more so than increasing market share or expanding into new product lines (see graph).

Over the next three years, 70% of financial services see acquiring new technologies as the most important objective of M&A activity, up from 58% over the past three years. Meanwhile, only 46% see increasing market share as the most important, down from 50%. 

Alexis Roberts adds: “Effectively harnessing the power of technology is key for M&A activity and organic growth amongst financial services companies. This is true across the entire financial services sector - not just fintech and insurtech.”

“Technology continues to render more traditional M&A objectives, such as increasing market share or expanding into new geographies, as much less important. In crowded markets, financial services companies that fall behind in developing and using technology will find it difficult to keep up.” 

“Although M&A remains a popular method for growth, we are increasingly seeing financial services companies enter into alliances and joint ventures which give them exposure to new technologies without the same commitment as M&A.”

Methodology

The lists were produced by Mergermarket from a variety of public sources of information and company databases. Growth rates were calculated based on turnover reported in accounts for the past three years and, to be eligible for inclusion, companies had to have shown growth in each of the previous two years. There was a minimum turnover threshold for inclusion based on the most recent set of accounts: €50 million for AMT, financial services and infrastructure. For energy, the threshold was €30 million.

Average advertised salaries for tech professionals have increased for the third year in a row, despite uncertainty in the broader economy, according to new data from the 2019 Reed Technology Salary Guides.

Analysis of more than 10 million jobs posted across sectors since 2015 found that the average advertised salary in the tech profession has increased by 1.4 per cent since the start of 2018, one of the highest rates across the sectors analysed. However, there has been a palpable slowing of growth rates since 2017 (2.3 per cent) and 2016 (8.9 per cent).

The continued growth of salaries for tech professionals in the past 12 months is led by roles such as PHP developers, which has increased by an average of 6.9 per cent to £42,100 per annum, java developers (6 per cent) and data scientists (5.9 per cent). 

These salary increases are in line with the trends uncovered by the Reed Technology State of Skills research, which found rising interest in technology professionals with more specialised niche skillsets.

Andrew Gardner, director of Reed Technology, says: “Looking to 2019 and beyond, there will be an array of development-based roles on the market, along with an accelerating demand for cyber security professionals. There is still strong demand for candidates with mobile,  front-end development and full stack experience Alongside that, businesses will also need candidates with cloud-based experience, and storage skills. The impact of legislation such as GDPR is still creating demand, with companies conscious of the ramifications of falling foul of GDPR guidelines alongside this - data is the new oil, so we see no sign of data analytical and science roles slowing

Since the start of 2015, many roles in the sector have experienced significant increases. The highest average increase over the past three years has been for java developers (41.6 per cent) and full stack developers (20.8 per cent) demonstrating the huge value businesses place on top development talent which can lead to bidding wars

Regionally, the largest average increases can be seen in London, where advertised salaries rose by 4.5 per cent. The most significant increases in advertised salaries were, again, for data scientists (9.5 per cent) and java developers (7.1 per cent), we also need to be mindful often these advertised salary bands are exceeded to secure the best talent

Andrew continues: “Brexit will impact the job market and candidate flow. Open borders have seen many development roles in the UK being filled by workers from EU countries, and we don’t know how the industry will react or respond if there are new restrictions enforced on this wider talent pool

“Despite the various business upheavals, the good news is that the industry is very robust. . More pertinently, whenever any large-scale change occurs, IT is the driving force behind those changes. Even in the depths of the credit crunch, the IT sector was impacted much less than others because organisations were using technology to analyse date and  automate processes to achieve  greater efficiency and cost savings – bringing IT and technology to the fore.”