Both Calamity and Catalyst: Reflections on This Centennial Moment
in Financial Services

Abstract

We have reached a Centennial Moment in the global financial services industry. It has been almost a century since the Stock Market Crash and subsequent Great Depression compelled profound changes to the system that underpins not just investment and commerce, but our very way of life. The Financial Crisis of 2008 has yet again prompted scrutiny of business models, policies, and processes. While these two transformational moments certainly share some causality, in many ways we are equally as blind today to the long-term consequences of our efforts to re-order as regulators and industry captains were in the last century. Adding to the confusion, the evolution—and intersection—of financial and digital technologies will continue to be disruptive. Firms are being forced to simultaneously industrialize their operations and offer clients a new experience, while shedding risk as a driver of revenues and moving toward more fee-based models. By definition, this dilemma will temporarily pressure cost ratios as expenses rise ahead of profits. The winners in next-generation financial services will be those whose investments in user connectivity and experience—including mobility—arm them for the battle to come, not the one just past.