Our Capabilities
- Operations
- Risk Management
- Corporate Finance
- Organization
- Analytics
- Information Technology
Overview
Most financial services organizations have been impacted by the industry’s recent turbulence. Capital infusions, portfolio actions and cost takeouts have been well documented. The current industry crisis has redefined what financial institutions must do to compete and win. Going forward, the environment for financial institutions will continue to become more challenging. Industry leaders believe we will see slower economic growth, ongoing pressures to property prices, smaller global-trade volumes and long term high unemployment levels.
Fulcrum customers in this segment will continue to remove risk and deleverage further reducing demand for high-margin products and services. Additionally, Regulators have switched their attention from open markets to tighter controls over risk and capital, and governments have intervened in the banking market to ensure its ongoing stability. These changes to the market present a significant challenge and opportunity for the financial services industry.
Financial services players will need to harness better business models to overcome shortcomings of the past and current challenges. Fulcrum Consulting has long standing experience across industries to help financial services institutions find innovative ways to optimize processes, reduce back office costs, align IT, manage risks, capture the economic benefits of building loyal customers, and plan for evolving competitive and regulatory changes.
Banking
Over the past decade, banks have been reliant on profits generated from increasing consumer lending, whether through loans, mortgages, or card spending. The financial crisis resulting from the sub-prime and housing-market collapse has put an end to this, causing substantial changes in the industry. As a result, retail banks need to attract more depositors in order to stabilize their books, and lenders need to have a much deeper understanding of their customers and risk profiles before they lend. This must all be achieved in an environment that is increasingly competitive and cost-conscious, as banks chase marginal gains in constrained markets.
Demographic trends like the rise of the mobile, socially-networked consumer and the growth of emerging markets are transforming where and how financial services are delivered and consumed. While many firms are going ‘back to basics’ and focusing on core deposits and asset gathering, the pressure on banks to increase lending is increasing. But managing the risk and costs of acquiring and developing the right customers remains challenging. Pricing and fees are under siege as customers demand greater value, yet product, service and channel innovations are creating new potential revenue sources.
Securities
Faced with higher regulatory scrutiny, rising capital requirements, shrinking margins and impending growth concerns across asset classes, the securities industry will need to focus on improving transparency and scalability, movement towards real-time service levels and managing costs and leveraging analytics and technology for the next generation of change. This industry is experiencing new competition from online brokerages and, most recently, there has been a drop in transactions for debt and equity markets, mergers and acquisitions, and initial public offerings. Companies in securities segment will need to continue responding to a range of trends, including:
- Regulatory reform will substantially change the way organizations think about their credit, market, and portfolio risks. Changing the risk organization to deliver these effectively will require firms to rethink their risk processes, the interfaces between risk management and the wider business, and the capabilities of their risk organization to ensure that regulatory changes can be delivered effectively.
- Increased demand for customer focused organizations that offer service propositions and new customer service mechanisms across all channels without imposing implementation of redundant systems and costs.
- A greater need to get value from the operations and technology, recognizing technology as a driver of efficiency and enabler of innovation.
