Over the past year, we have seen a number of new challenges emerge in the financial services sector. With these challenges, uncertainties arise and new opportunitiesare created. In order to face uncertainties and embrace new opportunities, business leaders need to focus on being best prepared, position themselves for innovation to achieve a competitive advantage and manage the challenges like significant regulatory changes and staying on track with cyber security.

The 56th edition of Frontiers in Finance, focuses on the current challenges businesses face and how these challenges lead to innovation and business opportunities. These articles cover the expected impact of Brexit vs the real impact and future challenges, how the lack of legacy technology, banking infrastructure and regulatory constraints enabled emerging markets to embrace innovation, to how the complexity and velocity of change may be challenging for some entities but creates benefits and competitive advantages for others. Specific topics relating to the insurance industry includes how new standards creates opportunities and how businesses align their business strategy with possible mergers and acquisitions. Other focus areas include the future changes in investment management and staying on track with cyber security.

The main featured article and probably the most popular topic of the year, Brexit, impacted the African economies and financial markets, especially with a credit downgrade looming in South Africa. This re-enforced the focus on working hard to maintain investor confidence and re-assuring the financial market. As the author Jeremy Anderson states the next couple of years will be uncertain, but like any major changes, it will also bring major opportunities and significant benefits to the best prepared organisations.

Another key matter that consistently makes an appearance is that change is inevitable and therefore banks and other financial services entities need to conform to change. Regulatory requirements and technology changes have forced businesses and management to think of more innovative and effective ways of doing business, which in return creates more business opportunities.

May this issue of Frontiers in Finance provide your business with ideas and suggestions on how to approach your organisation’s own opportunities and challenges. As always is the developments internationally in the industry as relevant to our business in Africa.

For more information:

Contact Pierre Fourie
Head of Financial Services
KPMG in South Africa
pierrejnr.fourie@kpmg.co.za