No.1 Relationship of Finance and Technology [Fin-Tech] - By Experts

Question:

You have to carry out research into the Future of Work. Your research has to be sharply focused on the financial services industry (FSI). You will need to read a number of articles and reference at least 5 of them. In this unit, you will use the Harvard referencing system. Please consult the University of Canberra Library resources, if you are not sure how to use this referencing system.

Briefly discuss the arguments presented in these articles. What implications do these arguments present for students hoping to commence careers in the FSI? Also, briefly discuss the types of skills that are expected to be in most demand in this industry.
The bulk of your response will require you to reflect on your current skills. To do this, you will need to conduct a skills audit. That is, identify the major skills that are likely to be in demand and discuss whether you have developed these to an appropriate level. You will need to support your arguments with evidence. Simply making a statement such as 'I have a lot of skill x' and not supporting this with evidence will be penalized. Similar penalities will apply if you make a statement like 'I do not have skill x'. If you identify any gaps in your portfolio of skills, discuss practical ways that you can develop these. Again, you will need to support your arguments with clear examples. 

Answer:

Introdcution:

The speculation for required and relevant employment skill set for the ever-evolving and dynamic financial services sector has increased dramatically. Emerging technological innovations are rapidly changing the workforce today, with high doubts about the current employability percentage in the Financial Services Industry (FSI). (EY,) Technological improvements and emerging innovations such as the IA and the Blockchain technology has given rise to questions about the efficacy of the dynamic workforce and the kind of impact such innovations could possibly have in the future of FSI. Thus, as the workforce changes and new skills come to light, this easy discusses some crucial skills that need to be acquired and developed for one to pursue a career in the Financial Services Industry. The report covers essential workforce skills that may be required in the future across all FSI sectors – Banking, Insurance, and Wholesale/Asset Management.

The future of the financial services market foresees a drastic shortage of employment and adequate employment and skill set gap that can impact the future scenario of the industry. A shift in consumer demand and globalization of the industry and economy is expected to set to lower the global employment rate in FSI across all sectors (Raghuram, R. & Luigi, G., 2003). The gap owes to the increasing difference between machine labor and human labor, driven by automotive and artificial technologies that are expected to drive bigger transformations in the future of financial services. The following is a summarization of the three sectors in FSI and the kind of skills that most financial firms would like to give an upper hand in the near future.

Banking Sector

Retail and wholesale services are two segments of the banking sector, with retail banking to be observed suffering from a huge skill gap in context with product and sector knowledge, motivation and encouragement, and job ‘readiness’ (Bank Governance Leadership Network, 2018). Following a similar structure yet established a much-settled function, wholesale banking requires skills that pertain to organizational roles such as relationship managers, finance analysts, and mergers and acquisitions advisors, which require sector knowledge equally as much as retail does. The general understanding of the sector and sharpening basic finance skills such as quantitative abilities has led to this insufficient gap in skill sets that most financial firms currently are looking for and which will continue to be assessed even in future. Poor management and leadership in this particular sector have also led to a financial crisis in retail banking services, which is expected to only become worse and create an irrevocable skill gap in the industry (Oxford Research and ERM, 2008).

Insurance sector

The insurance sector has seen a major downfall where candidates lack basic industry and technical knowledge of the insurance sector. Lack of skills such as risk management, IT, and operations along with poor management skills seems to have contributed to the inability of the insurance sector to attract the highest-qualified candidates (Employment Trends, 2016). General improvement in efficiency is one of the strongest skill set that persists in the FSI insurance sector currently. Strong quantitative analytic skills will also be required for insurance firms to bridge the financial crisis gap and drive better business for life and pension insurance organizations (EGFSN, 2007).

Asset management

Strong and stable investment and risk analysis skills is a major lookout for most financial organizations in the future, especially those involved with asset management. Core asset management skills required are comprehensive investment research abilities, investment portfolio management skills, and understanding of sales and marketing functions comprise a major picture of the employment requirements from asset management holders and companies (PWC, 2007). This calls for a more developed and refined technical knowledge and understanding of customer data and needs for a successful career in the future FSI market.