The future of the financial services industry

Deloitte’s Horizon Conference marks its 10th anniversary with a hybrid event complete with top-notch presentations and the release of a key trend report.

Luxembourg, 29 September 2021: Deloitte Luxembourg organized the 10th edition of the annual Horizon Conference at its premises on 28 September. The anniversary event welcomed 60 industry professionals onsite with a further 250 online participants to present key trends affecting today’s market and to analyze the future of the financial sector.  

Positioned as the ideal platform for the sector’s players to immerse themselves in key debates, the Horizon Conference highlighted critical topics and their impact on the industry at large. The event provided participants with the opportunity to challenge the status quo whilst gaining insights on technology and resources from industry leaders.

Beyond the horizon

Following an opening speech by Deloitte Luxembourg’s Managing Partner, John Psaila, the Horizon Conference lined up globally-renowned speakers to share their personal stories and inspiring messages with the international audience. Avanti Sharma, Pre-Teen Technology Specialist at Workshop 4 me, hypothesized links between the COVID-19 crisis, innovation, and sustainability, while Nancy Rademaker from Nexxworks tackled the universally-important topic of using a customer-centric approach for the financial services industry. Attendees also heard from Degroof Petercam’s Bruno Colmant on the future of money.

“The Horizon Conference creates an environment in which to hear different generations exchange on hot topics such as technology, innovation, and sustainability and open the conversation that will shape the world of tomorrow,” explained Pascal Martino, Partner and Banking Leader at Deloitte Luxembourg. “By combining the ideas of new generations with the experience of older ones, we are able to explore new paths and reveal a new era of opportunities.”

Although unable to attend the conference in person, British conductor, actor, writer, and comedian, Rainer Hersch joined the event via a live video link. During his motivational speech, he was able to draw a parallel between the financial sector and his orchestra by explaining how everyone has their notes to play and that collaboration is imperative to create music.

Small country, big impact

One of the highlights of the conference was the presentation of the ‘The future of the financial industry in Luxembourg’ report. Following a survey of financial industry leaders in Luxembourg undertaken by Deloitte Luxembourg, on behalf of Luxembourg for Finance (LFF), the report seeks to better understand how to sustain and further the country’s financial activity. It draws attention to scenario-based models that examine the bold moves that will support the growth and international outreach of the Grand Duchy. During the conference, Nicolas Mackel, CEO of LFF, shared deeper insights on this hot-off-the-press publication by shedding light on the fundamental themes that will strengthen Luxembourg’s position as a thriving financial center.

“Luxembourg is a center of excellence for its activities in investment management and the funds industry,” commented report contributor Pascal Martino. “It is the largest fund center in Europe and second-largest in the world. However, if we want to have even greater influence, Luxembourg’s FSI must strengthen its position as the global hub for sustainable and impact investing with integration of purpose driven models.”

Read more about the report, here: The future of the Luxembourg financial industry | Deloitte Luxembourg