Financial Services
The financial system secures the future through targeted investments, risk management and sustainable capital management. Leaders who shape the future create a robust, global network for prosperity and stability.
Challenges in the Financial Services sector
Companies in the financial services sector have undergone several transformation cycles in recent years, or have even been the drivers of transformation from the FinTech sector itself.
More about the challenges in the Financial Services
Digitization & innovation: digital business models, data-driven processes, digital distribution, rethought business models, while at the same time some are sticking to the traditional core, which is increasingly under pressure. Many non-traditional competitors are putting pressure on banks, insurance companies and financial service providers to transform their business models and organizations. They need to integrate technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, big data and cloud computing. The wealth of data available opens up opportunities for better customer analytics and personalized financial services. The challenge is to use the right technologies and analytical methods to gain valuable insights, while protecting customer privacy.
Cybersecurity: As digitization increases, so does the threat of cybercrime. The security of customer data and transactions is critical. Banks and insurance companies must invest in effective security systems to prevent data loss or theft.
ESG: Sustainability is shaping activities in the financial services sector. On the one hand, this means designing financial products according to ESG criteria. It also involves interacting with sustainability-oriented investors and companies. The focus is on investing in green technologies and projects, as well as ensuring that business practices are ethical and socially responsible.
Uncertainty: Geopolitical uncertainty poses risks to product and service offerings and to the existing customer base. Inflation and related interest rate policies create additional uncertainty.
Regulatory requirements: The financial industry is highly regulated, and companies are constantly dealing with new regulations and compliance requirements. Compliance requires significant resources and can impact a company’s ability to innovate and be agile. FinTech companies face the challenge of maintaining their innovative solutions while complying with regulatory requirements.
Need for Action for Leaders
These challenges are complex and require a high degree of innovation from leaders. At the same time, they must use their extensive knowledge of regulatory requirements to assess new risks, pursue visions in uncertain times and take along unsettled employees and customers.
More on the need for action by leaders
Today, leaders in the financial industry must strike an extraordinary balance between strategic foresight and operational excellence. They are challenged not only to recognize future-oriented technologies, but also to integrate them in a targeted and efficient manner in order to withstand competition from the FinTech sector. This requires a deep understanding of new technologies and their potential for improving internal processes and customer experiences, as well as a keen sense of market trends and customer needs in an increasingly digital environment. At the same time, they have to deal with an increasingly complex regulatory landscape and ensure that innovation and compliance are in line with each other, without slowing down the company’s agility. The growing importance of ESG criteria also requires that executives anchor sustainability and social responsibility as core components of their corporate strategy in order to ensure the long-term trust of customers and investors. The duality between strategic design and operational implementation requires a new generation of leaders who can act both analytically and empathetically. They must not only be able to make quick and informed decisions, but also inspire their teams and lead them through constant change. This also includes fostering a resilient and innovative corporate culture in which employees perceive change not as a threat but as an opportunity and actively help to shape it.
Searchery advises companies in the financial services sector on filling management positions, executives and professionals, based on leadership competences that make a decisive contribution to successful transformation.
In addition, we support the targeted placement of female leaders with the aim of increasing diversity in management positions and thus making the company more profitable. The selection processes can be supplemented by aptitude assessments of individual leaders or, in the case of reorganizations, by management audits based on scientifically sound methodology. We supplement these selection and assessment processes with consulting services designed to build a diverse talent pipeline equipped with the necessary future-oriented competences.
Contact us
Philine Cremer
Partner, Düsseldorf
Nina Maywald
Partner, München
Henrike Simon
Associate Partner, München
Our Functions
About us
Searchery is a young Executive Search Consultancy with mandates and projects at both listed and medium-sized companies as well as international start-ups and scale-ups.
Our focus is on executives who shape change in today’s changed corporate and leadership context with future-oriented competences profiles.