News

Wealth & Asset Management 4.0: ESG and Regulatory Shifts

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Our recent survey of wealth management executives found that 35% believe a greater focus on environmental, social, and governance will have the biggest impact on the wealth management industry over the next two years. This ESG impact is coming from two directions: Investors, particularly younger ones, who view ESG as critical to their investing strategy; and regulators, who are moving to shut down greenwashing and protect investor interests in a world of digital disruption. While these trends have been percolating over the last several years, the pandemic has brought them to a boil.

Join ThoughtLab, FinTech B2B Marketing, and advisory board members of the Wealth and Asset Management 4.0 research study for an interactive panel discussion examining the megatrends disrupting the industry and the future of wealth and asset management. Hear from industry experts and insiders from Appway, TCC Group, and LexisNexis Risk Solutions.

Click here to register.

  • Moderator: Lucy Heavens, FinTech B2B Marketing
  • Hanspeter Wolf, CEO, Appway
  • Olivia Fahy, Head of Culture, TCC Group
  • Nina Kerkez, Director of Consulting, LexisNexis Risk Solutions
  • Lou Celi – CEO, ThoughtLab

Discussion Points:

  • Will social value become central to investment strategies in the future, or will investors return to maximizing financial returns if the market falls?
  • How far should wealth management firms go to incorporate ESG into different aspects of their business approaches, from marketing, communication, and analysis to investment products and advisory services?
  • Which regulatory changes—from KYC and AML to data security and privacy to investor protection and fiduciary standards–will have the largest impact on the wealth management industry over the next few years?
  • How should wealth management providers change their onboarding methods, client advisory services, and outsourcing strategies to improve compliance?

ThoughtLab and Hatch Urban Solutions Join Forces to Provide Actionable Decision Support and Thought Leadership for Cities

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(August 9, 2021) (New York NY) – ThoughtLab and Hatch Urban Solutions, the urban practice arm of Hatch, a global engineering consultancy, today announced they are entering into a global alliance partnership to provide city leaders with the evidence-based research and actionable insights they need to drive their future social, environmental, and economic goals as they address the ongoing effects of the pandemic.   

ThoughtLab and Hatch Urban Solutions will collaborate to deliver a portfolio of multi-sponsored programs, evidence-based research, and virtual and in-person events that will provide valuable decision support to urban leaders as they rethink their future in a post-pandemic, digital-first world. The alliance’s first research initiative will be its upcoming urban thought leadership program: Building a RoadMap to Smart Cities 4.0: How cities plan to achieve and finance their social, environmental, and economic goals. This research initiative, the fourth annual installment of ThoughtLab’s successful smart city thought leadership program, will help cities build, finance, and benchmark implementation plans for transformation across eight urban domains. 

An unparalleled team of city experts

The alliance brings together ThoughtLab’s seasoned thought leadership experts, researchers, and editors with top urban economists and planners from Hatch Urban Solutions, along with Hatch’s broader global network of 9,000 professionals in the energy, metals, infrastructure, digital, and sustainability sectors. By joining forces, ThoughtLab and Hatch Urban Solutions will build an unparalleled worldwide team of urban specialists with multidisciplinary expertise in engineering, planning, finance, innovation, and digital transformation.    

To extend its content marketing and outreach capabilities, the alliance will also draw on ThoughtLab’s key partnerships with City Age, a leader in innovative digital and in-person events, Smart Cities World, a world-class platform for sharing ideas on urban challenges, and Ergo Editorial and Content Marketing Partners, specialists in thought leadership content development and distribution.  

“Our partnership with Hatch Urban Solutions enables ThoughtLab to take its urban thought leadership to a higher standard of excellence,” said Lou Celi, CEO of ThoughtLab. “It extends our global footprint, deepens our economic capabilities, and enhances our urban reach. Crucially, it enables us to build an extraordinary multidisciplinary team of economists, industry experts, engineers, data scientists, and planners that work together to provide actionable, evidence-based thought leadership for a fast-changing world.”  

“Having been involved with ThoughtLab from the beginning and serving as the research director for the three prior installments of ThoughtLab’s smart city research, I am excited to continue to work with Lou and the ThoughtLab team in my new role as a Director on Hatch’s Urban Solutions Team,” said Daniel Miles, former Chief Economist of ThoughtLab.  “Hatch’s global reach and urban expertise offer a great platform to leverage my past work to help cities across the globe generate positive change for their citizens and stakeholders.” 

“Addressing the issues facing cities as they emerge from the pandemic requires a multidisciplinary team and Hatch is really excited to bring our global capabilities in urban economics, planning, climate change, and digital together with the ThoughtLab’s thought leadership experts to help cities achieve their social, environmental, and economic goals,” added Bob Pell, Managing Director of Urban Solutions at Hatch.     

For more information on ThoughtLab, please visit www.thoughtlabgroup.com, and connect with us on Twitter at @thoughtlabgroup. 

For more information on Hatch Urban Solution, please visit https://www.hatch.com/Expertise/Topics/Urban-Solutions  

 

About ThoughtLab 

ThoughtLab is an innovative thought leadership firm that creates fresh thinking and actionable insights through rigorous research and evidence-based analysis. Our firm specializes in using the latest quantitative and qualitative tools to examine the impact of technology on companies, cities, industries, and business performance. 

Our multidisciplinary team of economists, industry specialists, and subject matter experts produces distinctive thought leadership to help clients engage private- and public-sector decision-makers. Our services include fielding business, consumer, investor, and government surveys; organizing executive interviews, meetings, and advisory groups; conducting economic modeling, AI sentiment monitoring, benchmarking, and performance analysis; and developing white papers, eBooks, infographics, and customer-facing analytical tools. 

 

About Hatch  

Whatever our clients envision, our teams can design and build. With over six decades of business and technical experience in the mining, energy, and infrastructure sectors, we understand that your challenges are changing rapidly. Our solutions are innovative, timely and more efficient. We draw upon 9,000 staff with experience in over 150 countries to challenge the status quo, creating positive change for our clients, employees, and the communities we serve. 

 

About Urban Solutions 

Hatch’s Urban Solutions team inspires positive change in global cities with robust quantitative evidence, deep technical expertise, and ambitious strategic vision. Networked across four continents, our team of economists, planners, architects, and related professionals helps public- and private-sector clients navigate accelerating change within their cities. Our integrated, multi-disciplinary approach drives smarter, more competitive, and inclusive development through a range of services, including spatial and economic modelling, triple-bottom-line analysis, market feasibility, financial and real estate advisory, development strategy, business casing, and integrated placemaking. 

 

 

Econsult Solutions, Inc. and ThoughtLab Unwind Joint Venture to Focus on New Growth Initiatives

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(August 4, 2021) (Philadelphia PA and New York NY) – Econsult Solutions, Inc. (ESI) and ThoughtLab today announced new initiatives to build on the success of their recently concluded five-year joint venture, ESI ThoughtLab. 

Established in July 2015, ESI ThoughtLab provided evidence-based thought leadership to examine the latest digital, economic, and social trends and their impact on companies, industries, and cities around the world. Each organization will focus on key initiatives to reinforce their market positioning as leaders in urban research.   

ThoughtLab’s expanded business strategy  

As part of its new strategy, ThoughtLab will build on its ability to develop and deliver evidence-based thought leadership on cities through a mix of multi-sponsored studies, tailored research, virtual and in-person meetings, and social media and content marketing channels. In addition to its continued relationship with ESI, ThoughtLab has entered into alliance partnerships with other leaders in field, including Hatch Urban Solutions for global economic, industry, engineering, and infrastructure analysis; City Age, for innovative digital and in-person events; and Smart Cities World, for a world-class platform for sharing ideas on urban challenges. ThoughtLab will maintain its highly respected, annual smart city thought leadership benchmarking program with the upcoming launch of its next program: Building a RoadMap to Smart Cities 4.0: How cities plan to achieve their future social, environmental, and economic goals.

ThoughtLab is also expanding in other parts of its business. It has extended its global network of economists, editors, and industry analysts. It has also established partnerships with Content Marketing Partners, Fintech B2B Marketing, and Digital Wealth Week to help drive content marketing and social media, as well as Ergo Editorial to provide high-quality editorial support.  

“Companies need to rethink thought leadership to build demand for their products and services in today’s digital-first world,” said Lou Celi, CEO and founder of ThoughtLab. To be effective, thought leadership must be truly visionary, evidence-based, and actionable. It must be made accessible through a 360-degree blend of compelling editorial formats, analytical tools, and marketing channels. And most importantly, it requires working with the best talent across disciplines. ThoughtLab plans to take its thought leadership on cities, business, and financial markets to this higher standard of excellence.”     

For more information on ThoughtLab, please visit www.thoughtlabgroup.com, and connect with us on Twitter at @thoughtlabgroup.  

ESI launches Center for the Future of Cities 

ESI’s new thought leadership initiative, ESI Center for the Future of Cities, will bring together ESI experts in urban economics, policy, and strategy to craft new evidence-based research on the most important issues facing cities, and to provide consulting services for public- and private-sector organizations working in urban settings. 

“We are eager to marshal our analytical capability and practical experience to help envision what the future of cities should be and to help make that future happen,” stated Lee Huang, ESI co-president. “We are appreciative of the five years we were able to work with ThoughtLab. It will be exciting to see how our two firms will build from that to continue to do cutting-edge thought leadership research through our respective initiatives and to work together where the opportunity arises.”  

For more information on ESI Center for the Future of Cities, please visit www.econsultsolutions.com/futureofcities, and connect with us on Twitter at @ESIFutureCities.  

Coalition of Industry Leaders to Conduct Ground-breaking Study into the Future of Wealth Management in the Post-pandemic Era

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Study will analyze how digital, social, regulatory, and economic shifts are permanently transforming the wealth and asset management industry

May 20, 2021 (Philadelphia, PA) – ESI ThoughtLab, a leading global research firm, has joined forces with a coalition of leading wealth management firms, WealthTech innovators, and industry experts to analyze how digital, social, regulatory, and economic shifts—accelerated by the pandemic—will fast-forward the next era of wealth management. Dramatic changes in investor behaviors, experiences, and expectations, along with a major transformation in the workplace for advisors and operating teams, will continue to gain momentum, even after the pandemic ends. This will require financial institutions to act now to rethink their growth plans, products and services, value propositions, and business models for the “new-normal” marketplace.

A probing look into the future of wealth management

To investigate these megatrends and what they will mean for the industry, ESI ThoughtLab is working with Deloitte, eToro, FIS, Salesforce, Appway, HCL, and Publicis Sapient to launch a rigorous research initiative called Wealth and Asset Management 4.0: How digital, social, and economic shifts will transform the industry. This comprehensive study will consist of two major worldwide surveys conducted over the next two months: one of 2,500 investors across age and wealth levels and another of 500 wealth and asset management providers covering a spectrum of industry players. To get a broad perspective, the program will include an advisory board of leading financial, technology, consulting, and research organizations; in-depth interviews with market leaders and experts; and economic modeling and analysis by ESI ThoughtLab’s team of economists.

It will seek to answer a range of critical questions, including:

  • How will investors across segments change their priorities, expectations, and behaviors in a digital, post-pandemic world?
  • How will firms need to adapt their products and services, business models, value propositions, and client services to stay competitive?
  • What will be the biggest opportunities and challenges for wealth management providers in a transformed financial marketplace?
  • How far will industry players need to go to build ESG into their business strategies, analytical approaches, and product offerings?
  • How fast and extensively will the industry need to digitize, and which digital technologies and solutions will deliver the best results?
  • What are the new ways in which work will get done, and how will this affect advisor activities and client relationships?
  • What will the wealth and asset management industry look like in five years, and what should firms do now to stay relevant?

“The convergence of digital, social, regulatory, and demographic change is upending the wealth and asset management industry,” said Lou Celi, CEO of ESI ThoughtLab and the project director. “Investment providers that do not act now to respond to these new market realities will struggle to compete in the era of Wealth 4.0.”

A multidisciplinary coalition of industry experts

To ensure the acuity of the research, ESI ThoughtLab has established a multidisciplinary advisory board to help shape the research agenda and provide insights to the analysis. In addition to sponsors, the coalition includes senior executives from universal, retail, and private banks, as well as asset management firms, broker-dealers, wealth advisory firms, family offices, hedge funds, venture capital firms, financial associations, academics, and economists.

As part of this open research initiative, ESI ThoughtLab will provide regular updates on the program, along with the latest analysis, useful data resources, and valuable insights, to the global financial community. The research program will continue over the next several months, with the full study findings and related decision support tools to be released in October 2021, along with calls to action for investment providers and the broader investment community.

An upcoming webinar on May 27th will highlight members of the research study advisory board. Discussion points will include the biggest disruptors impacting the industry today, the pandemic’s lasting impacts, as well as an examination of shifting investor behaviors, priorities, and expectations. To register for this interactive panel discussion, please visit https://bit.ly/3bnjfix

For more information, contact:
Lou Celi, Chief Executive Officer
ESI ThoughtLab
Lceli@esithoughtlab.com

Mike Daly, Marketing Director
ESI ThoughtLab
Mdaly@esithoughtlab.com

 

About ESI ThoughtLab

ESI ThoughtLab is an innovative thought leadership firm that creates fresh ideas through rigorous research and economic analysis. We specialize in assessing the economic, financial, and social impact of latest technology on cities, companies, industries, and world markets. Our services include fielding business, consumer, investor, and government surveys; organizing executive interviews, meetings, and advisory groups; conducting economic modeling, AI sentiment monitoring, benchmarking, and performance analysis; and developing white papers, eBooks, infographics, and customer-facing analytical tools.

 

 

 

Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of our legal structure.

Wealth & Asset Management 4.0: Digital , Social, and Economic Shifts

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The ongoing pandemic has been a watershed event for businesses and their customers around the world, particularly for the wealth and asset management industry. The crisis has rapidly sped up digital, social, economic, demographic, and regulatory shifts that were already transforming the industry. But the pandemic also has prompted investors to reexamine their life priorities, investment plans, and the way they interact with their wealth management providers.

Join ESI ThoughtLab, FinTech B2B Marketing, and advisory board members of the Wealth and Asset Management 4.0 research study for an interactive panel discussion examining the megatrends disrupting the industry and the future of wealth and asset management. Hear from industry experts and insiders from Charles Schwab & Co., Deloitte, and eToro.

Click here to register.

  • Moderator: Payal Raina – Founder, FinTech B2B Marketing
  • Andrew D’Anna – Senior Vice President, Charles Schwab & Co.
  • Gauthier Vincent – Lead Wealth Management Consulting Partner, Deloitte
  • Ronen Assia – Co-founder, eToro
  • Lou Celi – CEO, ESI ThoughtLab

Discussion Points:

  • Why is this research so timely and important now?
  • What are the biggest disruptors impacting the wealth and asset management industry today?
  • How has the pandemic accelerated the transformation of the industry?
  • What lasting changes should we expect in how work gets done and clients are serviced?
  • How are investors’ behaviors, priorities, and expectations changing, and how are firms adapting their products and services to meet their clients’ needs?

ESI ThoughtLab and CityAge Invite City Leaders to Attend The 2021 Smart Cities Strategy Summit

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An Exclusive Meeting of Global City Leaders

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a watershed event for cities, with lasting impacts on how residents will live, travel, shop, and work. Our ground-breaking research into the post-pandemic plans of 167 cities worldwide—to be released at the summit—reveals that cities will need to morph into Cities 4.0 to achieve their social, environmental, and economic goals and meet their citizens’ needs after the pandemic ends.
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Cities 4.0 are urban centers that will evolve beyond yesterday’s smart cities to transform and interconnect various urban domains by leveraging technology and data, and by using a wider set of partnerships and innovative financing models. Just as importantly, Cities 4.0 will engage and empower their citizens, and will work with communities to take their social, environmental, and economic agenda to a higher level, fully aligned with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

The Smart Cities Strategy Summit will bring together city leaders from around the world to exchange views on solutions for a post-pandemic world. Participants will include urban experts from ESI ThoughtLab and CityAge and thought leaders from the business, academic, and government, who will help moderate and contribute to the discussion. Unlike other urban-focused events, the Smart Cities Strategy Summit is an invitation-only interchange that will provide a virtual forum for a cross-pollination of ideas and practices, drawing on our latest evidence-based research.
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Please join us at the summit so that you can gather insights from your peers and our analysis to craft a successful roadmap to achieve your post-pandemic urban development goals.

Special thanks to our event sponsors