Inform Magazine

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t’s a bit of a beast, the financial services sector, as it spans banks, investment houses, lenders, finance companies, real estate brokers and insurance companies. The sector as a

a potential candidate’s decision-making. There are 2.3 million workers in the sector in the UK and 20.5% of that 2.3 million were born outside of the UK. The demand is there from firms to recruit the best of the best, no matter where the talent resides globally. As a result of that demand, in August this year, the ‘High Potential Individual’ (HPI) visa was introduced for recent graduates from non-UK universities ranked in the Global top 50 to provide a fast route to work in the UK for 2 years. To be clear, the visa isn’t exclusive to the FS industry – it can be utilised by other industries looking for the best global talent. Training and apprenticeships are a topic of conversation that is on a lot of companies struggling with the staffing shortage and the FS industry is no exception. Unfortunately, the priority of upskilling and training is

whole contributed £173.6bn to the UK economy in 2021, which made up 8.3% of total economic output. Amazingly, the UK boasts the most globally connected banking hub and is also the world's largest centre for international debt issuance, commercial insurance and reinsurance, foreign exchange (FX) trading and asset management. Being this ahead of the game poses some pretty unique challenges for operators in the sector and there is pressure building on the responsibility to improve the sector on the whole and the wider ecosystem.

not perceived as a priority on a whole for the industry. The Apprenticeship Levy was introduced two years ago to create long-term sustainable funding for apprenticeships and to give employers more control to provide their staff with a range of training opportunities. Thousands of employers including top financial firms like Lloyds Banking Group as well as public sector organisations like the NHS and the British Armed Forces are using their levy funds effectively to set up a range of high-quality apprenticeship programmes.

COP26 reaffirmed the UK's desire to be the world's number one for sustainable finance. The UK leads in both conventional and green finance centre rankings because of its continued commitments to supporting the government's requirements to deliver net zero plans across the UK economy. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is one of the regulators for

With over 2.3 million jobs in the [financial services] sector, attracting and retaining high quality talent is tricky.

approximately 50,000 financial services firms and financial markets in the UK. Although it works independently of the UK government, the FCA recognises the

Recent M&A UK financial services M&A deal volume hit a seven-year high, in H1 2022 with 136 deals in the first half of the year and a total disclosed deal value of £8.6bn. • The number of UK insurance deals rose from 32 in H1 2021 to 48 in H1 2022. • In the UK banking sector, there were 34 deals in H1 2022, up from 25 in H1 2021 • Within the UK wealth and asset management industry, the number of deals fell marginally from 61 in H1 2021 to 54 in H1 2022. KBS Corporate very recently advised Ravenhall Risk Solutions on their sale to The Jensten Group, the sale of Admiral Wealth Management to the international wealth and investment management group, Kingswood, and the sale of employee benefits firm Vivup, to Omni Partners.

weighty responsibility its members have surrounding climate change, and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) and how increasingly central to the activities of listed companies, regulated firms and consumers these factors are. To ensure the transition is successful, a continued shared common sense of purpose across government, trade associations, regulators, and firms themselves is needed. Attracting and retaining talent is an ongoing issue across lots of industries and the Financial Services sector isn’t immune to this. With over 2.3 million jobs in the sector (1.1 million in financial services and 1.2 million in related professional services), attracting and retaining high-quality talent is tricky. Wage demands, an appealing work/life balance, hybrid/flexible work patterns, company perks and incentives all factor into

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