Mercer Capital's Value Focus: FinTech Industry | First Half 2017
TFT-February-2016
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HARRI NGTON STARR TALK TO
S OME OF FINTECH’S M O ST
E XCITING BUSINES SE S
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Introduction by Toby Babb
FEATURE Salary trends
Stay ahead of the curve with our
bespoke salary benchmarks
Fintech Focus
Darren Watkins, New Sales Director,
Virtus Data Centres
Nick Brooks, Sales Director (UK
and Ireland), ICTroom
Oskar Miel, Managing Director,
Rakuten Fintech
Leanne Kemp, CEO, Everledger
John Hammond, Chief Commercial
Officer, Currency Cloud
FEATURE Fingers on the pulse
Advice from three market leaders
Market news & commentary
Insight on the market from
dedicated experts in their field
Starr Insights
All Change in 2016 For
Contract Business Analysts
and Project Managers in FinTech,
By Richard Twumasi
2016: A good year for Microsoft
Contractors, By Lewis Bickerton
FinTech in 2015, Michael Paterson
Gartners Technology Priorities
for 2016, by Scott Richardson
FEATURE Hottest skills for 2016
What’s new amongst
the Fintech fraternity
FEATURE Top 10 skills and job
titles you should expect
to see in 2016
Nadia Edwards-Dashti breaks down the
must-have skills for the year ahead
FEATURE Seven lessons
in leadership
As told by Major General
Patrick Cordingley
FEATURE HS Backgrounds
Meet the Harrington Starr team
Meet the Editorial Team
About Harrington Starr
Contact
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Contents
The Financial Technologist | February 2016
Over 600 of the leading software
vendors, consultancies, fintech startups,
banks, hedge funds, brokerages and
exchanges trust Harrington Starr to grow
their business. Join the community
www.harringtonstarr.com
HELPING THE WORLD’S MOST EXCITING
COMPANIES IN FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY
GROW WORLD CLASS SALES TEAMS
GROWING
TEAMS
Working exclusively
with the sector’s most
dynamic sales talent
GROWING
BRANDS
Leveraging your brand
through our publications
and publicity
GROWING
NETWORKS
Connecting and creating
business opportunities
through events, introductions
and connections
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e are delighted to showcase some hugely exciting
brands and thought leaders in this first edition as
well as sharing our thoughts and insight on the
FinTech market in 2016.
A Year of Stunning
FinTech Growth in 2015
The FinTech space has had a strong feel good
factor in recent years and 2015 was seen as the
year where the movement became mainstream.
We saw near double investment in the space from
2014 to 2015 with a 92% year on year rise. The five
most active FinTech investors (Sequoia Capital,
Harrington Starr’s publication merging
our previous magazines The Trading
Technologist and The FinTech Capital.
Welcome to
The Financial
Technologist
W
Technologists and a continued advance in
disruptive tech finance. Many firms will grow
and boom from how tech can solve the market’s
regulatory pain but many will face tightening
regulation that will stifle some of the advance
in the space. It could be argued that much of
the growth in the space has appeared following
strangled regulation meaning an exodus from the
sell side to less regulated sectors. Shifting the
problem and circumnavigating the issues if you
will. Whilst financial regulation offers vendors and
solution providers in the space a boom market
to exploit, the same regulation will catch up with
alternative FinTech options and fear remains
about how that will impact sector growth. Should
the government tighten its grip and change the
regulatory climate that has been so welcoming for
UK businesses we could face a market slow down.
Talent is one of the key priorities of FS Tech teams
throughout the world. The overwhelming majority
of companies polled in the sector are planning on
growth this year. With increased pressure from
the digital revolution in the commercial sector
and finance no longer holding the monopoly on
the best pay and most interesting projects, talent
represents a very real concern for the growth of
the industry. Should the government crack down
on the immigration of highly skilled talent and a
continued lack of investment into tech education
continue to lose highly skilled new entrants into
the space, we have a very real threat of a genuine
skills shortage that will halt FinTech’s continued
advance as a sector.
There are concerns over conservatism of the Sell
Side in particular in how they accept, embrace
and integrate new technology. In our FinTech
Influencers meetings of last year there was a
palpable air of discontent over how investment
banks were making barriers insurmountable for
startups to engage with them. A reluctance of the
banks to accept new technology and, perhaps
more importantly, the public at large to change
and gain confidence in a new disruptive financial
market points some level of concern at FinTech. As
customer behaviour continues to change, the wind
that has swept towards mobile payments, cloud,
P2P etc could easily swing with any negative press
in the space.
We also look at the Macro Economic situation. At
the time of writing we see the Chinese banking
markets in turmoil and the escalating issues in the
Middle East casting a constant cloud on the Global
economic skyline. Whilst we have weathered many
storms over the last 7/8 years and are stronger in
our planning, the threat of the wider economy will
always pose a threat to continued growth.
Finally we see boards investigating, if not
overly concerned with, Blockchain. Whilst it is a
problem that should be solved and 54% of those
interviewed agreed that it should be a solution for
financial institutions, should policy makers and
terror hysteria hinder its advance, we threaten to
slow down a potentially transformational tech area
that can reform the sector.
Despite all of these concerns, however, the
advance of FinTech looks only set to be bigger
in 2016 and bigger again in 2017. As previously
stated, this is far from a FinTech bubble we are
living in. The structural shift points to Finance’s
Industrial Revolution. Please turn the page to see
some of our predictions for the year ahead:
T O B Y B A B B ,
M A N A G I N G D I R E C T O R ,
H A R R I N G T O N S T A R R
Accel Partners, Greycroft Partners, Index Ventures
and Andreessen Horowitz) flexed their muscles
and we saw the banks become closer and closer to
the so called disruptors.
In the US we saw five times the investment into
FinTech than the whole of Europe combined and
London lead the charge this side of the pond.
There are now 25 FinTech Unicorns and global
FinTech investment exceeded $25bn. The mobile
and payments spaces boomed with mobile money
transfers up a stunning 150% in 2015.
Concerns over Continued
FinTech Growth?
Despite all of the FinTech buzz, concerns do
remain throughout the sector in 2016. Is this an
unsustainable FinTech Bubble? Casting our minds
back to 2001/2 and the Dot Com fiasco, the lack of
sustainable return from so many startups defies
the investment being put into the space causing
concern for many spectators. This concern is
re-assuring with lessons seeming to have been
learned. With the evolution, if not revolution, of
the FinTech space, the market looks more of a
structural shift than a bubble, creating cautious
optimism for some years to come.
Regulation remains the key concern to Financial
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Toby
FinTech in 2016
We will see Apple, Google, Amazon and Paypal
target disruption through their “Financial
Innovation Now” alliance. The power and
innovative track record of those brands surely
point to significant market change. Social Media
will also come more to the fore in trading strategy.
We will continue to see new entrants to the market
with H2 in 2016 meaning an astonishing advance
in startups. With many of these proving stunning
successes, confidence is being bred along with
the support of incubators and accelerators. With
Goldmans, Barclays, Citi and consultancies such
as KPMG fully supporting innovation in the space,
expect to see another wave of new entrants to the
market.
Financial Inclusion and a focus on the
underbanked will be an area targeted by FinTech
entrepreneurs. We saw several companies gain
traction here in recent years and, with an ever
increasing social focus to FinTech, responsible
finance and true inclusion will be a focus for many
in the sector.
Crypto Currency will regain its spotlight in 2016.
The Bitcoin vs Blockchain debate will continue
but with UBS, Barclays and Citi now on the
bandwagon we will see banks truly invest in how
the technology can genuinely improve business.
Nasdaq’s Robert Greifeld recently stated that he
felt that “Blockchain’s technology will alter the
Financial Services infrastructure.” It is believed
that Nasdaq will go live with a Blockchain for the
private market by the end of 2016.
With millennials now more and more turning to
mobile banking, there will be undeniable advances
in mobile and frictionless transactions. P2P,
cashflow and invoice lending businesses will also
go mainstream as we face the SME economy with
startup businesses moving away from traditional
banking models following years of frustration. This
leads to some concern of a peer to peer bubble
with investments in the space often lacking
correct thinking, planning and importantly return.
On a geographic level, we expect to see continued
strength in the two FinTech Capitals of London and
New York but China looks set to see the biggest
explosion of disruptive finance. Insurance Tech
will rival the fever pitch of FinTech with interesting
advances predicted in another technological
dinosaur of a market yearning for disruption.
The markets will continue to be acquisitive with a
number of deals set to be announced early in 2016.
Harrington Starr News
It also promises to be a big year for the Harrington
Starr Team. Having grown headcount by 43% in
2015, 2016 will see that trend continue and we
are grateful for the support of all of our fantastic
clients who have helped to facilitate that growth.
We have seen the launch of our US business with a
team now fully focussing on sales professionals in
North America. Again, driven by client demand we
are hugely excited about seeing the community led
approach that we have developed see us grow the
same presence over the pond. Based in New York,
we anticipate the business to spread to Houston,
Boston and Chicago quickly in the coming years.
In January we launched our sister company The
North Starr, which will be led by Alex Odwell.
North Starr will focus on software development
in companies outside the financial sector with a
specialism around Digital Technology. This is an
incredibly exciting venture for the team and we
look forward to taking our strategy that has helped
grow Harrington Starr over the last five years to a
new market.
We are also delighted to welcome four new
starters to the team in January. Rob Grant,
Luigi Negri, Adam Williams and James Platt join
providing over twenty years of experience to the
business. Rob will join the US team focussing on
mid to senior level Sales Professionals in Trading
Technology. Luigi joins in the Electronic Trading,
Apps Support and FIX team, James will focus
on contract placements in the Testing arena
and Adam will focus on Java appointments.
We are delighted to welcome four outstanding
and experienced hires to the team and wish them
the very best of luck in their new career. We are
still looking to make further hires. Get in touch to
find out more.
Banks will become the major trade buyers of latter
stage firms with investment from VCs and Investors
continuing to fuel rapid growth. Last year we posed
the question as to whether startups in the face
were challengers, collaborators or competition
for the banking sector. We believe that 2016 will
see the banks respond to the threat by acquiring
heavily and diversifying their market share. Bigger
vendors are sharpening their pencils and we expect
to see more companies making plays for upstarts
in 2016. Will FIS buy again after their stunning
acquisition of Sungard? Will we see ION and Markit
come back to the levels of investment they made
earlier in the decade? Will others join the party?
Activity will be high beyond any doubt.
Alongside the success stories, we are also
unfortunately set to see a number of failures. Key
traits emerge between those who succeed and
fail but the principal areas for FinTech startups to
get right include thinking about proper licencing,
understanding what it takes to raise money from
strategic investors, a failure to pay attention to
business cycles, overlooking legal issues and IP
question marks, not choosing VCs with FinTech
experience and disregarding compliance. Those
who have a product that solves real issues with a
strong business plan and great team will prosper.
It is also essential to have the right sales team in
place. So often tech entrepreneurs fail to properly
package their product and provide a genuine value
proposition. The right early stage hires in sales are
essential.
A hugely exciting year lies ahead and we predict a
scramble for talent in the following areas:
UI/UX Designers and Developers
Change specialists in Risk and Compliance
Cyber Crime and Security Experts
DevOps
FS Tech Sales Specialists (From software to
networks and hardware this will be the key
scramble for talent in 2016)
Q1 job levels in the space will be up by over 50% in
Q1 with strong employee value propositions and
clear, quick and engaging interview processed
essential in securing talent. Let battle commence!
You’ll be able to find us at a number of industry
events in early 2016 including:
Feb 4th: Intelligent Trading Summit
Feb 9th: Finovate Europe
March 3rd: EMEA Trading Conference
April 7th: FinTech Innovation Awards
April 11th: Innovate Finance Global Summit
April 12th/13th: TradeTech Europe
If you would like any more information on any of
the above please get in touch. We’d love to catch
up there so if you are going let us know and we’ll
grab a coffee.
In Summary
So, a big year beckons for Global FinTech and we
are delighted to be involved in one of the most
exciting periods in the history of banking. We have
represented over 600 companies in the space over
the last five years and look forward to working and
helping to grow the networks, connections and
teams of some of the most exciting businesses in
the world in the year ahead.
With a booming market comes a need for talent
and we are proud to have in our black books,
some of the most outstanding individuals in
Global FinTech. If you are looking for your business
to capitalise on the opportunities that will
doubtlessly present themselves this year, we’d
love to talk to you about how we can help and
advise on that growth.
I wish you all the best for a brilliant 2016 and look
forward to talking to many of you in the months
ahead.
Best regards
“We have seen the launch
of our US business with a
team now fully focussing
on sales professionals in
North America. Based in
New York, we anticipate
the business to spread
to Houston, Boston and
Chicago quickly in the
coming years.”
5. SALARY
TRENDS
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What are the hottest skills to boost your salary in
2016? Which areas are seeing the biggest jump?
Which markets and sectors are increasing their
salaries to win the war for talent? The Harrington
Starr team speculate on all of the above and
more in our FinTech Salary Special.
It’s been well documented that the
days of Java developers being able
to put their headphones on and avoid
‘social’ interactions at all costs are
well and truly over. Top level developers
are expected to be able to assume
the role of BA and tester, as well as
writing clean code which anyone in
the dev team could pick up and run
with minimal fuss. The interactions
with the business are critical –
often dealing with a non-technical
audience to ascertain requirements
then translate them accordingly.
The transition from a candidate
perspective is still happening,
which is why anyone who can
demonstrate a breadth of skills
can expect to be well rewarded.
If you’re adding in experience of leading
a team, a six figure salary would be well
within reach.
It is a space that is currently witnessing
a huge number of mid-level roles
and a real limit on opportunities
above £75k.
J A V A
During the whole of 2015 we saw a strong increase
in headcounts across all areas of the FinTech Vendor
Sector, continued confidence in the financial markets and
UK economy generally fuelled the underlying growth
for companies to grow their client base, revenues and expand
their target foot print across the UK and EMEA. FinTech
salary packages overall saw some marginal increases
compared to 2014.
The salary outlook for the first quarter of 2016 is positive
and will continue to build on the strength of demand for
talented and experienced candidates. Base salaries for
Senior Sales Managers and Sales Directors have seen
some increase ranging from £105,000 to £130,000, with
uncapped on target bonuses or commissions. Senior Sales
Executives and Sales Manager positions also remain strong
at £90 – £110,000 basic salary with Sales Executive roles,
5–10 years’ experience still commanding
£60,000 - £80,000, and there is no
shortage of openings. Roles with 2 to
4 years’ experience are continuing to
command £40,000 to £55,000.
On Target Commission or a generous
bonus continues to play a large part in the
decision making process by candidates,
company benefits are still key combined
with career progression and personal
development. Although a desire for more
holidays and less critical business travel is
now also playing a key part.
Sales roles continue to demand in-depth relevant skills
and Industry Domain experience in the FinTech, ETRM and
CTRM sector. Software and Solutions Providers need to hire
in almost every area and candidates must offer a 100%
fit for the role if they expect to maximise their top salary
expectation. The risk and cost of making a hiring mistake is
still seen by FinTech Employers as too high to compromise
on skillset, experience and knowledge. This is very unlikely
to change during 2016.
The business and mission critical requirements of Risk,
Compliance and Regulations (Dodd-Frank, Sarbanes- Oxley,
Basel III and MiFD 2), and AML, remain key ‘’hot spots’’ and are
increasing in demand.
In terms of total remuneration packages, we have noticed the
larger organisations are more inclined to offer a higher base
salary with a discretionary bonus rather than commission.
Whereas a start-up will offer lower base with much higher
commission on the basis that it is harder to open doors and
sell without a strong name and brand behind you, though get
it right and the opportunity could be incredibly lucrative.
The demand for top sales people has, for a long while,
outweighed the talent available, causing
a headache for FinTech firms looking to
bolster their sales teams. Companies are
having to stretch budgets, and in some
instances by up to 25%, in order to beat
the competition and secure the best sales
people. With the FinTech market being ever
more fragmented by the waves of start-
ups and innovators challenging the status
quo, this doesn’t look like slowing any time
soon. Our advice to clients is to utilise their
recruiters to guide on what the salaries are
on offer in the markets and how best to ‘sell’
the opportunity to prospective candidates.
S O F T W A R E
S A L E S
THE DEMAND
FOR TOP SALES
PEOPLE HAS, FOR
A LONG WHILE,
OUT WEIGHED THE
TALENT AVAILABLE,
CAUSING A
HEADACHE FOR
FINTECH FIRMS
LOOKING TO
BOLSTER THEIR
SALES TEAMS
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The Quant market continues to be extremely well
paid for candidates who demonstrate the strong
level of mathematics required for securing a role
with a top level firm. However the market continues
to be split between the Buy and the Sell side,
particularly in how pay is split between basic salary
and bonuses.
Sell side basic salaries continue to be high and
it doesn’t tend to be a problem for candidates to
achieve salaries of £120,000 - £150,000, possibly
even £200,000 if they are exceptional and bring a
well desired skill set.
On the Buy side it’s a very different story and for a
candidate to move to the Buy Side they will often
be looking at a basic of a maximum of £100,000
in order to really establish themselves. There is
some possibility for
advancement on the
basic salary however
it’s not huge (with the
exception some firms
who try to compete
with the Sell side
on basic).
The reason for
candidates taking
this hit on their basic
is twofold. Firstly, the
problems and roles
on the Buy Side seem
to be considerably
more appealing for
candidates (especially since the banks had to shut
down their prop desks), particularly those who have
achieved complex PhD’s and are looking to use
those skills whilst being well-remunerated. It’s no
surprise that a number of candidates look to move
from Sell side to Buy side but not vice versa.
Secondly, as a whole, the Buy Side have managed
to maintain a strong bonus culture, this adds
some risk to candidates. Unfortunately, there are
still start-up buy side firms that fail and ultimately
pay none of the promised big bonuses to the
Quants they have enticed into their positions for a
lower basic. Bonuses can be as much as 100% (or
more) compared to usually no more than 30-40% on
the sell side.
This pattern showed no evidence of changing over
the course of 2015 and it’s unlikely to change now
going into 2016.
Salaries for the US across FinTech sales will
be a ramping up this year. In 2015 we saw an
average salary for a senior sales professionals
level out at $120,000 - $150,000 + Commission
earning usually at x 2 OTE. This year it looks
as though salaries will creep up a bit and
the opportunity to secure a talented sales
professional with industry experience of over
5 years for $120,000 will be a real challenge.
A realistic starting point for this type of
professional will be at $135,000 for Q1 2016.
The .Net market has proven to be a
market with a wide ranging salary
range due to the complexity of the
language and the various technologies
associated within the full .Net stack.
The Buy-side sector is proving to be the
highest paying domain within financial
IT and that is largely due to the scope
and variety associated within these
roles. You will not be working on a
single component and will be required
to work across the full stack. You can
be earning salaries from £80,000 -
£110,000 in basic compensation but
can be earning significant bonuses,
which can vary from 25% - 100%.
The software vendor market can see
senior developers gain salaries in the
range of £50,000 - £70,000, but the
hours and business interaction will be
a lot less than the Buy-side. However,
if you are a programmer trying to
enter financial services, this is a great
opportunity as you will gain priceless
experience with front-office, trading
and risk compliance software that will
be sought after within Sell-side roles.
Mid-Level .Net developer positions
within the vendor space will be earning
an average of £45,000 + Bonus and
benefits, but will offer a process
driven environment with the latest .Net
technologies.
Within the brokerage space it has been
a busy year and you can be expecting
some good salaries within the front-
office roles as a C# developer. These
roles have salaries ranging from
£70,000 - £100,000. Back office and
middle office roles will be offering
ranges at a senior level of around
50,000 - £70,000 and junior to mid-level
roles ranging from £30,000 - £45,000.
2016 is set to be another strong year for
.NET Contractors. Whether your trade
is a focus on backend, middleware
or web, the contract market will be
healthy. Expect to see many contracts
in the Buy side and Sell side space.
Rates in this sector will range in the
£400 - £750 per day. What will dictate
on what end of that scale you will be
on this year will obviously be your
experience, but also your hunger for
technology and ability to work across
several technologies and business
areas. To achieve the £600+ per day
rates you need be to getting involved
in strong projects and also have the
ability to work server side, web, front
end, back end and middleware. Most
projects won’t offer you this liberty
which is why you should be working on
side projects or reading books outside
of core hours or anything that puts you
ahead of the average.
The salaries have definitely increased in the last
year across Support and Infrastructure. 2015 has
predominantly consisted of a candidate driven
market and this has resulted in an increase in
overall salary and package. As companies drive
towards efficiency and cost-cutting they continue
to look to move away from traditional Windows
technologies toward the more affordable Linux
open source technologies. DevOps Engineers
and Senior Linux / Unix Engineers are definitely
the most well paid in this space and a suitable
candidate would be looking at salaries ranging from
£60k – £80k. Networking and Security Engineers
are also highly sought after and the market would
be paying anywhere from £50k - £80k for strong
candidates with financial services experience. The
more entry-level / junior roles haven’t seen any
significant change in salary on offer and typically
I N F R A S T R U C T U R E ,
C L O U D , N E T W O R K S ,
D E V O P S , S E C U R I T Y
pay anywhere between £30k and £45k depending
on experience, of course.
With an emphasis on broader skillsets, security
roles have become much more challenging to find
appropriate people for and as such, a premium
has been placed on professionals with experience
of taking companies through the various security
regimes, maintaining those environments and also
having the technical ability to be a genuine asset to
the infrastructure teams. As such, candidates with
a diverse set of expertise could certainly expect to
earn six figures plus on an annual salary.
With the threats of Cyber Security becoming even
more apparent this year, companies, particularly
in the financial services sector, will look to further
protect themselves against hacking risks. With an
emphasis on broader skillsets, security roles have
become much more challenging to find appropriate
people for and as such, a premium has been
placed on professionals with experience of taking
companies through the various security regimes,
maintaining those environments and also having
the technical ability to be a genuine asset to the
infrastructure teams. As such, candidates with a
diverse set of expertise could certainly expect to
earn six figures plus on an annual salary.
On a contract basis, Cyber Security has been the
main topic for 80% financial market organisations
and is a subject hotly discussed by C-Level
individuals across the City.
The rates for CISSP/CISM professionals last year
rose exceptionally, on the turn of the year the
average rate was £532 for security professional.
This jumped to over £600 towards the end of the
year.
The speed of rate increase and the range of
opportunities available in the security space bode
well for 2016. If you are a security professional who
is CISSP qualified and has industry experience then
2016 is set to be your year.
A market which has moved at a slower rate is
the Networking Engineer space. We saw fewer
opportunities year on year and rates plateaued
and averaged £477 per day. Networking specialists
are advised to seek other complimentary skills like
Risk, Compliance and Security.
Q U A N T S
THIS YEAR IT LOOKS AS
THOUGH SALARIES WILL
CREEP UP A BIT
CANDIDATES
WITH A
DIVERSE
SET OF
EXPERTISE
COULD
CERTAINLY
EXPECT TO
EARN SIX
FIGURES
PLUS ON
AN ANNUAL
SALARY
S A L E S U S A
C # / . N E T
UNFORTUNATELY,
THERE ARE
STILL START-UP
BUY SIDE FIRMS
THAT FAIL AND
ULTIMATELY PAY
NONE OF THE
PROMISED BIG
BONUSES TO THE
QUANTS THEY
HAVE ENTICED
INTO THEIR
POSITIONS FOR
A LOWER BASIC
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Sales Executives salaries are up by 5% to an average of £75,000 base
plus commission. Commission plans are still heavily linked to net new
monthly recurring revenue. As a result, companies sticking to £65,000
salaries are losing out on the talent war for the best people.
From a Sales Management perspective, professionals can reasonably
expect to earn anywhere between £110,000 and £130,000.
On the Pre-Sales side, the salaries have been pretty consistent over
the past few years but this market space is growing rapidly. The cloud,
in particular, is booming and is pushing the need for more expertise in
this area. That is resulting in this becoming a more candidate driven
market with each passing day, and inevitably the companies who
attract the best candidates are the ones who will be willing to pay the
higher salaries. As such, this could be the year salaries increase as it
becomes harder to attract the right candidates. In the current market,
an Account Manager or a Pre-Sales Engineer could expect to earn
around £60,000 + bonus with Pre-Sales Architects starting at around
£75,000 + bonus but as mentioned; this could be set to increase over
Q1 and Q2 of 2016.
Data was one of the hottest topics in
2015 and is sure to be again in 2016.
At the back end of last year there
were many conversations across the
business that hinted at big investments
in SQL and BI technologies from
companies in financial services. Many
companies are now seeing the benefits
of using SQL server to its full potential.
Data is the root of how we make our
decisions in this day and age and with
the amount of BI tools available to the
market that enable us to make more
educated and calculated decisions,
it would be crazy not to invest in this
within your company. Contracts in SQL
server and business intelligence will
be ranging in the £350 to £650 mark.
This is dependent on experience and
your depth of knowledge across the
technologies you use. To push towards
the higher end of the pay grade you
must be keeping up to date with newer
technologies and also really honing in
on your current tech stack.
Pure Manual Testing (Regression, Integration, black box
etc.) has been capped by a glass ceiling. Even for fairly
senior roles the top end seems to be around £50,000 max.
Testing is more appealing when there is automation
involved: currently the typical ‘mixed’ roles have about
60% Automation and 40% manual and are ranging from
anywhere between £40,000 - £60,000 according to
seniority.
When we come across developer in Test, or Technical
Tester, this is where you really see the range increase.
For these types of candidate we are looking at £50,000 -
£70,000 and upwards of that depending on the company’s
spending capabilities and ability of the candidates.
As these testers are broadening their skills, it is resulting
in the market rates increasing, albeit a bit slower than
some of the other disciplines we have seen.
Application Support is become a hard market to find
great talent and companies are now noticing this and
rewarding talent as a result. We are noticing majority
of our clients are now looking for Application Support
Analysts who have solid working experience with
scripting, automation and development. The average
top end salary for a top Application Support Analyst
will range between £70k and £90k with some even
breaking the £100k mark if they see the right mix of
business and technical knowledge. We are noticing
the business knowledge surrounding asset classes
is becoming extremely valuable and is almost as
important as their technical abilities.
2016 will be an important year for Testing within the
Contracts space. During the last quarter of 2015 we saw
a number of Contract Opportunities come to market.
Greenfield Projects, MA’s and consultancies winning
new projects were the key drivers for this push in extra
headcount and we also experienced a health increase
for such skills. H1 of 2015 looked at Test Analyst /
Managers coming in at the £450/£500 per day mark and
we saw testers achieving £550/£600 for the same roles
towards the end of the year. It won’t stop there, Projects
have been pipelined for the first half of 2016 and we
will again will see a small but
healthy increase in rates for Test
Analyst/Managers. The reason
here is that the Candidate pool
is very small for Testers who
are both technically hands on
and have management ability.
Clients are looking at combining
two roles into one and will
happily pay the right money
should they find someone.
Exciting times ahead for the
Contract Market in Testing.
This is a hot market for 2016. We saw a 16% rise in the
number of vacancies during the Q4 and we are already
ready for a bumper H1 for Javascript Anagular.JS
Developers on the contract side.
We will see a rise in rates pushing experienced Angular.
JS Developers pushing the £650 mark which we only saw
a few times in 2015. This is a highly competitive market
and there will be an impressive client base chasing a
niche candidate pool that will definitely push the rate
north of £650 for 2016.”
N E T W O R K
S A L E S
A P P
S U P P O R T
T E S T I N G
S Q L / B I
F R O N T E N D /
J A V A S C R I P T
A N G U L A R . J S
T E S T I N G
CLIENTS ARE
LOOKING AT
COMBINING
TWO ROLES
INTO ONE AND
WILL HAPPILY
PAY THE
RIGHT MONEY
SHOULD THEY
FIND SOMEONE
Salaries within the Project-
Management space have sky-rocketed.
Companies are seeing the value of their
Project Managers who are leaving, and
thus are finding it difficult to compete
if they haven’t adjusted the salary’s
they are offering. We now see PM roles
start at £60-70k, with Seniors from
£75k+ and domain experience around
£85-95k.
2015 has been a busy year for Interim
Change. Firms are increasing their
investment in projects and technology
which has been driven predominately
by 2 factors: Regulation and Security.
Regulatory BAs have seen a year on
year increase of 7% on average to
£594, driven by regulations such as
MiFID II and BCBS 239. Also as the
demand for Charles River and Thinkfolio
specialists slows with less large scale
industry implementation projects,
the result in the market is that rates
have stagnated with year on year
only showing 0.1% increase to £597.
However, for candidates with close,
tight-knit networks and excellent
reputations, they will still able to
achieve rates upwards of £900 per day.
The contract market is likely to remain
busy as there is continued demand for
both change project managers and
business analyst’s as well as system
specific skill-sets such as Charles
River and Thinkfolio.
We expect to see an increase in demand
for those in Risk, Regulation and
Compliance, as the regulator increases
its pressure on Financial Institutions to
ensure a positive and proactive capital
markets system.
Expect Rates to remain robust for 2016
Q1, in what looks set to be the most
active market we have seen for the last
5 years.
C H A N G E
WE NOW SEE PM ROLES
START AT £60-70K,
WITH SENIORS FROM
£75K+ AND DOMAIN
EXPERIENCE AROUND
£85-95K
8. G LO B A L L E A D E R S I N F I N A NCI A L S E R V I C E S A N D CO M M O D I T I E S T EC H N O LO G Y R E C R U I T M E N T
1 4 1 5
HS: Can you tell us about your business?
DW: VIRTUS is the fastest growing DC
operator in the UK. We focus on designing,
building and operating colocation
facilities on land that we own in and
around London.
HS: What has been your journey to
current position?
DW: After a role in the military as a
Communications Engineering Officer,
I worked for BT, WorldCom, Level3, Colt
and euNetworks in telecoms sales, where
I was able to use my military leadership
skills in management roles. I joined
VIRTUS 2 years ago.
HS: What interested you in this space?
DW: After almost 20 years in telecoms,
I had seen a lot of development in the
industry as a result of de-regulation,
including US entrants to the market,
construction around the growth of the
internet, the burst and recovery of the IP
bubble and web 2.0. I saw the maturity
of the data centre industry tracking 4-6
years behind the telecoms industry and
therefore saw a huge opportunity to take
my experiences in the telco sector and
apply the appropriate elements to the
data centre world.
HS: How have you settled into
the business?
DW: I joined VIRTUS in late 2013, while the
markets were still recovering. However, I
knew that there was a clear opportunity
presented by asset ownership. The
inherent value of co-location businesses
and the opportunities available due to the
growth of cloud adoption and the ‘Internet
of Things’meant we had plenty to do in
terms of readying the company for this
growth, so all the settling in happened
in the first week and after that it was full
steam ahead.
HS: Where do you see the opportunity for
you in the UK and European market?
DW: VIRTUS has established itself as
the perfect blend of both retail and
wholesale colocation and so we have a
huge opportunity to continue this growth.
Expanding in Europe may be an option
for 2016, however we remain focused
on the UK space, where we have already
increased our market share, and lead
through innovation.
HS: What are some of the major
challenges facing the industry that
your company overcomes?
DW: The cost of power is a major challenge
as IT equipment gets more sophisticated
and consumes more. Increased power
consumption creates more heat,
which requires cooling technology,
further increasing power costs. VIRTUS’
LONDON2 data centre offers the lowest
Power Usage Efficiency (PUE) in the
1
DARREN WATKINS
New Sales Director,
Virtus Data Centres
H A R R I N G T O N S T A R R T A L K T O S O M E O F F I N T E C H ’ S M O S T E X C I T I N G B U S I N E S S E S
market, running at a maximum PUE of
1.2,meaning that for every 1kW of power IT
consumes, VIRTUSonly use 200W of power
to cool it.
HS: How does your company differentiate
itself from its competitors?
DW: Whilst many data centre companies
lease the land that they operate on and
pay service charges, VIRTUS owns the
freehold for the land we design, build
and operate our data centres on, giving
us better cost control and our customers
security of tenure. We modularly
deploy our support infrastructure in a
non-disruptive way to stay ahead of
demand but also to allow us better
capital cost control.
HS: Where do you see the future of
the market heading?
DW: In 5 years from now, a CIO will not buy
IT rack space and servers but will spin up
disc and compute power in the cloud. This
is the future VIRTUS is building towards
by attracting Cloud operators and giving
them high quality colocation services that
are always available.
HS: What makes your company
an employer of choice?
DW: VIRTUS is a fast paced, innovative
technology company, which ensures that
no two days are ever the same. If you
thrive on that environment and enjoy a
winning mentality then VIRTUS is the
place to be.
HS: What are your plans for 2015
and beyond?
DW: As industry demand continues to
outstrip supply for high quality data
centrespace, we will continue to build
new facilities and look for more rapid
ways to grow our business. We are
looking to automate elements of our
solution and further enable our customer
by developing our award winning
DCIM platform, the VIRTUS Intelligent
Portal (VIP).
HS: What areas of financial services
do you see as most ripe for disruption
by technology?
DW: The adoption of Cloud technologies
has and will be the most dramatic.
Large investment banks had huge teams
of IT staffhighly spec’d data centres and
unfathomable budgets. Now, virtualisation
and distribution of workloads require a
different approach and far less manpower
in direct data centremanagement.
Instead, the application/code developers
within the banks will grow in number
and importance, moving the IT function
from a cost to a revenue generation/
protection function.
The cost of power is a major challenge as IT equipment
gets more sophisticated and consumes more.
Expanding in
Europe may be an
option for 2016,
however we remain
focused on the
UK space, where
we have already
increased our
market share,
and lead through
innovation.
www.virtusdatacentres.com
Harrington Starr speaks to Darren Watkins about life
before Virtus, the future of the datacentre space and
what is in store for the Cloud
F I N T E C H F O C U S
9. 1 6
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1 71 7
HS: Can you tell us about your business?
NB: ICTroom is a leading data centre
integration company which designs,
builds, maintains, manages and operates
highly reliable data centres and computer
rooms across Europe and in Africa.
HS: What has been your journey to
current position?
NB: Since our inception in 2001 we have
focused solely on data centresand are
now among the leading technological
companies in this space. The company
was founded in Amsterdam and is
expanding across Europe – particularly
now in the other key DC markets of
UK, Germany and France. ICTroom has
implemented more than 250 data centres
and computer rooms in the last ten
years and has built up a full range of
data centre facility infrastructure
products, consultancy, project
management and services.
HS: What interested you in this space?
NB: For me personally this is about
working with an agile and skilful
organisation in the DC space who were
keen to expand their interest to other
countries based on the success they
have had in their own markets.
HS: How have you settled into
the business?
NB: It’s very early days but already I am
seeing plenty of opportunity both in the
UK and Ireland. Potential clients seem
very keen to want to speak to smaller, agile
organisations who can turn their dreams
into reality in a very short timescale and
be flexible enough to understand that one
size does not fill all requirements.
HS: What lessons did you learn in
your previous role?
NB: I was able to understand how clients
in the finance sector wished to buy their
colocation, managed hosting and cloud
services globally and what they were
looking for with the service.
HS: Where do you see the opportunity for
you in the UK and European market?
NB: Those organisations who strategically
rely on their own data centre infrastructure
either for data storage, computing, or
both, who need to upgrade their solution
or move their infrastructure back in-house
from traditional colocation providers.
They may also want to make use of
existing real estate or move back closer
to their end users.
HS: What are some of the major
challenges facing the industry that
your company overcomes?
NB: We find that some organisations are
struggling with their business case so
we have introduced an Opex solution to
complement the more traditional Capex
models associated with buying a data
centre. Also, the fear of using cloud-
based services among organisations is
a challenge; there is a long way to go in
educating the market and overcoming
the fears and paranoia around security.
HS: How does your company differentiate
itself from its competitors?
NB: ICTroom is an integrator not a
manufacturer and it has also created a
range of ‘standard’ solutions for different
datacentre use-cases. 80% of any data
centre – whatever the specification
– can be built using these standard
components. The remaining 20% requires
customisation. Being a relatively small
organisation, ICTroom is agile and flexible
in designing a DC solution to fully meet
a clients’ requirement by working closely
with that client and then delivering a
built out DC in a matter of weeks.
2
NICK BROOKS
Sales Director
(UK and Ireland),
ICTroom
H A R R I N G T O N S T A R R T A L K T O S O M E O F F I N T E C H ’ S M O S T E X C I T I N G B U S I N E S S E S
HS: Where do you see the future of
the market heading?
NB: Companies providing differentiation
on the basis of security, connectivity,
financing or other services such as banks,
Managed Service Providers and innovative
cloud providers will all require specialised,
regional data centre hubs. Organisations
looking for green solutions will also come
into play.This will be the growth market
and for us this will be away from the
main cities like London and Dublin.
HS: What do you feel are the biggest
obstacles facing the industry?
NB: Trying to convince organisations to
come out of long term uneconomical
colocation deals with dated DCs in favour
of local, more cost effective solutions.
Also if something works well leave it
where it is, but waiting until space and
power runs out will be too late.
HS: How do you plan to overcome
those obstacles?
NB: By offering DCs in a modular format
at 50kw, 250kw, 500kw, 750kw and 1MW
anywhere they are required and to
any specification. If there is land and
power available these can be built very
quickly anywhere planning permission
can be granted.
HS: What makes your company an
employer of choice?
NB: Boundless ambition among our
owners and staff with a great willingness
to grow the business in new markets
using the expertise and skillsets we have
developed over the past 15 years.
HS: What are your plans for 2015
and beyond?
NB: We have recently opened a sales
office in London to cover the UK and
Ireland markets, and also in Germany
(Munich). Later this year we will be
opening a sales office in France giving
us a presence then in nine European
countries with more to come.
HS: What areas of financial services
do you see as most ripe for disruption
by technology?
NB: The banking and insurance sectors
for sure as they are all looking for
differentiation and improved customer
intimacy. Any organisation that needs to
get closer to its customers will need to
refresh their digital engagement strategy.
HS: What do you think the financial
services sector will look like in five
years’ time?
NB: Even more important than the move of
workloads to public clouds is the regional
hub which brings business functions and
services closer to the end-user customer.
I believe that many financial institutions
will have taken on new infrastructures
in DCs they own and may even manage
themselves so that they’ll be certain of the
high levels of service that they will need
to maintain, while being close to their
own client bases.
Any organisation
that needs to
get closer to its
customers will
need to refresh
their digital
engagement
strategy.
www.ictroom.com
Harrington Starr finds out more about why versatility
is so important in datacentre implementation
F I N T E C H F O C U S
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1 91 9
HS: What makes a start-up company of
interest to you?
OM: “I think the 3 things you tend to look
for are probably the same ones you often
hear from investors. Number 1, you look
for very attractive and high-growth market
that might have a lot of volume; secondly,
you are looking for a technology that is
liked by users or by, say, corporates who
are using the technology that could be
disruptive in that it could improve the
systems or economics on offer. Last, but
not least, you are looking for a great team.
Out of all 3, the latter is most important,
meaning you could actually have a
relatively mediocre situation and a great
team or a great situation and a bad team,
you would always side with the former.
HS: What do you look for in the senior
leadership team of the companies?
OM: I think beyond interpersonal traits,
and obviously a lot of this is very
relational. As with any investor or venture
capitalist I have the advantage of being
able to relate to people I have chemistry
with and that I get along with, we are
in for the long run and it’s almost like a
relationship or a marriage; you do some
courting and spend a lot of time together
and get to know each other before
deciding to invest in them. As far as the
actual characteristics of who I would invest
in, I need to get a sense or understanding
of their entrepreneurial spirit and any
previous success stories or even failures
they may have had in the past. You tend to
look for an understanding of the mistakes
or at least some experience they have,
particularly within the financial services
such as the accounting, the relations and
the complexities and being able to see
from their past experience working, for a
more developed player, is generally quite
a plus. Finally, a very solid educational
background, I think that while that may
sound a bit elitist at times, I think people
who manage to go to good schools and
get a good education is also a testament
to their achievements early on; the fact
they were able to show that they were
accepted into a good institution is also
proof of potential of what they may be
able to do later.
HS: Why would a start-up go to Rakuten as
opposed to another investor?
OM: From the financial services perspective,
I think what is a little bit lesser known
is that about 45% of Rakuten’s top line
comes from financial services, comes
from FinTech. We have the leading card
issuer in Japan who is soon to become the
number one by market share and cards
issued; we have an online bank; we have
an e-securities business which trades in
America; we have life insurance and an
insurance agency; we have a charge card
business similar to Oyster cards in the
UK except you can use it for payments,
not just transportation, and use it all over
the world (where we have a presence), so
there is a lot of expertise and all of these
companies were start-ups that we have
actually assimilated or grew internally to
become very big players, right now, and we
are actually linking to the rest of our online
merchant services and digital media as part
of our ecosystem online so there are a lot
of expertise and entrepreneurs like that
expertise. I think that, contrary to some
other players out there, we truly have the
actual experience in the sector and also
because we are a relatively young company,
at 16 years’ old, we still have that spirit and
still have that drive, people like working
with us. Finally, I think it also comes down
to the chemistry; whether people like
working with me and my team, in addition
to all that, I would claim it’s the access that
we provide; to Japan, to Asia to parts of
America and Europe where we operate.
3
OSKAR MIEL
Managing Director,
Rakuten Fintech
H A R R I N G T O N S T A R R T A L K T O S O M E O F F I N T E C H ’ S M O S T E X C I T I N G B U S I N E S S E S
HS: How did you get into this industry?
OM: I went through a bit more of a
traditional route and trained myself. I
spent about 7 years’ working at JP Morgan,
in different geographies including New
York, San Francisco, London and Tokyo
so at some point I had run a restructuring
of a retail financial services institution
in the US and ultimately I was working
in private equity with a private investor
group acquiring and manufacturing
facilities around the world so I did have
other expertise prior to Rakuten but
what Rakuten brought me closer to was
certainly the online world and what
happens when you put it all together
I think that as FinTech practices are
expanding, internationally, they wanted
someone like myself to come in.
HS: What advice would you give to a
budding FinTech entrepreneur seeking to
engage with Rakuten?
OM: I think that they should definitely
follow their passion, but at the same
time they should also be fairly aware
that we see a lot of ideas and not all
ideas are executable, necessarily, and I
think that having a dose of sobriety when
approaching a solution or the ability to
disrupt, is very important whilst also
remaining open-minded.
About Oskar Miel
Oskar Miel manages Rakuten’s fintech
investment practice, working with financial
technology start-ups in North America,
Europe and Asia, and in close cooperation
with Rakuten’s various financial services
units. Oskar has extensive experience in
the financial industry, covering investment
banking and capital markets while at JP
Morgan, private equity and retail financial
services in North America and Europe.
Oskar has led a series of investments at
Rakuten including, among others, Bitnet,
Inc., a bitcoin merchant processor, WePay,
the leading payments provider for online
marketplaces, and Currency Cloud, a
next-generation payments engine. Oskar
earned his MBA at Harvard Business
School.
About Rakuten FinTech
Rakuten, Inc. (TOKYO: 4755) is one of
the world’s leading Internet services
companies, offering a wide variety of
services for consumers and businesses
with a focus on e-commerce, finance, and
digital content.
Since 2012, Rakuten has been ranked
among the world’s ‘Top 20 Most Innovative
Companies’ in Forbes magazine’s annual list.
Founded in 1997, Rakuten is
headquartered in Tokyo, with over
12,000 employees worldwide.
In 2015 Rakuten launched a $100
million global investment fund focused
on investments in early to mid-stage
fintech startups, e.g. Currency Cloud,
WePay or Bitnet
The Rakuten FinTech Fund will target
investments in startups and growth
companies primarily in the U.S. and
Europe. Managing Partner Oskar
Mielczarek de la Miel is the fund advisor.
Advice for a budding FinTech
entrepreneur? They should
definitely follow their passion, but
be aware that we see a lot of ideas
and some are not executable
www.global.rakuten.com
Managing Director of Rakuten, Oskar Miel, gives his
advice on winning investment for your company
F I N T E C H F O C U S
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2 12 1
HS: You have a successful record in Start
Ups - what makes an IT start-up idea
interesting to you?
LK: Good question! I guess I’ve had
the experience of 25 years’ in emerging
technologies but that’s included a series
of start-ups and I have successfully exited
those companies. In every one of those,
I’ve been attracted by a number of things
that’s only really become obvious now.
Firstly, there’s been a certain level of
“big business” around the industry, at
large, and an emergence of technology
that’s provided an answer to a long-
standing problem in the industry. And
there’s an ‘enabler’ who is placing that
technology in the hands of the industry,
that fundamentally changes 2 things:
either drives a top line revenue that’s
never been seen before so we are going
into an entirely new market place, or
fundamentally provides transparency to
an opaque industry, like we are doing now.
They’re the kind of drivers I look for.
HS: What are the common attributes of a
successful leadership team in an IT Start Up?
LK: They have all gotten up early! I think
they are all driven by a common sense of
a goal or a purpose. I think fundamentally
as well that they all have an honourable
DNA. I think that it’s very easy to run
a successful team and it’s very easy to
run with the tide when there’s a massive
high. But in order to truly test not only
the business but the management team
or the executive team is when times are
tough and where it might be easy to make
a decision against your best judgement.
So I think when people’s morals are
compromised, I like to put people in those
situations because you really see the
colour of that person.
HS: What do you look for in deciding which
investors to engage with?
LK: We don’t really look for the “colour of
money”! I think it has to serve 2 purposes,
one it has to serve a functional piece. I
see a start-up or any successful business
as being a table top and what resides
underneath it is a series of legs to support
that table top vision, and so the investor
needs to come to the table as one of
the most significant supporting parts
of that table. Whether that’s to assist in
market entry at a revenue level or provide
infrastructure where a start-up can’t, but
certainly we are looking for things from
our investors that money can’t buy, or that
money can’t provide, easily.
HS: What are the top 2 challenges and top
2 opportunities do you see for Everledger
in 2016?
LK: Well, the top 2 challenges really
4
LEANNE KEMP
CEO, Everledger
H A R R I N G T O N S T A R R T A L K T O S O M E O F F I N T E C H ’ S M O S T E X C I T I N G B U S I N E S S E S
provide the top 2 advantages for us! They
really go hand in hand. So if we can’t
overcome the challenges, then of course
we are not going to be able to realise the
material gain. The challenges, of course,
are that we are working in an industry
that is one of the oldest industries next
to prostitution! The trades of diamonds
have been around since the beginning
of time and it’s a highly concentrated
and consolidated market and it’s been
supported by generations and generations
of trust and wealth. So to be the new
person on the block and to enable it with
new technology when there’s a lot of
opinion around that if it’s not broken, why
fix it, I think they’re the biggest challenges.
But, as I mentioned before, there has been
a change in the guard. No longer is De
Beers holding the financial monopoly in
this space, they are certainly the premium
brand and they will always be associated
with diamonds but ultimately, I think the
industry now is on its knees and really
needs financial services to enable it to
support the consumer appetite.
HS: With regards to Everledger, do you
see the company staying within the
provenance of luxury goods or do you see
it moving more towards the Blockchain/
Bitcoin/Technology focus?
LK: We are in both of them the same so
you’re really asking me if I’m a technology
company or luxury goods whereas really,
I’m in both. I’m an enabler of technology
to help reduce a number of things in the
industry and to help accelerate a number
of elements in the industry so we really
wouldn’t gravitate heavily towards one
or the other. What has been fundamental
for me has been to realise where the best
placement of this technology is and where
the largest gain can be made, not from
a monetary sense, I’m largely driven by
where can make the largest social impact.
Certainly when you start to consider
the impact with counterfeit goods at a
luxury goods level, the reduction of blood
diamonds and the ability to show
consumers a true provenance, I think, is
hugely important.
About Leanne Kemp
Founder and CEO of Everledger, a startup
launched in 2015 which took part in the
Barclays Techstars accelerator
About Everledger
Everledger provides an immutable ledger
for diamond identification and transaction
verification for various stakeholders, from
insurance companies to claimants and law
enforcement agencies.
Everledger provides new methods of
financing and insuring diamonds, as
well as combatting fraud, by providing
an application for various stakeholders
in the diamond pipeline. Identification
of fraudulent claims helps uncover the
sale of stolen valuables and can aid
their recovery. In the las 90 days we have
added 500,000 certified diamonds, smart
contracts for the transfer of ownership
and bank grade APIs for high volume
transactions to the system. Featured in
the Financial Times and BBC Newsnight,
we are listed in the top 25 most exciting
bitcoin startups globally.
Specialties
Diamonds, Blockchain, Bitcoin
What are the common attributes of a
successful leadership team in an IT
Start Up? They have all gotten up early!
I’m largely driven
by where can make
the largest social
impact.
www.everledger.io
Founder and CEO of Everledger, Leanne Kemp discusses the
secrets behind her successes and motivations
F I N T E C H F O C U S
12. 2 32 2
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2 32 3
HS: Having joined Currency Cloud at a
fairly early stage, what made you make
the jump?
JH: Well actually, it was something I had
been thinking about for a fairly long time
and the last company I was at, we sold
technologies to companies like Currency
Cloud and, what became apparent to me
was that I was really excited about the
cloud, super excited, which was what
attracted me to my previous company
and what happened as a result of that
was that I thought that the infrastructure
was really interesting, but the things that
all these FinTech companies and these
companies we were delivering to were
looking for was the actual service on
top of the technology, and that was the
interesting bit. So I decided my time was
done at this big corporation and I decided
that what would be really good would be
to join a company that was actually doing
this sort of stuff. So what I made sure I
did was highlight the fact I had 3 years’
experience working with the Cloud, which
is an AGE in this world, I’m a veteran if
you like, so I was looking for something
“Cloud-y” would be really helpful,
something in finance and I wanted to
work in the City so when they saw my
CV and asked me if I wanted to work for
Currency Cloud, well I thought I have GOT
to go and talk to them and it turned out
to be a really interesting, compelling,
innovative idea which really lent itself to
what I was looking for. One of the things
I always think when I to join a company
is: “can I gain anything and can I give
something?” and it felt like a really good
exchange between the things that I could
bring to the company and the things that
they could bring to me.
HS: Going from a big corporation to a start-
up, what were the things you look out for?
JH: You look for a good idea, and you look
for good people and there were some
really impressive people at Currency
Cloud and in my role, which is revenue
related; new customer acquisitions,
growing customer accounts, customer
success; having a relationship with the
marketing person is incredibly important
and he happens to be an incredibly
impressive person in our company
performing the role. The guy I would be
working for, the CEO, as I consider myself
to be fundamentally unmanageable (!),
he understood that and in great style
accepted that and it’s those factors that
are really important. The key thing for
me is that I think less about money and
much more about keeping engaged is this
something that I am going to jump out
of bed for and 20 months later, I am still
jumping out of bed in the morning!
HS: What are the common attributes
of a successful leadership team in an
IT Start Up?
JH: It’s very different, I think, from
my experiences having been on a few
different leadership teams in different
kinds of organisations, it’s very different
in a start-up mode than it is in a much
more established or even fast-growing,
large businesses where really it’s about
executing the same idea over and over
again and expanding that idea. Whereas,
in our company, it’s much more about
adaptability because conditions change
and there are so many external factors:
banks will change what they consider
what access we are granted, regulators
changes their perspective, technology
could fail, money movement is hard and
so there are a whole variety of things that
have to happen. There are also a bunch of
external factors or “macro ideas” but also
the challenge we face is that as a start-
up, we are ‘burning’ someone’s money
and we have to adapt a continuous set
5
JOHN HAMMOND
Chief Commercial
Officer, Currency
Cloud
H A R R I N G T O N S T A R R T A L K T O S O M E O F F I N T E C H ’ S M O S T E X C I T I N G B U S I N E S S E S
of priorities which are driven to us by
our customers and our staff, with how
much money we have got. There are only
so many things we will be able to do, if
we are not adaptable, and not open to
change, that’s a really big problem. Hand
in hand with that, there’s this idea that
it’s about communication because the
reality is, we are going to have some very,
very difficult conversations along the lines
of “do we make this?” “Do we market to
that?” “Do we add sales people?” “What
do we do?” because we have the same
amount of money to do all 3 of those
things and we are not going to do all
3 of them. We will make a decision, so
everyone is going to fight their corner,
as they rightly should, but really, what’s
much more important is: Can people
think beyond their department? Can
they communicate in a way that’s about
collaboration that’s going to take this
business forward? Do they believe in
the business more than they believe
in themselves? I think, in the past, I
have worked with people who are much
more self-orientated; those people are
very difficult to work with but are very
successful in a larger organisation, where
they accrue resources and deliver and
that’s a way of work. With us, it’s a much
flatter structure, there’s no seniority in
our exec team, our CEO acts as a first
port of call so it’s a very collaborative
environment and that can make people
very uncomfortable because actually
you’re going to have to make decisions
that involve going back to your team and
telling them “no, you can’t have that extra
team member because we have decided
to do this…” and you have to do that
in such a way that it’s clear that it is a
business decision, a team decision and
not against your wishes and those are the
things that are fundamentally different to
larger organisations.
HS: What do you see as the top 2
opportunities for Currency Cloud in 2016?
JH: Well, the first big opportunity that’s
staring us right in the face, that we have
put a lot of money into is expansion
to the USA. For a company like ours:
international payments, it is incredibly
important to have an international
footprint. It’s not a very complicated
business decision but it’s a very different
marketplace, it’s very complex. Actually
as a percentage of the total amount of
payments there are, there’s a smaller
percentage with international payments
because Dollar to Dollar is a very big
market and even outside of the US, Dollar
to Dollar is still a big market. However,
the total market is so enormous and the
individual companies are very large, that
is a geographical expansion opportunity
that is waiting for us.
The other opportunity for us is that there
is a growing acceptance that there are
other ways that you can consume services
that you might have traditionally got
from a bank. That acceptance happened
initially as a gap was created as a
result of the banking crisis because the
thought was “all go to the bank because
they won’t fail” as soon as they failed
it opened up everyone else who are
cheaper and more innovative because
they were no longer restrained by the
safer option. The opportunity created
because of a macro issue but what we
are finding there is a greater and greater
appetite as people need the services
we offer to expand their business. By
facilitating international trade we are
allowing people to internationalise
their companies due to the business
process we have built, so there is a huge
slew of companies that are suddenly
becoming international, who need to go
to international markets; where payment
is an integral part of what they are doing
but they don’t want to build anything
because if they spend the money they
have got on that, they can’t spend it on
what they can do. So with our business
model you can consume that on a utility
basis so it’s tied directly to your income
I am a big
believer of this
notion that
you should
think about
why you do
something –
not what you
get for it.
John Hammond, on what attracted him to becoming COO of a
company in its infancy
F I N T E C H F O C U S
13. 2 4
so as you grow, and require more, that
can be easily amended.
The other thing that’s really interesting
is there has been a shift in the banking
world where banks are actually
becoming our customers! That’s been
really fascinating because banks have
traditionally said we want to provide
liquidity with a service on our network or
however they would do it, and what they
are saying now is much more that they
think they consume this and that we can
deliver this better than they can. That,
for us, is obviously very exciting and a
validation of our idea to beat banks at
their own game is very exciting!
I think the final bit is that there is so
much on-demand, internet collaboration,
there’s so much going on in the space,
there are incredible opportunities
because we are a digital delivery service
provider, via the cloud and a set of API’s,
we are easily consumable and if the
internet is missing one thing, it is the
ability to make payments on a consistent
basis, because most of the companies we
deal with are either collecting money or
less adept at being able to convert that
money as well.
HS: What do you see as the top two
challenges?
JH: There are some things that certainly
make it challenging for us. Is there a major
incumbent that is suddenly going to decide
that they can do this in a particular way or
the same way that we do? That’s a huge
challenge and one that could certainly
change the market place. Could the Euro
crash? There are a lot of Macro-economic
issues that far outweigh the opportunities
that we look at ourselves because a lot of
things we do are to mitigate those risks
but they are not insignificant risks in
any case. If we have another recession,
international trade becomes less prevalent
and affects our customers and becomes
a much larger issue.
HS: What advice would you have for
someone wanting to join a Fintech start up?
I think a lot of people go to start-ups
because they want share options, there’s
a thing around getting in on the ground
level and it is a very, very bad idea because
you are far more likely to fail at a start-
up than you are to succeed and that’s
the first thing, be realistic and honest
with yourself. This is about wanting to
make a difference, wanting to participate
in change, wanting to be at the ground
level of something so that you can be a
participant rather than a passenger or
an executor and those are really good
reasons. I am a big believer of this notion
that you should think about why you do
something not what you get for it.
For me, it was much more about my
personal goals, much more about
participating in something and
collaborating with others to make
something, being involved in something
that makes things different. We have
some moral perspectives, for example,
we don’t think its right that you should
be charged to change your money from
one currency to another as it’s not your
fault there are multiple currencies! So we
believe in certain things like that and it’s
those things that drive us and makes us
passionate. I think it’s such an exciting
time to participate in business and
there are so many great start-ups and so
much money being poured into FinTech
particularly in London where there is so
much going on and we are only at the
beginning of exploiting that change and
participating in that. So I think that, if you
are passionate about something, there is a
start-up with your name on it somewhere.
If you’re passionate about something,
there is probably money somewhere so
you can start your own start-up so it’s
really important that you find things that
are relevant to you. I think if you find
things that are relevant to you and not just
following the opportunity for some share
options, it will stand you in good stead.
JOHN HAMMOND
Chief Commercial
Officer, Currency
Cloud
www.currencycloud.com
0203 587 7007
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H A R R I N G T O N S T A R R
14. Fingers on the pulse
Fingers on
the pulse
he issue of market abuse
is something that is never
too far from the minds of
those in the finance sector.
Barely a day goes by when I
don’t read a fresh commentary on the
subject of regulatory transgressions
and the ongoingsaga involving
spoofing and layering convictions has
only added fuel to the fire.
There always have been and always
will be people who attempt to
manipulate markets for their own gain.
It’s the level of sophistication that
continues to change.
Ultimately, people take risks and usually, they do
this knowing they can lose as well as win. This
imprecision is both the beauty and the danger of
trading. However, where the transgressions occur,
typically the transgressor believes that their risk
is almost nil in their behaviour. Why? Because let’s
face it, market surveillance is a difficult job!
Sticking with the example of spoofing and layering,
it’s possible to hide this activity from surveillance
systems by using different markets – bidding up
market A but profiting from a position on market
B. Clearly, this adds a new level of complexity in
identifying market abuse.
The challenge for most firms isn’t necessarily
making sure their people are being well behaved
– the objective is to build a ‘bullet proof vest’
by ensuring full compliance with rules, which
ultimately involves tracking all activity. Previously,
this has been an expensive and laborious process
but we’ve seen the effect of a new breed of
cheaper, more easily implemented surveillance
systems that can be configured to identify the
tell-tale patterns of market abuse.In my view, this
technological development has had a positive
effect on the ability of firms to ‘selfpolice’
their activities and avoid becoming a target for
compliance breaches.
But, let’s look on the other side of the equation
too. A significant grey zone still persists in terms
of what constitutes specific transgressions such
as spoofing and layering or price rigging. These
activities need a concrete definition to ensure that
those who break the rules are sanctioned. Clearly,
without a strong legal basis for prosecution, we
cannot police our markets effectively and regulators
must work in close collaboration with the industry to
better define rules surrounding this complex issue.
So, is it a case of the problem getting worse or
are market operators and regulators just getting
better at identifying transgressions? I think the key
factor here is the growing ability of firms to identify
damaging behaviour – shedding light on what
was previously a dark area. In order to effectively
catch and convict those who manipulate our
markets, however, we need to widen the scope and
intelligence of our surveillance.
A solution should be to take a holistic view of the
order process andidentify correlation in seemingly
independent events and their outcomes. This is
the key to effective ‘transaction surveillance’
- looking not only at the trade itself but at the
unbooked activity that surrounds it.
Alex Lamb is Head of Marketing and Business
Development, Americas, The Technancial Company (TTC)
The Technancial Company Ltd. delivers advanced
real-time risk management and trade surveillance
tools to global markets. The Technancial Company’s
products, JANUS Risk Manager, JANUS Margin Engine
and JANUS Trade Surveillance, are used by global
institutions across markets, regions and asset
classes to supervise their trading, market making,
DMA and HFT activities.
For more, please visit http://technancial.com/
Market surveillance –
looking at the bigger picture
2 72 6
G LO B A L L E A D E R S I N F I N A NCI A L S E R V I C E S A N D CO M M O D I T I E S T EC H N O LO G Y R E C R U I T M E N T
A L E X A N D E R L A M B , C E O , T H E T E C H N A N C I A L C O M P A N Y L T D
With their fingers on
the pulse of the market,
we get advice on what
to look out for from an
operational perspective.
Sophie Pelham highlights, from a legal angle,
how best to deal with troublesome employees
whilst Darren Watkins gives an insight
into what to look out for when dealing with
datacenters and the issues that may arise
and finally, John Lamb highlights the issues
of market abuse and how best to approach
Market Surveillance with the upcoming
regulatory changes in mind.
15. 2 92 8
G LO B A L L E A D E R S I N F I N A NCI A L S E R V I C E S A N D CO M M O D I T I E S T EC H N O LO G Y R E C R U I T M E N T
strategies to take longer term positions in the
securities markets, which are also more widely used
in multi-asset classes.
As a result, rather than the close proximity to trading
exchanges essential to HFT, SOR techniques rely
instead on deterministic latency connections, which
are more cost effective than those used by HFT, and
don’t need to be so close to the exchange. That being
the case, many cost conscious firms would be well
placed to put their SOR engines at the virtual ‘centre-
of-gravity’ of the asset class being traded.
With this in mind and given the distributed nature of
the asset classes across the London metro footprint
from Slough, through the City and the Docklands,
a data centre located within the M25, can just
as efficiently offer the low latency connections
required to access all the necessary exchanges in a
colocation environment. Furthermore, it can do it at
a fraction of the cost of the ‘finance eco-systems’
whichdata centre operators promote as a premium,
but costlyfinancial serviceslocation.
It’s true that HFT strategies located at exchange
locations offer the ultimate performance at a premium
– but why operate all of your strategies and back office
functions from a premium priced location when not all
of them require it? It seems like overkill and a waste of
money. In fact, not only can significant cost savings
be made by adopting a distributed IT deployment but
it also comes with the additional benefit of increased
resilience as a result of using multiple sites.
With the rapid changes in technologies at every
level of the IT stack there is value in challenging the
traditional ‘all your eggs in one basket’ deployment
models of the past. Many of these deployments were
implemented because of the belief it was simpler to
keep everything together – a sales and marketing
message supported by some data centre operators to
their own benefit.
But, don’t believe all of the hype and be clear on why
applications sit in a particular
location. If they don’t all need to
be there, is there a better, more
efficient and more cost effective
solution out there? In 2015, the
answer is always yes.
Tradingin your data
centre: the shifting
HFT landscape
or years, the world of High
Frequency Trading (HFT)has
been shrouded in mystery, with
few people outside the industry
understanding what they do or
how they operate. In fact, most HFT
companies operate in complete
secrecy with names unfamiliar
to anyone except the employees
themselves or the exchanges on
which they ply their trade.
That is of course, until Michael Lewis’ new book, Flash
Boys, lifted the lid on what businesses operating at
this end of the equities markets have been doing.
In laymen’s terms High Frequency Trading is a type
of algorithmic trading characterized by high turnover
and high order-to-trade ratios. Specifically, it is
the use of sophisticated technological tools and
computer algorithms to rapidly trade securities.
Although HFT has traditionally been very popular –
accounting for over 70% of trade volumes in 2010 – it
has since dropped to below 50 per cent after 2012,
indicating a shift in the financial trading landscape.
So what’s caused this, and more importantly,
why should this impact data centre strategies?
The answer is simple. As a result of the financial
crisis, large institutional investors have decided to err
on the side of caution, relying less on HFT techniques,
in favour of longer term trading strategies driven by
Smart Order Routing (SOR) principles. The reason being
– they are seen as more stable, and thus a safer bet.
As such, while HFT focus on the second by second
trades, and are reliant on technology to trade huge
volumes and move in and out of trading positions in
fractions of a second, SOR does not. Unlike HFT, SOR
algorithms don't rely on the micro-second activities
of the HFT world and instead use programmatic
F
“The Acas Code was introduced to help businesses
and employees deal effectively with issues of
alleged misconduct or poor performance. When
deciding whether an employee has been unfairly
dismissed for misconduct or poor performance,
an employment tribunal will consider whether the
business has followed a fair procedure.”
when considering whether an employer has acted
reasonably or not.
IT CAN SAVE YOU MONEY
If an employee’s claim is successful, but either the
business or the employee has failed to follow the
Acas Code, the level of compensation awarded can
be affected:
If the business unreasonably failed to follow the
Code, the employment tribunal may increase the
employee’s compensation by up to 25%.
If the employee unreasonably failed to follow the
Code, the employment tribunal may reduce their
compensation by up to 25%.
Whattodowhen
informalprocedures
havenotdonethetrick
DO THE GROUND WORK
The business must carry out a reasonable
investigation of the issue (for example, by
conducting an investigatory meeting with the
employee under investigation). Any investigatory
meeting should not result in disciplinary action,
such as a formal warning or dismissal, without a
disciplinary hearing taking place first (see below).
If paid suspension is necessary during the
investigation it should be as brief as possible and
kept under review. The business should clarify that
this is not in itself a form of disciplinary action.
Suspensions should be avoided where it is not
reasonable to assume that a serious offence may
have been committed.
PUT IT IN WRITING
If, following the investigation, it is found that
there is a case to answer, the business should
notify the employee in writing of the alleged
misconduct or poor performance and its possible
consequences in sufficient detail to enable them to
respond at a disciplinary hearing.
The notification should set out details of the
Dealing with
troublesome
employees
formally
his article highlights
the basic obligations
a business should
consider when dealing
with troublesome
employees in a
formal manner.
Employers are required
to follow Acas Code of
Practice (Acas Code)
once misconduct or
poor performance issues reach a formal stage.
Why follow the
Acas Code?
IT CAN AVOID FURTHER TROUBLE
DOWN THE ROAD
The Acas Code was introduced to
help businesses and employees
deal effectively with issues
of alleged misconduct or poor
performance. When deciding
whether an employee has been
unfairly dismissed for misconduct
or poor performance, an
employment tribunal will consider
whether the business has followed
a fair procedure. It must also
take the Acas Code into account
S O P H I E P E L H A M ,
M O R R I S O N S S O L I C I T O R S
T
Fingers on the pulse
D A R R E N W A T K I N S ,
N E W S A L E S D I R E C T O R ,
V I R T U S D A T A C E N T R E S
16. 3 13 0
G LO B A L L E A D E R S I N F I N A NCI A L S E R V I C E S A N D CO M M O D I T I E S T EC H N O LO G Y R E C R U I T M E N T
disciplinary hearing, including the time and place of
the hearing.
The disciplinary hearing should be held without
unreasonable delay. However, the business must
ensure the employee has reasonable time to prepare
their case and review all investigatory material.
Any written evidence (for example, witness
statements) should be provided to the employee.
FACE TO FACE
The business should not make a decision to
dismiss or take other disciplinary action without a
disciplinary hearing or meeting taking place first.
If the employee is persistently unable or unwilling
to attend, without good reason, the business is
entitled to hold the meeting or hearing in their
absence and make a decision on the available
evidence. It is advisable to notify the employee that
this will occur before making the final decision.
Both business and employee should give advance
notice of any witnesses they intend to call. In
practice, it is rare for witnesses to attend hearings
in person. Statements are usually obtained.
The employee should be notified of their right
to be accompanied by a trade union representative
or work colleague. Requests for other
parties to accompany an employee should
be carefully considered.
At the hearing:
the business should explain the allegations
and go through the evidence;
the employee should be allowed to set out
their case and answer the allegations; and
the employee should have a reasonable
opportunity to ask questions, present
evidence, call relevant witnesses and raise
points about any information provided by the
business’ witnesses.
DECISIONS, DECISIONS
After the hearing, the decision should be sent to
the employee in writing without unreasonable
delay. Written warnings should set out:
The nature of the misconduct or poor
performance.
S O P H I E P E L H A M ,
M O R R I S O N S S O L I C I T O R S
The improvement required.
The timescale for improvement.
How long the warnings will remain current.
The consequences of further misconduct (or
failure to improve) within that period.
The employee’s right to appeal the decision and
the procedure they need to follow to do so.
VERY APPEALING
If the employee feels the disciplinary action
against them is unjust, they may appeal in writing,
specifying the grounds of the appeal.
If the employee brings a tribunal claim without
first appealing, any compensation awarded may be
reduced.
PRACTICAL STEPS FOR DEALING WITH
TROUBLESOME EMPLOYEES
Involve employees in developing workplace
procedures, and make sure those procedures are
transparent and accessible to employees.
Encourage managers to manage conduct and
performance issues quickly and informally before
they get to a formal disciplinary stage.
Investigate issues thoroughly. Even if the
employee has attended an investigatory interview,
always hold a disciplinary hearing once all the
evidence is available, and allow the employee to put
their side of the story before making any decision.
Keep written records, including minutes of
meetings. One school of thought is that all
meetings should be recorded, with the employee’s
permission, to avoid a he-said, she-said situation
at a later date. Of course, there is then no hiding
from the truth, which means those holding hearings
should be well trained in such procedures.
Communicate decisions effectively and promptly,
setting out reasons.
The above is a general overview of the key
implications and obligations for organisations. If
you would like to hear more about the above, please
do not hesitate to contact Sophie Pelham at sophie.
pelham@morrlaw.com or on 0208 971 1024.
Fingers on the pulse
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
GREAT
COFFEE
PAYA
“FAIRWAGE”
FAMILY
CULTURE
SPORTS
TEAMS
FLAT
STRUCTURE
FREE
FRUIT
GREAT
TECHNOLOGY
LEARNING
LUNCHES
GREAT
OFFICES
EXTERNAL
TRAINING
MENTORING
PROGRAMMES
FLEXITIME/WORK
FROMHOME
INNOVATION
PROGRAMMES
AGILE
ENVIRONMENTS
THE SECRETS OF THE
BEST FINANCIAL SOFTWARE
COMPANIES TO WORK FOR
Download the report in full at www.harringtonstarr.com
What the best are doing
Engaging and retaining talent is one of the key factors in the success of any business.
Harrington Starr’s exclusive report has researched over 1000 job seekers and
100 software companies to unlock the secrets behind the sector’s best places to work.
WHAT
JOBSEEKERS
WANT
WHAT
COMPANIES
THINK THEY
WANT
1. INTERESTING
CHALLENGING WORK
2. CAREER DEVELOPMENT
3. INTERESTING TECHNOLOGY
4. WELLBEING/WORK/
LIFE BALANCE
5. TRAINING
1. GOOD CULTURE,
FUN AND ENJOYMENT
2. GOOD TEAM
TO WORK WITH
3. REWARD INCENTIVE
4. COMPELLING VISION
5. GOOD LEADERSHIP
TEAM
18. 3 53 4
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T H E F I N T E C H L A N D S C A P E
2015 will be remembered as an exceptional year
for FinTech start-ups, in Financial Centres across
the globe entrepreneurs were busy launching
new companies, developing new ideas to market
and raising much needed capital. From London to
New York and across Asia - China, Hong Kong and
Singapore, hundreds of new companies joined an
ever increasing number of FinTech start-ups.
Estimates from different lists places the existing
number of FinTech start-ups anywhere between
5,000 to 6,000 companies globally, all competing for a
market share in different industry sectors
and sub sectors, from mobile payments,
data analytics and virtual banking to
online lending, bitcoin applications and
crowd funding. In the last five years
alone, investors have injected billions
into start-ups and are now looking for
returns!
A M I X E D
P E R F O R M A N C E
The consumer side of the market in
FinTech is particularly active. Retail
customers are enjoying lower fees and
lower interest rates by using mobile
wallets, touch and swipe payment cards,
mobile payment apps and online lending
platforms. The start-ups providing these services
have seen a steep rising adoption curve, however for
the founders and investors, even in the electrifying
FinTech scene, success is not always guaranteed.
According to a Morgan Stanley whitepaper published
in May 2015, globally, online lending platforms are
forecasted to see loan issuance grow at a 51% CAGR
between 2015 and 2020. Lending Club and OnDeck
were both first movers in the marketplace lending
space and have become recognised brands in
FinTech. The companies were regarded as unicorns
due to their high valuation, they both went public
almost a year ago, and as of December 31, 2015 have
both seen their share prices drop more than 50%
compared to their IPO open price. Despite the growth
in marketplace lending, the retail markets still see
high risk in the underlying loans.
The mobile payment app start up Venmo, was
acquired by Braintree in 2012. In 2013 PayPal acquired
Braintree together with Venmo. Within PayPal’s huge
empire, Venmo’s total payment volume increased
to $2.1 billion in Q3 2015, a 201% jump compared
to the prior year. The once tiny start-up is now part
of a global corporate giant with access to a global
ecosystem of retailers and customers.
More recently, a payment processing company
Square, a FinTech unicorn, went public in November
of 2015, at a price which saw more than 30% of the
company’s valuation wiped off, compared to its last
private funding round. Although Square’s revenues
had been climbing, the company is not profitable and
continues to compete in an increasing overcrowded
payment processing market.
With so many players and a mixed bag of results,
should aspiring FinTech entrepreneurs seriously
consider entering the game? And how can existing
FinTech start-ups fine tune their strategy and act
smarter?
S T R A T E G I C O P T I O N S
In an overcrowded playing field with thousands of
companies, FinTech entrepreneurs and founders
who have yet to enter the field should ask three
key questions.
1Is the product or service better than the ones that
already exist? With several thousand players in
the market, differentiation will be very difficult.
2Can the team raise adequate funding to pay for
the development and marketing of their product?
Given the competitive nature of the playing field,
new companies will have to work much harder to
educate customers, provide compelling reasons and
incentives to move to the new app or platform.
3When will the company achieve profitability or
breakeven? We are now seeing an environment
investors are beginning to devalue unicorns and are
looking for returns. A breakeven timeline over the
longer term is a strong warning sign. These questions
are the same ones that large companies have always
asked themselves. Entrepreneurs must use these
same guide lines to decide whether their venture is
financially viable and attractive.
For those start-ups that have already entered the
FinTech arena, the circumstances are different.
They will have secured investor capital backing and
in some cases have also secured investments from
Investment Banks or Corporate venture arms. These
start-ups will need to prove their value based on
fundamental business metrics. Established and
new Start-ups will need to demonstrate that their
“Tech” in FinTech is creating real added value for
shareholders.
History has taught us time and time again, that
investment booms do not run forever. We all recall
how in the late 1990s and 2000 - 2002, hundreds of
Internet and e-commerce start-ups emerged, only a
small number achieved enough scale and traction to
succeed as global corporations. Others secured their
success by being acquired by larger companies. The
vast majority however, have disappeared! Fintech
start-ups could face the same future in 2016 and
beyond. Only the strong will survive!
From London to New York and
across Asia - China, Hong Kong
and Singapore, hundreds of new
companies joined an ever increasing
number of FinTech start-ups.
With so many players and a mixed
bag of results, should aspiring
FinTech entrepreneurs seriously
consider entering the game?
WILL
FINTECH
START-UPS
FACEA
TOUGH
2016?
S P E C I A L F E A T U R E