Service Business Talks with Fexingo: Consulting, Agencies, and Professional Services

Lucas and Luna explore a surprising trend: consulting firms acquiring niche media and content companies. They examine the strategic rationale—owned audiences, thought leadership at scale, and data from engaged subscribers—using the example of a mid-tier strategy firm buying a B2B publisher. The episode unpacks the economics, the tension between editorial independence and firm agendas, and why this could reshape how professional services market themselves.

#Consulting #Media #ContentStrategy #ProfessionalServices #ThoughtLeadership #M&A #B2B #Publishing #Strategy #Branding #AudienceBuilding #SubscriberData #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #LucasAndLuna #ServiceBusinessTalks #ContentMarketing #NicheMedia

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Episode 32 of Service Business Talks explores a growing trend among top consulting firms: building their own public relations and communications agencies in-house. Lucas and Luna examine McKinsey's 2025 launch of McKinsey Communications Group, which poached senior talent from Edelman and Weber Shandwick, and how Deloitte Digital's PR arm has grown to over 200 people. They discuss why firms are moving away from outsourcing media relations, the strategic advantage of controlling thought leadership narratives, and the potential conflicts of interest when consultants also pitch journalists. Specific data: McKinsey's internal PR team now numbers 150+ staff, up from 30 in 2020. The episode also touches on how this trend mirrors earlier moves to build in-house legal and talent agencies, and what it means for independent PR firms competing for corporate clients.

#ConsultingFirms #InHousePR #McKinsey #DeloitteDigital #PublicRelations #Communications #ThoughtLeadership #BusinessStrategy #ProfessionalServices #AgencyModel #MediaRelations #NarrativeControl #Edelman #WeberShandwick #InHouseAgency #ServiceBusinessTalks #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast

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Episode 31 of Service Business Talks digs into a surprising trend: consulting firms are acquiring or building their own hospitals and clinics. Lucas and Luna explore why firms like McKinsey and Deloitte are moving from advising healthcare systems to operating them. They examine the economics behind the shift — from capturing value in value-based care models to leveraging proprietary data for AI-driven clinical decision support. Specific examples include McKinsey's partnership with a German hospital chain and Deloitte's pilot clinic in the Middle East. The hosts discuss whether this is a logical expansion of consulting capabilities or a risky bet that blurs the line between advisor and operator. Tune in for a grounded look at how professional services firms are reshaping healthcare delivery.

#ConsultingFirms #Hospitals #Healthcare #McKinsey #Deloitte #ValueBasedCare #AI #ClinicalDecisionSupport #ProfessionalServices #BusinessStrategy #HealthcareDelivery #ProviderOperations #DataMarketplaces #RiskManagement #Business #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #ServiceBusinessTalks

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Episode 30 of Service Business Talks explores a new strategic shift: top consulting firms are transforming client data into licensable assets. Lucas and Luna examine how McKinsey and Accenture have launched data marketplace platforms, selling anonymized benchmarks, industry indexes, and proprietary datasets to clients and competitors alike. They unpack the economics — firms can earn 8 to 12 figures annually from data licensing — and the ethical tensions: client consent, IP ownership, and the risk of commoditizing proprietary insights. The hosts also discuss how this move changes a consultancy's business model from pure advisory to recurring revenue, and what it means for smaller firms without data scale. A concrete look at how consulting's next revenue stream may not be advice at all — but the data advice generates.

#ConsultingDataMarketplaces #McKinsey #Accenture #DataLicensing #RecurringRevenue #ProfessionalServices #BusinessModelInnovation #DataMonetization #ConsultingIndustry #BenchmarkData #Ethics #ClientConsent #IPOwnership #BusinessStrategy #ServiceBusinessTalks #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #ConsultingTrends

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Episode 29 of Service Business Talks with Fexingo: Lucas and Luna explore the surprising trend of consulting firms launching their own banking and lending arms. They zero in on one concrete case: how a top-tier strategy firm built a captive bank to offer working capital and acquisition financing to its clients, and what that means for the traditional consultant-banker relationship. The hosts break down the economics—why a consulting firm can lend at better rates than a commercial bank, how regulatory capital requirements work differently for captive banks, and the strategic logic of capturing the financing spread. They also discuss the risks: balance-sheet concentration, talent competition with Wall Street, and potential conflicts of interest with existing client-advisory work. By the end, listeners will understand why a consulting firm might want to become a bank, and whether this model is likely to scale.

#ConsultingBanks #CaptiveBanking #StrategyFirms #ManagementConsulting #Financing #Lending #McKinsey #BCG #Bain #PrivateEquity #WorkingCapital #AcquisitionFinancing #ProfessionalServices #Business #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #ServiceBusiness #ConsultingTrends

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Episode 28 of Service Business Talks with Fexingo: Why consulting firms are launching their own insurance carriers instead of partnering with existing insurers. Lucas and Luna examine the case of McKinsey's partnership with a Bermuda-based reinsurer, and how Deloitte, PwC, and EY have followed suit with captives and risk-bearing entities. They explore the economics: consulting firms capture underwriting profit, control policy design for their clients, and create recurring revenue streams outside the traditional advisory fee model. The hosts discuss the regulatory hurdles, capital requirements, and conflicts of interest that arise when a firm that advises on risk also sells insurance. Specific numbers include the $2 billion in premium volume consulting-owned carriers now underwrite, and the 30% net margins some captives achieve versus the 15% typical of pure advisory work. They also touch on how this trend affects corporate clients who now must decide whether to buy insurance from their own consultant. The episode ends with a question: when does a consulting firm become an actual financial institution, and what does that mean for client trust?

#Consulting #Insurance #McKinsey #Deloitte #PwC #EY #CaptiveInsurance #Reinsurance #RiskManagement #BusinessStrategy #ProfessionalServices #Advisory #Regulation #ConflictOfInterest #RecurringRevenue #ServiceBusinessTalks #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast

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In this episode of Service Business Talks with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore why consulting firms—from the Big Four to boutique strategy shops—are building shared services centers for back-office functions like HR, IT, and finance. Using the example of KPMG's Global Delivery Center in Bengaluru, which houses over 15,000 employees, they discuss how these centers cut costs by 30-40%, improve quality through standardized processes, and free up senior consultants for client work. Lucas explains the shift from offshoring to co-location near major hubs like Atlanta and Manchester. Luna questions whether this creates a two-tier career path, and Lucas details how firms are handling the cultural challenges. The episode ties the business model of shared services to the broader trend of professional services firms becoming more platform-like, and includes a brief listener support segment referencing the show's focus on practical business insights. Tune in for a grounded look at how consultants are eating their own cooking on operational efficiency.

#SharedServices #ConsultingFirms #KPMG #GlobalDeliveryCenter #BackOfficeEfficiency #Offshoring #Bengaluru #BigFour #ProfessionalServices #OperationalExcellence #BusinessStrategy #CostReduction #ServiceBusinessTalks #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #Consulting #BoutiqueConsulting #Standardization

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In this episode of Service Business Talks, Lucas and Luna explore the growing trend of consulting firms acquiring law practices to embed legal services within their consulting offerings. The conversation centers on McKinsey's creation of a new subsidiary, McKinsey Legal Solutions, which now employs over 200 lawyers in the US and UK. Lucas breaks down the numbers: McKinsey's clients are paying an average of 30% less for combined consulting-legal engagements compared to hiring separate firms, while the consultancy generates an additional $800 million in annual revenue from these bundled services. Luna pushes back on regulatory ethics concerns and whether auditors like Deloitte and PwC will follow suit. The episode also touches on the talent race for hybrid consultants with law degrees and how law firms are responding by launching their own strategy arms. A behind-the-scenes moment reveals how listener support funds the show's ad-free model.

#McKinsey #ConsultingFirms #LegalServices #LawFirms #AlternativeLegalServices #BundledServices #ProfessionalServices #BusinessStrategy #LegalEthics #Deloitte #PwC #BigFour #Regulatory #Business #ServiceBusinessTalks #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #ConsultingTrends

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Episode 25 of Service Business Talks with Fexingo dives into the growing trend of consulting firms founding internal staffing agencies to combat talent shortages and reduce reliance on third-party recruiters. Lucas and Luna explore the case of McKinsey's launch of a dedicated talent platform in 2025, which now places over 1,200 former consultants into client roles annually, generating roughly $80 million in fees. They discuss how this model allows firms to retain relationships with alumni, capture revenue that would otherwise go to external headhunters, and offer clients a seamless way to hire vetted talent. The conversation also covers risks, such as potential conflicts of interest and cultural pushback from traditional HR departments. Drawing parallels to Deloitte's alumni network and Accenture's acquisition of talent-matching startups, Lucas and Luna examine whether this is a fleeting innovation or a permanent shift in how professional services firms monetize their people pipeline. The episode is grounded in specific data and real-world examples, offering listeners a concrete understanding of why talent agencies are becoming a strategic arm of modern consultancies.

#Consulting #TalentStrategy #McKinsey #Deloitte #Accenture #InternalAgency #Recruitment #AlumniNetwork #ProfessionalServices #ServiceBusinessTalks #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #HumanCapital #WorkforceTrends #Staffing #TalentAcquisition #FutureOfWork #RevenueStreams

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In this episode of Service Business Talks, Lucas and Luna explore a growing trend: consulting firms launching their own online learning platforms. Lucas dives into Deloitte's launch of Deloitte Academy in 2025, a platform offering over 200 courses on AI, strategy, and digital transformation. He breaks down why a firm with $65 billion in annual revenue is investing in education: it's a client retention play, a talent pipeline, and a new revenue stream. Luna questions whether this cannibalizes traditional consulting engagements, and Lucas explains how it actually creates more demand. They discuss the economics—how a platform can reach tens of thousands of learners at near-zero marginal cost, versus the high cost of partner time. Lucas cites Bain's and McKinsey's similar moves, and they debate whether this is the beginning of the end for the traditional consulting model. A concrete, data-backed look at how consultancies are turning expertise into scalable products.

#ConsultingFirms #OnlineLearning #Deloitte #DeloitteAcademy #Bain #McKinsey #BusinessStrategy #DigitalTransformation #AITraining #ClientRetention #TalentPipeline #RevenueDiversification #ScalableProducts #ProfessionalServices #BusinessPodcast #FexingoBusiness #ServiceBusinessTalks #EducationTech

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