Upfront

What would Don Draper do to promote financial advice?

Not enough people seek financial advice. Most think it’s only for the wealthy and don’t fully understand all the services a financial adviser can provide.

Sounds to us like a classic marketing problem.

In this episode, comedian Olga Koch is joined by Kevin Chesters, a creative strategist who’s worked at some of the most famous and feared advertising agencies. He has some straight-talking marketing advice to help financial services businesses get noticed.

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Listen up, punks! The award-winning, hard-hitting financial services podcast from Iress is back.

Comedian Olga Koch returns to ask the questions that nobody else is asking in a series of bold and frank conversations that everyone in financial services needs to hear.

Could we close the advice gap by thinking more creatively? Can Homer Simpson get more people interested in financial planning? What would an ex-hacker do to fight rising financial crime? Do we need to completely rethink investing? And just how do we make the financial system better and fairer?

Expect honesty, expect humour. Just don’t expect it to sound like any other financial services podcast.

The first episode of Season 2 releases on Wednesday 5th July, and then every two weeks from then. Subscribe to Upfront so you never miss one. Get in touch at [email protected] and visit the blog at iress.com/upfront.

Upfront is a 10-part series from Iress, the people behind the world-leading financial services software.

Find us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iress/ and at www.iress.com

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What if your grocery store became your bank? Or your retirement fund merged with your favourite clothing retailer? These are the sort of non-obvious questions financial services businesses need to be asking if they want to be part of the future. But with so much innovation and change going on, we’ve got a big question too:

How can financial services keep up in a faster world?

So buckle-up buttercup as we take you on a journey to the (near) future with world-renowned trends expert Rohit Bhargava. He joins the Upfront podcast to talk about how businesses can be more resilient and lead the future with a little more non-obvious thinking.

Where do you see yourself in the future? Tell us at [email protected]. 

Get bonus content from this episode including more from Rohit plus our guide to keeping up in a faster world on the upfront blog at iress.com/upfront. 

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For a lot of financial services businesses, data got no game. Meanwhile, other industries have found ways to turn data collection and analysis into a serious competitive advantage. Out on the sports field, performance analytics are enabling athletes and coaches to reach peak performance, helping teams win and getting fans closer to the action. In this episode, comedian Olga Koch takes one for the team by asking:

Can data get financial services to the top of their game?

Joining her is Adir Shiffman executive MD of Catapult Sports and Andrew Walsh CEO of financial technology company Iress for a fun and frank chat about the game-changing potential of data. 

What sexy stuff are you doing with data? Tell us at [email protected]. 

Get bonus content from this episode including more from Adir and Andrew plus our guide to doing great things with data on the upfront blog at iress.com/upfront.

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It’s estimated that globally, almost a third of the adult population lacks access to financial services. That’s a lot of people missing out on all the good the industry can do. And it could be doing so much good - better access to financial services would help more people out of poverty, improve health and wellbeing, education and help address gender equality. Fintech is helping make financial services more affordable and easier to access, but is it also creating new barriers where old ones have been torn down? Governments want a solution to the financial inclusion problem, but what exactly is the solution? In this episode, we ask the Upfront question:

How can financial services be more inclusive?

Answering that is researcher, policy adviser and professor of fintech Dr Karen Elliott, who joins comedian Olga Koch for a frank talk about building accessible, ethical and inclusive financial services that more people can love.

What are you doing to be more inclusive? Tell us at [email protected]. 

Get bonus content from this episode, including more from Dr Karen plus our guide to being authentically inclusive on the upfront blog at iress.com/upfront.

 

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Being a successful financial services business takes almost superhuman powers. You need the super speed of Flash to innovate and get products and services to market faster. Hulk’s exponential strength to handle the regulation that’s thrown at you. The elastic resilience of Mister Fantastic in the face of constant disruption and change. And the agility of Spider-Man to exceed consumer expectations. Not to mention an Alfred or Q by your side to help you keep up with technology. If it’s all starting to feel like mission impossible, we’re here to save the day. So, Upfront listeners assemble as we ask:

How can financial services find their superpower?

John Winters, the co-founder and CEO of the leading Australian investment platform Superhero, joins comedian Olga Koch to talk risk, resilience, innovation and building a business people love. 

What’s your superpower? Tell us at [email protected]. 

Get bonus content from this episode, including more from John plus our guide to finding your superpower on the upfront blog at iress.com/upfront.

 

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The under-25s are fuelling disruption in financial services and flipping the switch on how things get done. An emerging battleground for growth, Zoomers will soon make up 40% of the population and could become the wealthiest generation yet. 

But how can the financial services industry, more familiar with dealing with Gen-Z’s parents and grandparents, connect with this digitally native, social-media-obsessed generation? 

Are financial services ready for Gen-Z?

Chartered financial planner and award-winning content creator Martin Bamford joins comedian Olga Koch to talk tactics and ways to engage the next generation of investors and planners. 

How are you connecting with Gen-Z? Tell us at [email protected]. 

Get bonus content from this episode, including more from Martin plus our guide to doing social media on the upfront blog at iress.com/upfront.

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Clients. Markets. Products. Regulation. Technology. More regulation. Arrrrgh! Financial services businesses sure do have a lot to keep up with. Is stepping back and hitting reset ever an option? Look at successful startups - they’re usually led by people who’ve had a chance to step back, stop, rethink and then make a move. That’s tricky to do in an established business where long-term thinking can give way to pressures that come from short-term targets - like getting new customers through the door. So what can you do?

How do you stop and reset in an industry that is always on the move?

Executive life coach Jason Bernic joins Olga Koch to talk about finding the time, vision and guts to stop and change what you’re doing today for a chance at something even bigger tomorrow. 

Which leaders in financial services inspire you? Tell us at [email protected]. 

Get bonus content from this episode including more from Jason plus his tips on how to lead a financial services business people love on the upfront blog at iress.com/upfront.

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It’s a fact that people would rather talk about sex, politics or their mental health than money. Could this be why 24 million UK adults don’t feel confident managing their money, or why 85% of Australians don’t have a financial plan? Research shows that if we talked more about our finances, we’d all make better decisions, feel less stressed and more in control. Our kids would also be more likely to form good lifetime money habits. So it begs the question:

Why would people rather talk about anything but their finances?

Financial wellness coach and author of How to Save It, Bola Sol, joins comedian Olga Koch for a frank and fearless conversation about our weird relationship with money and why understanding it could help the financial services industry out.  

How can we get more people talking about finance? Share your ideas with us at [email protected]. 

Get bonus content from this episode including more from Bola plus some tips to help you have a better relationship with your customers on the upfront blog at iress.com/upfront.

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Can the customer experience offered by financial services ever rival that of our favourite apps and services or will innovation always be limited by rules and regulation? Or, in other words:

Does the financial services experience suck?

That's the upfront question for product design experts Josh Guest, CEO at digital design consultancy Transpire, and Amir Ansari, head of product design at financial technology company Iress. In this episode they talk to comedian Olga Koch about their most amusing and frustrating customer experiences and the secret to building financial services experiences people truly love.

What's been your best and worst financial services experience? Share it at [email protected]. 

Get bonus content from the episode including more from our guests plus our guide to creating a financial servcies experience people love on the upfront blog at iress.com/upfront.

 

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