Summary
Financial Services: Managing complexity to deliver business as usual and transformation value.
Financial Services: Managing complexity to deliver business as usual and transformation value.
Challenge:
A large business unit within a financial services group was struggling to meet their business-as-usual deliverables in the midst of complex regulatory and operating-environment changes. A key influence in this was a significant funding cut to their digital transformation programme resulting in conflicting priorities for the digital transformation, merger, regulatory, and business-as-usual.
Process:
Overt performed a deep dive immersion to fully understand the complexity of the operating environment. This allowed us to obtain joint clarity around the key deliverables for their business unit. Overt translated this into a bespoke management prioritisation and process template.
Outcome:
As a result, the business unit was able to successfully navigate the complexities and deliver on their business-as-usual priorities, achieving regulatory compliance ahead of major industry changes. This prioritised focus allowed them to post their best financial results to date.
Challenge
In 2023, a large business unit within a financial services group was in the middle of a digital transformation programme focused on consolidating their tech stack. This was happening against a backdrop of complex regulatory change (T-Day and 2-Pot) and a group-level merger with another financial institution.
The merger necessitated budget reallocation, and our client found themselves facing a significant funding cut to their transformation programme. Consequently, the business unit experienced challenges of conflicting priorities, resourcing limitations, and budgeting constraints across their various tasks and deliverables
(including digital transformation, merger, regulatory compliance, and business-as-usual priorities). This put their expected financial and operational performance for 2024, as well as their ability to deliver on regulatory compliance, at risk.
Overt was approached by the business unit’s chief executive, and tasked with helping to create the necessary structure to determine which workflow items needed to be prioritised and were non-negotiable. The goal was to unlock optimal performance and to meet the upcoming regulatory requirements whilst also setting the business up for success into 2025. Exploring the available synergies created by the group-level merger was part of this task.
In 2023, a large business unit within a financial services group was in the middle of a digital transformation programme focused on consolidating their tech stack. This was happening against a backdrop of complex regulatory change (T-Day and 2-Pot) and a group-level merger with another financial institution.
The merger necessitated budget reallocation, and our client found themselves facing a significant funding cut to their transformation programme. Consequently, the business unit experienced challenges of conflicting priorities, resourcing limitations, and budgeting constraints across their various tasks and deliverables
(including digital transformation, merger, regulatory compliance, and business-as-usual priorities). This put their expected financial and operational performance for 2024, as well as their ability to deliver on regulatory compliance, at risk.
Overt was approached by the business unit’s chief executive, and tasked with helping to create the necessary structure to determine which workflow items needed to be prioritised and were non-negotiable. The goal was to unlock optimal performance and to meet the upcoming regulatory requirements whilst also setting the business up for success into 2025. Exploring the available synergies created by the group-level merger was part of this task.
Process
Overt performed a deep-dive immersion to understand exactly where the business unit found itself in the current operating-environment and regulatory-change context. We sought to unpack the various workflows and priorities, understanding which levers had the most impact on the business unit’s performance trajectory. Building out what a proposed ‘picture of success’ looked like helped inform our understanding of what the business unit wanted to achieve in 2024 and into 2025.
Simultaneously to this, we explored the desired synergy unlock enabled by the group-level merger. Overt developed a framework and process to build a compelling business case and collaborative approach for the core-divisions across the merged entity. This was shared and agreed with key executives for use in the second half of 2024.
A review of competitor strategies and the potential impact of T-Day and 2-Pot regulations on the industry - and specifically the group assets under management (AUM) and realisation - was undertaken. The insights from this were consolidated into a feedback report and shared with the business unit’s chief executive and their team for consideration.
With this well-developed understanding in place, we worked with the client team to jointly establish and agree the key deliverables within the allocated timeframe. Overt then made use of our prioritisation framework to look across the deliverables and determine which workflows and tasks needed to take precedence. We aligned the strategic imperatives to key actions, and built out a system to manage the raft of complex deliverables ensuring action and accountability. This was fully documented and then agreed and shared with the management team to drive forward.
Process
Overt performed a deep-dive immersion to understand exactly where the business unit found itself in the current operating-environment and regulatory-change context. We sought to unpack the various workflows and priorities, understanding which levers had the most impact on the business unit’s performance trajectory. Building out what a proposed ‘picture of success’ looked like helped inform our understanding of what the business unit wanted to achieve in 2024 and into 2025.
Simultaneously to this, we explored the desired synergy unlock enabled by the group-level merger. Overt developed a framework and process to build a compelling business case and collaborative approach for the core-divisions across the merged entity. This was shared and agreed with key executives for use in the second half of 2024.
A review of competitor strategies and the potential impact of T-Day and 2-Pot regulations on the industry - and specifically the group assets under management (AUM) and realisation - was undertaken. The insights from this were consolidated into a feedback report and shared with the business unit’s chief executive and their team for consideration.
With this well-developed understanding in place, we worked with the client team to jointly establish and agree the key deliverables within the allocated timeframe. Overt then made use of our prioritisation framework to look across the deliverables and determine which workflows and tasks needed to take precedence. We aligned the strategic imperatives to key actions, and built out a system to manage the raft of complex deliverables ensuring action and accountability. This was fully documented and then agreed and shared with the management team to drive forward.
Process
Overt performed a deep-dive immersion to understand exactly where the business unit found itself in the current operating-environment and regulatory-change context. We sought to unpack the various workflows and priorities, understanding which levers had the most impact on the business unit’s performance trajectory. Building out what a proposed ‘picture of success’ looked like helped inform our understanding of what the business unit wanted to achieve in 2024 and into 2025.
Simultaneously to this, we explored the desired synergy unlock enabled by the group-level merger. Overt developed a framework and process to build a compelling business case and collaborative approach for the core-divisions across the merged entity. This was shared and agreed with key executives for use in the second half of 2024.
A review of competitor strategies and the potential impact of T-Day and 2-Pot regulations on the industry - and specifically the group assets under management (AUM) and realisation - was undertaken. The insights from this were consolidated into a feedback report and shared with the business unit’s chief executive and their team for consideration.
With this well-developed understanding in place, we worked with the client team to jointly establish and agree the key deliverables within the allocated timeframe. Overt then made use of our prioritisation framework to look across the deliverables and determine which workflows and tasks needed to take precedence. We aligned the strategic imperatives to key actions, and built out a system to manage the raft of complex deliverables ensuring action and accountability. This was fully documented and then agreed and shared with the management team to drive forward.
Outcome
The executive team were equipped with the tools, artefacts, and documentation to drive and deliver the critical activities for 2024. This enabled them to not only deliver against their business-as-usual ambitions, but to still tick key requirements in the digital transformation, merger, and compliance journeys. As a result, the business unit was able to successfully navigate the complexities that had arisen from the budget cuts and deliver on their priorities, whilst still achieving regulatory compliance ahead of major industry changes. This prioritised focus allowed them to post their best financial results to date. Off the back of this success, the team had a clear strategic framework to follow for unlocking growth opportunities within the group within the following year.
Thinking Ahead
T-Day and 2-Pot have created a significant structural change in the industry and the strategic moves taken by players now will determine their future share of the AUM prize. It will be interesting to see the landscape unfold over the next few years, as these changes will be gradual rather than seismic.