TechTalk: Distributed Ledger Technology – The Future and Reshaping of Investment and Wealth Management

This webinar took place on 20th October 2020, you can view the full webinar on demand here.

The Investment Association and Engine are pleased to invite you to watch our virtual TechTalk where we explore the use of Distributed Ledger Technology – the future and reshaping of investment and wealth management. The business impact of DLT will be transformational and there is real feeling that the next 2-5 years will see significant strides made in terms of real roll out and adoption in financial services.

Immutable transactions and immediate processing have the opportunity to create significant time and cost efficiencies that will revolutionise current practices and create an alternative infrastructure allowing for incumbents to come together to better manage data and process transactions. With talk of between 25-45% savings why is adoption and change so slow and when will the talk become a reality? This TechTalk will provide you with insights from leading experts and will examine the current appetite, trends and case studies within investment and wealth management.

Speaker biographies

Gillian Painter, Head of Membership and Engine, The Investment Association
As Head of Membership and Engine, Gillian is a senior member of the IA Enterprises management team. Engine is the IA’s Innovation hub and FinTech accelerator. Since its launch in October 2019, Gillian has managed the growth of Engine which now encompasses an ecosystem of over 130 firms, innovator programmes, as well as a regional co-working hub in Birmingham and an international programme. Engine is focused on innovation and transformation for the investment management and wealth sectors providing an extensive programme of thought leadership, resources and connectivity. Gillian has a strong experience in technology having worked in technical and operational roles for global IT and telecom firms.

Gary O’Brien, Regional Head of Custody Product, APAC, BNP Paribas Securities Services
Gary is the Head of Clearing and Custody Product for Asia Pacific. He ensures the effective implementation of the global best practices in custody and clearing across BNP Paribas locations within Asia-Pacific. With a focus on client-centric strategies, he oversees the development and enhancement of products with BNP Paribas clients’ best interests in mind.
In Asia-Pacific’s dynamic regulatory and technological landscape, Gary utilises his market and custodial expert knowledge to implement efficient, personalised client solutions. He is highly active in BNP Paribas’ digital transformation initiatives (such as the use of robotics, smart contracts, distributed ledger technology, artificial intelligence and data solutions) and ensures that they are executed in the most appropriate way for clients in the Asia-Pacific region.

Olivia Vinden, Head of Fintech & Innovation, Alpha FMC
Olivia leads the Fintech & Innovation practice at Alpha Financial Markets Consulting in the UK and is a specialist in emerging technology and its impact on Asset and Wealth Manager operating models. She is on the advisory panel of Engine- a fintech accelerator from the Investment Association, and she leads a number of client forums on innovation. She previously spent six months seconded to a blockchain start up focussed on the post-trade industry. She has 15 years of experience with large transformational change programs within Asset and Wealth Managers, and she has designed and implemented a number of different solutions covering the front, middle and back office.

Sam Robinson, Partner, CMS

Sam is a partner in the Financial Services Regulatory practice. Sam advises clients include banks, asset management firms, broker dealers, payment institutions and corporate finance houses on a broad range of regulatory and compliance matters within the financial services sector. Prior to working in private practice, Sam worked for seven years at the UK financial services regulator, the Financial Services Authority (the majority of this time in the FSA’s General Counsel’s Division), and has also spent time on secondment at Santander Asset Management UK Limited.

Adi Ben-Ari, Founder & CEO, Applied Blockchain

Adi has over 20 years enterprise software experience, leading major deliveries of production blockchain solutions for companies including Shell, Barclays. Adi is widely recognised as an independent thought leader in the industry, and a noted speaker at major conferences, experienced in educating C-suite on blockchain, confidential computing and privacy-preserving technologies. His work has been noted by the UK Government, where he was invited to present at Parliament and the House of Lords.

Brian McNulty, Chief Executive Officer, FundAdminChain Ltd

• – A digital funds network for launching and trading investment funds.
• – 20+ years buy-side/fund admin, last 5 specialising in blockchain including Global Head of Services at R3
• – Serial entrepreneur, co-owning companies, including DBFS Consultancy, Tradermade International, Asset+ Fund of Funds platform, Appii.io
• – Founded Post Trade Distributed Ledger Group (PTDL) of 40 financial blue-chips
• – Senior derivatives trader, certified CFT Financial Technical Trader