09:00 Registration and Refreshments
09:25 Introduction by the Chair
Sushil Saluja, Alderman for Coleman Street Ward, City of London
09:30 The Future of Wealth Platforms – Strategic Priorities and Trends Shaping Client Expectations
Umar Zaman, Head of Strategy and a member of the Executive Committee for BNY Pershing EMEA.
10:00 Market Outlook: Investment and Technology Trends
Dominic Tayler, Managing Director, Oakglen Wealth
10:20 Modern Wealth Firms Have Changed. Cybersecurity Hasn’t.
Iain Gibbons, CEO, FoxTech
10:40 Coffee Break
11:00 What Happens when AI Builds the Platform?
Edward Hawrych, Strategy Lead, WealthVector
11:20 Regulatory Change and the Future of Advice: How evolving regulation is shaping platform strategy
Michael Ruck, Partner, K&L Gates
11:40 Panel Discussion: Designing the Platform of Tomorrow: Technology, Data and Client Experience
Panellists:
Kevin Wooldridge, CEO, Message Labs
Suman Rao, UK Managing Director, Avaloq
Matthew Rankine, Senior Vice President, Business Development, BNY Pershing EMEA
12:15 Chair’s Closing Remarks and Close of Conference
Sushil Saluja is senior business leader and advisor based in London, focused on international business, technology-led transformation and education.
Sushil is a Common Councillor in the City of London, where he is Lead member for Innovation and Technology, as well as being on the Boards of the British Council, LINK and the CISI. He chairs the Heart of the City charity and acts as Senior Advisor to Mitsui Sumitomo.
Sushil has over 30 years’ prior experience at Accenture. He led business units for EMEA (based in London) and Asia Pacific (based in Hong Kong) and has launched FinTech accelerators in Hong Kong and Dubai. He subsequently worked at the Bank of England.
Umar leads the BNY Pershing EMEA’s strategy and value proposition as we continue to support our clients’ needs for simplification, scale and service.
Umar brings over 20 years of experience in wealth and asset management, having worked across financial technology firms, wealth and asset managers and in consulting.
Before joining BNY Pershing, Umar held influential senior leadership positions, notably as the Head of Strategic Initiatives and Innovation at Investec Wealth & Investments, Director roles at PwC and EY, and Chief Administrative Officer at Axa Investment Managers.
Umar holds an MBA from Warwick Business School and a Masters in Telecommunication Technology from Aston University.
Dominic brings a wealth of investment experience to his role as Managing Director of Oakglen Wealth. Over his 32-year career, he has held executive positions at Quilter Cheviot, UBS, and Credit Suisse. In 2006, he was one of the founding partners of Cheviot Asset Management before its merger with Quilter in 2013. His primary focus is investing for private clients both onshore and offshore. He also specialises in investing for charities and religious orders.
In addition to his professional activities, Dominic is a trustee of the Patrick and Helena Frost Foundation and was previously a governor of Downside School. Dominic is a member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) and of the UK Society of Investment Professionals and holds an LLP (Hons) degree in Law from the University of North London.
Iain has over 30 years of IT experience, including 20 years at IBM. His tech career began at 12 with a part-time IT job, and he has since made a significant impact in finance, hospitality, and the public sector. Iain has delivered and secured critical national infrastructure for the UK government, including anti-terrorism and border control systems.
Frustrated by the lack of accessible cybersecurity in the UK, he co-founded FoxTech to provide advanced, affordable solutions for businesses of all sizes. His leadership at FoxTech is guided by the belief that “People do business with people,” ensuring the company protects organisations from evolving cyber threats with a strong focus on ethical practices and client relationships.
Ed Hawrych has spent his whole career immersed in wealth management technology. Now he’s reinventing it.
At WealthVector he’s leading a formidable team building a system and processes around a clear conviction: AI shouldn’t be a feature you switch on, but the foundation everything is built on. The result is a platform designed to transform how the industry works: slashing costs, removing obsolete activities, and unlocking value for firms and their clients. He’s seen the industry from just about every angle. He started out in financial data at FactSet before moving into consulting at Alpha FMC. He then spent several years at Third Financial, where he enhanced and optimised the technology, becoming its go-to authority for clients and colleagues alike, and rising to lead Client Services before striking out as the first hire at WealthVector. Ed is a CFA charterholder.
Michael is a partner in K&L Gates’ White Collar Defence and Investigations practice group. Michael has a broad range of experience including advisory, regulatory liaison and large-scale, complex multi-jurisdictional investigations. Throughout his career, including previously working in the FCA’s Enforcement Division, he has led financial services regulatory projects, investigations and proceedings for a range of institutions, including asset and fund managers, insurance businesses and banks. His experience spans various regulatory issues and he has worked closely with a number of UK and foreign regulators, including the FCA, SFO, ICO, DOJ and IRS.
Kevin is the Chief Executive Officer of Message Labs. Kevin has 35+ years’ experience in delivering projects in the financial services industry. He has worked with financial institutions such as CREST, Euroclear, ISO (TC68), Swift, as well as for a number of wealth managers and financial institutions in the UK. Message Labs helps financial institutions design, build, and test their financial messages to reduce their project costs and lower their production launch risk.
Suman is Managing Director for Region UK at Avaloq, with over twenty years of experience in software and services in private banking and wealth management. She joined Avaloq in 2018 and is responsible for driving the company’s growth and client success in the region. Prior to Avaloq, she worked for Dion Global Solutions and Investmaster.
Matthew is a member of the BNY Pershing EMEA Client Coverage team, supporting clients in identifying strategic opportunities across wealth technology, custody, and execution.
He has over 15 years of experience in financial services, including significant time in the platform industry, working with wealth managers, investment platforms, banks, pension providers, and asset managers.
Prior to joining BNY, Matthew held senior distribution roles at Embark and Scottish Widows, gaining experience across both high-growth startups and large global organisations. He brings deep insight into the evolving needs of wealth and retirement businesses.
