Broadridge Client Summit 2024 sets the stage for the future of financial services industry

The financial services industry is undergoing a seismic shift, driven by rapid technological advancements and a growing demand for innovative solutions. Against this dynamic backdrop, Broadridge Financial Solutions hosted the "Driving What's Next" Client Summit 2024 in Bengaluru, bringing together 90 customer leaders to discuss four pillars - wealth management, communications, new-age technologies, and talent. With CNBC TV18 as media partner, the summit served as a platform for transformative discussions on how Broadridge could help clients better, by improving current products and building new ones that would facilitate them in future.

The event commenced with the ceremonial lighting of the lamp, symbolizing the dawn of new innovations. Sheenam Ohrie, Managing Director of Broadridge India, set the tone for the day by emphasizing the importance of community and collaboration. "It's an absolute pleasure and honour to host our first client summit of this scale. This event, which we intend to establish as an annual property, is more than just a bridge between Broadridge and our clients. It’s about creating a community where we all come together," she remarked.

Chris Perry, President of Broadridge, delivered a keynote address that illuminated the company's mission in the evolving fintech landscape. He discussed Broadridge's commitment to democratizing investing and the role of new technologies in this mission. "Broadridge exists to make the financial lives of millions of people around the world better. We are focused on enabling new technologies, like artificial intelligence and blockchain, to serve this democratization," he explained. Perry also underscored the importance of talent, saying, "Talent is what unlocks innovation, creates great customer experiences, and makes for highly engaged associates."

Up next, Dr. Ekroop Caur, Secretary of the Department of Electronics, IT, Biotechnology, and Science and Technology, Karnataka, delivered a keynote address, in which she pointed out, "This revolution in fintech is driven by e-commerce, which relies heavily on fintech prowess. Bangalore leads with the largest number of fintech startups and attracts nearly 85% of the funding for e-commerce companies. This reflects the strength of Bangalore's ecosystem and the immense faith placed in its startups."

The summit continued with a session led by Ashfaq Shaikh, Vice President of Architecture & Engineering at Broadridge India, who explored the transformative potential of distributed ledger technology (DLT) and its impact on global markets. "Distributed ledgers as a technology cannot survive with just one participant; it requires a network of collaboration," Shaikh pointed out that securities financing, trading, and bond issuance are key areas of interest for the market, and Broadridge has been actively delivering solutions in these areas. "As we move forward, we are seeing more collaborations and cost-saving opportunities, signalling that the market is maturing in the DLT space," he said. However, Shaikh also emphasized the need for more partners and collaborators to fully realize the potential of DLT.

In a subsequent session, Ramprasad Sandilya, Senior Vice President and Chief Growth Officer of Wealth Management Solutions at Broadridge, discussed how the company is creating tailored, best-in-class solutions in today's competitive environment. "Wealth firms don't have a choice of whether to transform—they must double down on transformation," Sandilya asserted. He outlined Broadridge's three-pronged strategy for transformation: enhancing advisor productivity, personalizing the end investor experience, and digitizing operations. "We've invested over a billion dollars in the last five years to focus on platform play, component-based solutions, and collaboration," he explained.

The summit also featured several panel discussions where experts shared insights on key topics such as innovation, growth, talent transformation, and the future of investor and customer communications. These discussions provided a deeper understanding of the trends shaping the future of financial services.

The event concluded with a keynote address by Sriram Krishnan, Chief Business Development Officer at the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE). He offered valuable perspectives on the evolving role of exchanges in the financial ecosystem. Recounting the history of NSE, he remarked, "NSE was born out of a task force’s brilliant blueprint for automated, screen-based trading and is known for innovation. It is also possibly India's first IT company, startup, and fintech." Krishnan talked about NSE's focus on expanding the market for commodities and the mutual fund industry. "Digital India has been a theme since 2014, and today we see its impact on how the operating environment is evolving," he said. He concluded by expressing optimism about India's economic future.

The Broadridge Client Summit 2024 was a testament to the company's commitment to innovation, collaboration, and excellence in the financial services industry. Reviewing the summit, Ohrie said, "Bringing 90 leaders together to talk, understand, and learn from each other creates a vast and invaluable network. We received excellent inputs from our client leaders on how they are leveraging Broadridge's offerings and what improvements we can make to better serve their needs in the future," she noted. On a broader note, Perry emphasized the importance of local engagement, noting, "Being here locally and engaging with decision-makers is crucial. It's given us an opportunity to launch local coverage and engagement, which we've never really had before."

The pages slugged ‘Brand Connect’ are equivalent to advertisements and are not written and produced by Forbes India journalists.