[ N E T W O R K M A N A G E M E N T ]
widely welcomed . The past couple of years , pandemic aside , have been particularly testing . Geopolitical risk has always been under the broad risk management umbrella , but in addition to the Russian / Ukraine war , a number of relatively high-profile bank tribulations , if not failures , have presented challenges .
Following that gathering , Simon Goodman , global head of securities network management , JP Morgan , summarised neatly summarised the industry ’ s concerns . “ I think there is consensus , and that network managers would agree that the most challenging aspect [ of the role ] is to balance resilience , scale and efficiency with the continued need for real , on the ground presence , local market expertise and staying power ,” he told Global Custodian . This involves a combination of data and human skills . “ Good network management has to be data-based , but there is a significant human element to it as well ,” says Dan Hickey , global head of network management at State Street . “ In my previous life as an army officer , I was asked to read the newspaper every day to stay on top of what is going on in the world which is drastically different from the way we consume data nowadays . We have more data points today than ever before , so which sources to find data and how to effectively gather the data from multiple sources , for example , are critical .” At the same time , says Hickey , “ With so much data , including a lot of qualitative data , subject matter experts are needed to analyse the data for a business to make informed meaningful decisions . The interconnectivity of bank relationships and the world , require businesses to have robust business continuity plans . “ Amongst all risks , because of the Russia / Ukraine conflict , geopolitical risks have become ever more important in decision making . Wider and in depth understanding of geopolitical risks which requires data analyses by humans can help institutions better prepare for and handle extreme events more effectively .” way , it ’ s more about getting together , seeing faces , making relationships , and meeting our counterparts .”
In other words , for more than a few participants , it ’ s primarily about the networking rather than the panel discussion . Nevertheless , out of that engagement , issues that need to be tackled at an industry level as opposed to within each individual network management team , do surface .
According to one network manager , “ We do discuss how we can work together going forward and make what we hear into something more tangible to bring back to our own management and say , ‘ look , it ’ s not just the networking ; we are doing things .’” Those issues are not always visible to outsiders . While all network management teams have plans and contingencies in every market , should an agent run into
Demands of regulators and supervisors At the event itself , as our report indicates , discussion was wide-ranging . As one participant put it , “ We talked about several different things , but one thing that ’ s on everybody ’ s mind is the budget of travelling and justifying these trips . A lot of the things we talk about recur every year , but in some
“ The world we ' re living in now is arguably quite a different world than we were living in five years ago , not only for pandemic reasons , but geopolitical reasons as well .”
MICHAEL BUZZA , GLOBAL HEAD OF NETWORK MANAGEMENT AND MARKET STRATEGY , NORTHERN TRUST
6 Securities Review Q3 2023