TSAM New York is the premier event, convening the leaders of Asset Management. Andrew Kerry, CEO of Foxon Media, joins Vanja Lakic for a conversation on this year’s event themes, headline speakers and what’s next for the conference. From AI, data and client-centric innovations, dive into the latest episode of Cogcast for a glimpse of the prominent themes and technologies moving the Asset Management space.

Transcript for podcast

Vanja Lakic 0:05

Welcome to today’s episode of Cogcast, Cognito’s podcast, where we speak with journalists and media pros on the latest happenings in the world of media and PR. I’m your host, Vanya Lakic. My guest today is Andrew Kerry, CEO at Foxon Media that hosts the largest community of buy-side professionals and investment and wealth managers worldwide.

Foxon is home of TSAM, the Summit of Asset Management, and TSAM ESG, and the Summit for Wealth Management. It runs events across the world from London, New York, Toronto, to Singapore. I’ll also add that Cognito is the official communications partner for Foxon Media, a partnership that goes back several years.

Today, we’ll speak to Andrew about Foson Media’s upcoming TSAM event in New York happening September 17^th, which is co-located this year with the ESG Summit. Andrew’s going to give us a preview of what we can expect at this year’s event.

Vanja Lakic 1:00

Andrew, welcome, and thank you for joining us today.

Andrew Kerry 01:03

Thanks very much for having me.

Vanja Lakic 01:05

If you can start by telling us a bit about Foxon Media and what your role has been over the last couple of years.

Andrew Kerry 01:10

Yeah, absolutely. I’d love to. So, Foxon Media is a B2B events company that sits at the core of the asset management community. We’re fortunate in that we have a global footprint and operate the leading asset management event in major financial hubs.

So, for example, our flagship event is in London. We hosted that event at London Stadium this year, which was the largest event we’ve ever done, drinks reception down on the pitch. It’s a fantastic place to be hosting events.

We’re in New York for our second largest event in about a week’s time, which will come around really quick. And then we also operate in kind of Boston, Toronto, and Singapore. So, anywhere there’s a major financial hub, that’s kind of where we’re delivering our events.

My role over the last few years has, I’d say, primarily been focused on driving our commitment to the buy-side community, which, look, it’s an industry under tremendous pressure to navigate regulatory change, operational challenges, kind of grabbing innovation opportunities before competitors do. So, I think Foxon Media’s job as an organization over the last couple of years has been to provide a platform, whether that be breakfast briefings and roundtables or conferences, expos, or kind of editorial content to give asset managers the information they need to keep pace with all of the change I’ve just mentioned. And I should mention probably on the other side of that, we’re lucky to work with the technology and solution providers in this space, which are really helping drive change.

I think there’s been kind of an exponential kind of growth in the number of technology and solution providers that are specifically helping asset management companies with these challenges, and we’ve been lucky enough to work with some of the really cool and interesting ones as they embed themselves into asset managers and help them take the next step. So, yeah, I think that’s probably a good summary, is just making sure that our business is focused on giving asset managers access to the most relevant information that will assist them with whatever the next step is in their business.

Vanja Lakic 03:25

And TSAM New York is happening at the same time this year as the ESG Summit. Can you talk about the decision to co-locate and what’s new this year? What can we expect to see in general?

Andrew Kerry 03:38

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the decision for us to co-locate TSAM as the Summit for Asset Management with the ESG event, I think is it’s probably it’s a natural evolution of the growing synergy between those two kind of crucial areas for the industry.

TSAM has had a strong foundation in North America for over 10 years now, whereas the ESG event is relatively new. It’s only been going for kind of the last three years, but in those three years, it’s built its own identity as kind of the premier event for ESG in that area. From our point of view, bringing these two events together, we’re offering delegates, I suppose, a unique kind of multi-floor, multi-track experience, which is going to provide content for both of those communities.

So, for example, this year attendees are going to benefit from tailored sessions specific to their interests, whether that be ESG focused investment strategies or operational excellence in asset management. They’re going to get both at that same event, and I think when we talked about the idea first as a team, one of the things we quite liked is the fact that we do live still this day in quite a siloed world. The asset management industry often talks about, you know, information silos within their business and how they’re trying to break them down, and we like the idea that by putting these two events in the same venue, on the same day and having those shared networking opportunities, you’re bringing together two groups of people that even though they work in the same building and have shared challenges and kind of shared things that keep them up at night, they might not necessarily get to speak to each other in their role, whereas, you know, there’s an opportunity at this event for people that are really passionate about ESG within asset management, who are going to meet with people who are really passionate about operational excellence, and we’re hoping that it kind of provides an opportunity for those two groups to network in a way they might not have done normally, and also share ideas that maybe might not have got shared had they not had this chance.

Vanja Lakic 05:39

Yeah, absolutely. It makes a lot of sense to bring those two groups together, and of course, there’s going to be a lot of themes covered this year, not only because the two events are grouped together, but also just the industry is rife with a lot of different topics. What are some major themes this year that you’re expecting will take stage?

Andrew Kerry 06:02

Yeah, we’re very lucky at Foxon Media in that we’ve got an incredibly active advisory board that help us with this area, so our content team work really closely with kind of the senior leaders within the buy-side community and perform a lot of research with them to find out what are the things that they are seeing day-to-day that are holding them back, and also the exciting side of the what are the innovations they’re seeing that are kind of driving their business forward, so they really help us make sure we nail the themes for the event.

I think the first theme that isn’t going to surprise anyone is this whole topic of AI and automation within investment management. The role of AI and machine learning in streamlined operations, enhancing decision-making, driving performance, it’s never been more critical. I think there was a time when people talked about it as this cool thing that was coming down the line.

Everyone acknowledges now that it’s very much here, and that’s why at the event we’re going to be exploring how firms can practically implement these technologies now and make sure they’re not falling behind. Probably linked to that as a second big topic, which is the topic every year, is just about data. Again, data has probably gone from something that everyone knew it was important to make sure your data was in order, because if not you have chaos, to now it is seen as a real competitive advantage, the way that you’re using your data.

So the asset managers are grappling with an overwhelming amount of data. The ability for them to harness that effectively is going to be their differentiator going forward. So we’re going to be delving into how firms are building robust data ecosystems to improve analytics, enhance their risk management, improve their client reporting, pretty much everything they do.

Probably the final theme to keep it kind of quite top level would be around just client-centric innovation. As usual, clients want more. Clients will always want more, and providing more to the customer is kind of the name of the game.

I think as technology has evolved over the last couple of years, the demands of the client have become more complex. So asset managers are now looking at how they can use their data and technology to deliver more personalized, engaging experiences, and really working out how they can enhance client services through that kind of whole digital transformation piece. So yeah, I think it’s going to be a very data-heavy event, which lots of interesting stuff always comes out of.

Vanja Lakic 08:31

Yeah, it’s going to be a packed event with many different topics, as you just said. Let’s talk about your sponsors now. Over the years, Foxon Media has gained more and more of those.

Who will be sponsoring this year’s event, and how are you hoping those partnerships are going to evolve?

Andrew Kerry 08:48

Yeah, we’re incredibly proud of the growth we’ve seen of our sponsor lineup over the years. It’s a testament not only to the quality of the event, but I think more importantly, a testament to kind of the health and vibrancy of the asset management industry as a whole. And it’s exciting for us to witness.

I think there’s been a real kind of explosion in the number of interesting, innovative technology and solution providers that have entered this space, helping provide solutions to asset managers and we’re kind of thrilled to be a part of it. I think it would be remiss of me to mention kind of one of our major partners being Alpha FMC, who are our diamond sponsor for this event.

At the minute, you can’t not look at the news or kind of anything on social and see what Alpha FMC are doing in the industry. And clearly what they’re doing is working really well. If you’re not familiar, they’re kind of a global leader in asset management consultancy.

I think their involvement in this year’s event underscores the level of expertise that we’re really offering at TSAM New York. The insights that they’re going to be providing are going to be invaluable to our audience, especially when it comes to navigating some of the complex challenges that I kind of mentioned earlier in this podcast that the industry is facing. And they’re kind of one of our newer partners.

It’s also great for us as a business to see partners that have been with us for a number of years. Investnet have been a partner of ours since the dawn of kind of TSAM and have historically always been with us hosting our drink reception, which tech, data, heavy day, everyone needs relaxing time at the end and networking drink reception is always kind of a highlight of that. So we’re really grateful for their involvement.

You kind of asked about how we see these partnerships evolving. I think that the exciting thing we’ve seen over the last couple of years is that these partnerships have become more strategic collaborations. So we’re really focused on building long-term strategic partnerships where our sponsors become integral contributors to the event’s content and thought leadership.

And I think we believe kind of as the industry continues to grow and innovate, our sponsors are going to play an even bigger role in shaping the discussions that will drive the asset management community forward.

Vanja Lakic 11:00

You already talked about some of the major themes. Can you discuss some of the sessions you’re excited about this year and who might we expect will be speaking?

Andrew Kerry 11:09

Yeah, absolutely. I’d love to. It’s a packed agenda. I think touching on some of the things I mentioned, one that would be worth bringing up is kind of Olga Sudvarg. So she’s the COO of Invesco. She’s going to be coming to talk about how AI and data-driven innovations are reshaping the investment management community.

And as I said, AI, everybody wants to talk about it. And the fact that the next name that would probably springs to my mind would be Robi Krempus, who is head of AI at Manulife. The very fact that that job title, head of AI, exists in the asset management space right now tells you how seriously the industry is taking things.

Because that’s a job title that wouldn’t have existed a few years ago. And it’s gone from something that people are courting to people are developing roles to make sure that they are not just keeping pace, but they are getting ahead with this. And he’s going to come and kind of share behind the curtains Manulife’s AI journey and the steps that they’re taking to implement AI on a truly enormous scale.

And probably lastly, I want to mention Mariam Osman. So she’s the COO of BlackRock. And what I like about what she’s come to talk about is she’s going to give us insights into operational due diligence, which operational due diligence as a topic sometimes, previously, it’s almost a tick box exercise.

What I know that kind of the way that it’s been looked at now is that getting this stuff right, becomes a real competitive advantage. It’s not just tick box, it is about ensuring that you run a lean, dynamic business that is staying ahead of the competition. And I think those three sessions will be kind of really, really interesting on the day.

Vanja Lakic 12:59

Oh wow, thank you for that. Yeah, sounds like it’s going to be very interesting and eventful. And as we look ahead to upcoming Foxon Media events, what can we expect will be new and different in the months ahead?

Andrew Kerry 13:12

Well, with that’s what we’re going through right now, we’re kind of in the middle of our planning for kind of our next kind of two years, which is always a frantic time.

But what we’re definitely looking to do is we’re going to deepen our focus on looking at the intersection of technology and human expertise. So whatever event you’re attending from Foxon Media, you’re going to be seeing lots of content around exploring how AI and automation will revolutionize operations, decision-making, client service. We’re going to be getting more involved into kind of data integration and looking at how data can be used effectively within the financial services ecosystem to ensure operational agility and responding to market shifts, which, you know, we’ve all been exposed to market shifts recently, there will be some more.

And again, really drilling down on that client-centric innovation piece and looking at what the leading companies are doing to absolutely delight their clients. So I think our goal remains to stay at the forefront of those industry trends, and providing a platform for asset managers to kind of learn, grow and innovate. And then hopefully soon, we’re able to make an announcement that we’re going to be kind of expanding that because we operate at the moment within our kind of TSAM area.

So providing this for you know, asset managers, primarily middle and back office, but we’ve got some great stuff in the work at the moment to really expand into other areas of financial services over the next 12 to 18 months. So hopefully, I’m able to say a little bit more about that in the next kind of six months. But yeah, it’s exciting times.

And yeah, keeping me busy.

Vanja Lakic 14:47

Oh, that’s excellent. Andrew, thank you so much for joining us today.

This has been great, very insightful. And we look forward to TSAM in New York and the ESG event next week.

Andrew Kerry 15:01

Thanks very much. It’s been a pleasure. And yeah, look forward to seeing the Cognito team at TSAM in New York once again. Take care.

Vanja Lakic 15:07

We’ll be there. Thank you.