What does the financial services business of the future look like? It’s 2023. We’re in an age of artificial intelligence, digital data and supercomputers. So, er, why is the financial services industry still using pens, paper and post?  In this episode, Olga is joined by global futurist and innovation strategist Anders Sorman-Nilsson, who says the industry is doing too much menial and mundane work. He talks about what the successful financial services business of tomorrow looks like and how they’ll be using technology to make a more meaningful difference to people and the planet. iress.com/upfront

What will make financial services a sector where people want to work and stay? The lack of diversity in financial services is putting people off joining the industry - brilliant people who could be bringing much-needed skills, new ideas and different perspectives to the sector. In this episode, Olga is joined by renowned financial adviser and TV personality Emmanuel Asuquo. He talks about his experience joining the industry as a young black man from a council estate in East London, what inspired him to become the success he is today and the change he wants to see happen. iress.com/upfront

Who will take one for the team for a better, fairer financial system? Financial services and technology are moving fast. But stop. We need to pause and ask ourselves what we’re really doing, and who for, otherwise we risk not making progress at all. In this episode, Olga is joined by Adah Parris, a creative provocateur who helps people see the world differently. She wants financial institutions to get out of their echo chambers, ask some big questions and start building a new world. But first, someone’s got to step off the hamster wheel - fast. iress.com/upfront https://adahparris.com/

What is the future of work? It’s the question everyone wants the answer to. Has anyone got it right yet? The jury’s out. One thing’s for sure, we all want to work smarter, not longer.  In this episode, Olga is joined by Charlotte Lockhart, co-founder of 4 Day Week Global. She talks about why a focus on productivity, not time, can help us all be happier, healthier and more successful. Anne-Marie Lister, Chief People Officer at Atom Bank, also joins in to talk about their new approach to work. iress.com/upfront

Can responsible investing change the world? It’s going to take $2.5 trillion to solve the world’s societal and environmental problems. Financial services have the means to help, but first, the industry must ask itself some big and difficult questions. One man who’s not afraid to ask those questions is James Perry, an entrepreneur and founder of ethical investment company Snowball. He talks to Olga Koch about ripping up the rule book in an episode that will change the way you think about investment and returns. iress.com/upfront

Do financial services need to lighten up? Everyone loves a deal, and this time, you’re getting two for one as Olga is joined by fellow stand-up comedian and consumer champion Vix Leyton. In this episode, Olga and Vix find the funny in everything from car insurance to student bank accounts and badly-advised store cards. They share their experiences of playing fast and loose with pensions, impressing financial advisers and mixing financial services with comedy. iress.com/upfront

How can financial services fight AI-based cybercrime? Deep fakes and voice cloning are being used in increasingly sophisticated and nefarious ways, raising questions about what’s real and who we can trust. In this episode, comedian Olga Koch is joined by Skeeve Stevens, ex-hacker and founder of The Future Crime Agency. He talks about new cybersecurity threats, old spy techniques, fighting fire with fire, and what terrifies and excites him about the advance of AI in financial services. Brace yourself. iress.com/upfront

How do we stop imposter syndrome getting in the way of success? 70% of people get imposter syndrome and it also negatively impacts organisations, particularly in high-performance cultures like financial services. In this episode, comedian Olga Koch is joined by confidence coach, Alison Shamir. She talks about why imposter syndrome must be tackled and shares three steps to defeat it plus some advice every employer needs to hear. iress.com/upfront 

How do we get more people to understand the importance of financial planning? Making a financial decision is scientifically proven to be one of the hardest things for a human to do. We just can’t get our heads round it, so we bury them in the sand instead. In this episode, comedian Olga Koch is joined by one of the UK’s leading behavioural economists, Mark Pittaccio (Quilter). He talks about why good people make bad decisions and shares some clever mind-tricks financial advisers can use to help clients empathise with their future selves. Visit the Upfront blog - iress.com/upfront

What would Don Draper do to promote financial advice? Not enough people seek financial advice. Most think it’s only for the wealthy and don’t fully understand all the services a financial adviser can provide. Sounds to us like a classic marketing problem. In this episode, comedian Olga Koch is joined by Kevin Chesters, a creative strategist who’s worked at some of the most famous and feared advertising agencies. He has some straight-talking marketing advice to help financial services businesses get noticed. Visit the Upfront blog -  iress.com/upfront

Listen up, punks! The award-winning, hard-hitting financial services podcast from Iress is back. Comedian Olga Koch returns to ask the questions that nobody else is asking in a series of bold and frank conversations that everyone in financial services needs to hear. Could we close the advice gap by thinking more creatively? Can Homer Simpson get more people interested in financial planning? What would an ex-hacker do to fight rising financial crime? Do we need to completely rethink investing? And just how do we make the financial system better and fairer? Expect honesty, expect humour. Just don’t expect it to sound like any other financial services podcast. The first episode of Season 2 releases on Wednesday 5th July, and then every two weeks from then. Subscribe to Upfront so you never miss one. Get in touch at upfront@iress.com and visit the blog at iress.com/upfront. Upfront is a 10-part series from Iress, the people behind the world-leading financial services software. Find us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iress/ and at www.iress.com

What if your grocery store became your bank? Or your retirement fund merged with your favourite clothing retailer? These are the sort of non-obvious questions financial services businesses need to be asking if they want to be part of the future. But with so much innovation and change going on, we’ve got a big question too: How can financial services keep up in a faster world? So buckle-up buttercup as we take you on a journey to the (near) future with world-renowned trends expert Rohit Bhargava. He joins the Upfront podcast to talk about how businesses can be more resilient and lead the future with a little more non-obvious thinking. Where do you see yourself in the future? Tell us at upfront@iress.com.  Get bonus content from this episode including more from Rohit plus our guide to keeping up in a faster world on the upfront blog at iress.com/upfront. 

For a lot of financial services businesses, data got no game. Meanwhile, other industries have found ways to turn data collection and analysis into a serious competitive advantage. Out on the sports field, performance analytics are enabling athletes and coaches to reach peak performance, helping teams win and getting fans closer to the action. In this episode, comedian Olga Koch takes one for the team by asking: Can data get financial services to the top of their game? Joining her is Adir Shiffman executive MD of Catapult Sports and Andrew Walsh CEO of financial technology company Iress for a fun and frank chat about the game-changing potential of data.  What sexy stuff are you doing with data? Tell us at upfront@iress.com.  Get bonus content from this episode including more from Adir and Andrew plus our guide to doing great things with data on the upfront blog at iress.com/upfront.

It’s estimated that globally, almost a third of the adult population lacks access to financial services. That’s a lot of people missing out on all the good the industry can do. And it could be doing so much good - better access to financial services would help more people out of poverty, improve health and wellbeing, education and help address gender equality. Fintech is helping make financial services more affordable and easier to access, but is it also creating new barriers where old ones have been torn down? Governments want a solution to the financial inclusion problem, but what exactly is the solution? In this episode, we ask the Upfront question: How can financial services be more inclusive? Answering that is researcher, policy adviser and professor of fintech Dr Karen Elliott, who joins comedian Olga Koch for a frank talk about building accessible, ethical and inclusive financial services that more people can love. What are you doing to be more inclusive? Tell us at upfront@iress.com.  Get bonus content from this episode, including more from Dr Karen plus our guide to being authentically inclusive on the upfront blog at iress.com/upfront.

Being a successful financial services business takes almost superhuman powers. You need the super speed of Flash to innovate and get products and services to market faster. Hulk’s exponential strength to handle the regulation that’s thrown at you. The elastic resilience of Mister Fantastic in the face of constant disruption and change. And the agility of Spider-Man to exceed consumer expectations. Not to mention an Alfred or Q by your side to help you keep up with technology. If it’s all starting to feel like mission impossible, we’re here to save the day. So, Upfront listeners assemble as we ask: How can financial services find their superpower? John Winters, the co-founder and CEO of the leading Australian investment platform Superhero, joins comedian Olga Koch to talk risk, resilience, innovation and building a business people love.  What’s your superpower? Tell us at upfront@iress.com.  Get bonus content from this episode, including more from John plus our guide to finding your superpower on the upfront blog at iress.com/upfront.

The under-25s are fuelling disruption in financial services and flipping the switch on how things get done. An emerging battleground for growth, Zoomers will soon make up 40% of the population and could become the wealthiest generation yet.  But how can the financial services industry, more familiar with dealing with Gen-Z’s parents and grandparents, connect with this digitally native, social-media-obsessed generation?  Are financial services ready for Gen-Z? Chartered financial planner and award-winning content creator Martin Bamford joins comedian Olga Koch to talk tactics and ways to engage the next generation of investors and planners.  How are you connecting with Gen-Z? Tell us at upfront@iress.com.  Get bonus content from this episode, including more from Martin plus our guide to doing social media on the upfront blog at iress.com/upfront.

Clients. Markets. Products. Regulation. Technology. More regulation. Arrrrgh! Financial services businesses sure do have a lot to keep up with. Is stepping back and hitting reset ever an option? Look at successful startups - they’re usually led by people who’ve had a chance to step back, stop, rethink and then make a move. That’s tricky to do in an established business where long-term thinking can give way to pressures that come from short-term targets - like getting new customers through the door. So what can you do? How do you stop and reset in an industry that is always on the move? Executive life coach Jason Bernic joins Olga Koch to talk about finding the time, vision and guts to stop and change what you’re doing today for a chance at something even bigger tomorrow.  Which leaders in financial services inspire you? Tell us at upfront@iress.com.  Get bonus content from this episode including more from Jason plus his tips on how to lead a financial services business people love on the upfront blog at iress.com/upfront.

It’s a fact that people would rather talk about sex, politics or their mental health than money. Could this be why 24 million UK adults don’t feel confident managing their money, or why 85% of Australians don’t have a financial plan? Research shows that if we talked more about our finances, we’d all make better decisions, feel less stressed and more in control. Our kids would also be more likely to form good lifetime money habits. So it begs the question: Why would people rather talk about anything but their finances? Financial wellness coach and author of How to Save It, Bola Sol, joins comedian Olga Koch for a frank and fearless conversation about our weird relationship with money and why understanding it could help the financial services industry out.   How can we get more people talking about finance? Share your ideas with us at upfront@iress.com.  Get bonus content from this episode including more from Bola plus some tips to help you have a better relationship with your customers on the upfront blog at iress.com/upfront.

Can the customer experience offered by financial services ever rival that of our favourite apps and services or will innovation always be limited by rules and regulation? Or, in other words: Does the financial services experience suck? That's the upfront question for product design experts Josh Guest, CEO at digital design consultancy Transpire, and Amir Ansari, head of product design at financial technology company Iress. In this episode they talk to comedian Olga Koch about their most amusing and frustrating customer experiences and the secret to building financial services experiences people truly love. What's been your best and worst financial services experience? Share it at upfront@iress.com.  Get bonus content from the episode including more from our guests plus our guide to creating a financial servcies experience people love on the upfront blog at iress.com/upfront.  

No one should have to use a dictionary to decode investment advice or need a PhD to understand a pension or super statement. So why is the language of financial services still such a mystery? Upfront asks: How can we make financial services more accessible to everyone? Julia Newbold, former editor of Money Magazine Australia, and Charlie Corbett, director at the Plain Speaking Institute UK, give us their no-bullsh*t views on the language of financial services and provide advice on how the industry can be more helpful to more people. What's your opinion on the language of financial services? Tell us at upfront@iress.com. Get bonus content from this episode - including our free guide to building a financial services business that speaks to people. on the upfront blog: iress.com/upfront. Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iress/  

Take a quick trip around the online world of financial services, and it gets hard to differentiate one wealth manager or investment bank from the next. There’s a lot of blue. Blue logos. Blue websites. Blue ties. And let’s not forget the men in blue suits! Upfront asks: Do financial services have to be so predictable? Michael Gough, Strategy Director at brand and design agency Sparks, and Julia Streets, CEO at Streets Consulting, give us their take on that question. Find out what financial services businesses need to do to become more distinctive and memorable and why connecting with younger, more diverse communities will help the industry solve one of its biggest challenges. Do you think financial services are predictable? Tell us at upfront@iress.com. In the mood for more? Get extra content from the episode - including more from our guests plus our free guide to building a financial services business that stands out. Head straight to the Upfront blog: iress.com/upfront. Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iress/

This is Upfront. The podcast hosted by comedian Olga Koch that features bold and frank conversations about what's right - and wrong - with financial services today. Subscribe and follow now so you never miss an episode and tell us about your experiences of working in the industry at upfront@iress.com and get even more Upfront with us on the blog iress.com/upfront