Alec Hogg: Trimming the FAT in financial services has lessons for all businesses
By Alec Hogg
On Friday, Bill and Hillary Clinton submitted their financials to the US's Federal Elections Commission. The world's ultimate Power Couple, now in their late 60s, make most of their money doing keynote speeches – a juicy $30m in the last 16 months, or around $300 000 a talk.
Chicago-based Michael Falk, a hedge fund manager and partner at the Focus Consulting Group, is also in the keynote speaking business. He's popular among SA financial companies – last week was the third time I'd heard him in the past year.
Not sure what PSG Konsult paid Falk, but if they absorbed what he was saying it's surely better value than Billary could have offered this audience. Among his slides was an obese cat smoking a cigar, which he used to show how financial services had gotten FAT – warning those who don't change will become extinct.
The challenges of Fee compression; Alpha scarcity; and damaged Trust (ie FAT) are not easily overcome, says Falk. The solution: get to know your clients better and find out what really matters to them. Advice that travels well to any business in this increasingly competitive world.
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