Recently, at the Jersey Finance Annual General Meeting, I spoke with Jersey Finance Member firms about what I’ve been focussed on in the first 100 days as Chief Executive. As with any new role, I have spent much of my time meeting and getting to know the team, their current plans and priorities for the future. I extend the term, ‘team’ beyond the staff employed at Jersey Finance.

At Home: ‘The Jersey Team’

‘The Jersey Team’ includes our 160 Member firms (all of which I intend to try to meet by the end of the year), colleagues in the Government of Jersey and Jersey’s key stakeholders on-Island.

I’ve listened to in-depth viewpoints about our people and our projects and have gained some vital insights to support me in considering the opportunities – and risks – for the year ahead.

What I found when speaking with our Member firms is the enormous goodwill towards the work of Jersey Finance. From larger multi-jurisdictional firms and smaller companies, to new Jersey Finance Members – all are very appreciative of our efforts in providing news, views, insights and thought-leadership on our international finance centre.

This feedback gave me clear ideas on how Jersey Finance can improve engagement with our diverse membership base. We are proud to work with our key stakeholders to ensure that the best interests of the industry are represented, on legislation, regulation and other key areas of innovation.

Government Relations

Because of my previous role I have the privilege of an existing relationship with the Government of Jersey.  It has been important however to establish a new relationship to ensure we can continue to work closely to support the islands most significant industry, the overall island economy and the government’s strategic priorities.

I have ongoing interactions with our States Members, including a briefing to States Members, in-house political lunches where we discuss our ambitions and our alignment to the Government’s five strategic priorities. This week, for example, we will welcome Jersey’s Minister of Education, Senator Tracey Vallois, to discuss the future of our Island’s younger generation.

Reaching Out: Clear Connections

I have also met with key stakeholders in Government’s arm’s length organisations. These vital relationships will only enhance the opportunities for mutually aligned projects and encourage innovation in areas, such as attracting visitors to the Island with Visit Jersey, collaborating on Fintech work with Digital Jersey, and working with Jersey Business and Locate Jersey in growing the economy. However, there is always scope for greater alignment and we will work hard to achieve this.

Global Connections

Looking outside of Jersey, our business development (BD) and overseas work continues to flourish in our key markets. We have in place a fantastic BD team, now up to full complement with the recent appointment of two business development directors in the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC).

Closer to home, my trips to London have included opportunities to build my relationships with bodies such as the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA), independent macroeconomic research firm Capital Economics and TheCityUK who are the equivalent of Jersey Finance in the UK.

In September, the Jersey Finance team will be in London to host our flagship annual funds and private wealth conferences (now open for registrations). I’m certain the diverse and topical discussions we have in store at both conferences will attract high numbers, as they do each year.

Further west, I was in New York this month for funds-focussed events organised by our Funds Director, Elliot Refson, which gave me the opportunity to meet various key contacts in advance of the Jersey Finance office opening this autumn.

Moving east, in September I will visit our Dubai IFC office to spend time with the BD team and meet key contacts there. I also plan to travel to Hong Kong for the tenth anniversary celebrations of Jersey Finance’s office in November.

Future Connections

For the rest of 2019, my aim is to continue to engage Jersey Finance Members, the Government of Jersey, arm’s length organisations and the Jersey Finance team. There’s some great work happening now not least of all in working to enhance Jersey’s reputation at home and abroad further. In my view, this can only be achieved by working together and I looking forward to leading Jersey Finance on this journey.