Chief executive officers down under are bullish on growth, but still see work to do on trust and regulation.
Australian Financial Services CEO's are optimistic about their growth prospects, yet are concerned about growing regulatory burdens and maintaining and building trust, according to analysis released by PwC and the Financial Services Council (FSC).
PwC and the FSC polled Australian-based CEOs representing the insurance, superannuation, funds and wealth management industries and associated sectors on their views on issues including growth, regulation, trust, talent and innovation.
Trust Issues Remain
82 percent of the CEO's polled are feeling confident of growth over next 24 months, with nearly half (47 percent) nominating building or restoring trust as critical to their agenda over the same period. Issues around regulation also ranked highly on CEO agendas.
«The findings of the report align with what we’ve been hearing from our members in that they’re confident of growth but getting it, and meeting an ever-rising regulatory bar, is going to be tough. It’s also encouraging to see that the restoration of trust is high on CEO agendas,» said Sally Loane, FSC CEO.
Rapidly Changing Regulatory Environment
A perceived increasing regulatory compliance burden was nominated as the top area of concern facing the industry, ahead of investment market performance, and low economic growth.
40 percent of the CEOs surveyed said the rapidly changing regulatory environment is increasing the risk of their organisation not complying with relevant laws and regulations.
