Month: December 2016

Honner’s exchange program connects specialist PR minds across the globe

Posted on by admHonWpAdm

This year, Honner’s Senior Account Manager Kate Miller spent a week with one of our global agency partners in Hong Kong, Ryan Communication, as part of our GFC/NET exchange program.

The program is an initiative between members of the Global Financial Communication Network (GFC/Net) to provide an opportunity for staff to spend a week abroad and see how like-minded agencies operate in different geographies.

During her time with Ryan Communication, Kate took part in many of the team’s day-to-day activities, getting a feel for PR in the dynamic Asian market. She also spent time with various team members sharing insights and looking for opportunities for Honner to enhance processes as well as identify areas for further agency collaboration.

“I really enjoyed my week with Ryan Communication and I was grateful for their incredible hospitality. PR and communications continue to evolve rapidly, with digital innovation driving seriously fast change and a constant need to reconsider the rules of engagement,” Kate said.

“Getting to look at communications from a different perspective provided a great chance to reflect upon the way we do things and how we can continue to adapt and grow.”

GFC/NET is a specialist financial and corporate communications network, bringing together leading independent PR consultancies in the world’s major financial markets.

With agencies across the globe, GFC/Net enables boutique, specialists like Honner to share and learn best practice approaches to communications. It also means we can leverage global insights and contacts across the spectrum of financial PR and public policy campaigns.

The network also hosts an annual GFC/Net Annual General Meeting, where senior representatives from the agencies share insights to support business growth and improved outcomes for our clients.

We work closely with our GFC/NET partners across several international clients. For example, Honner collaborates with international partners on clients including TH Real Estate, Legg Mason and Liquidnet. Such collaboration enables us to build communications programs that deliver a consistent presence for brands across international markets and leverage opportunities in a range of geographic locations.

Honner has also recently announced our membership of a new global collaboration, the Fintech Global PR Network.

If you want to hear more about our GFC/Net affiliation, then please email Honner.

What are the biggest opportunities for Australia’s $2.7 trillion financial services sector in 2017?

Posted on by admHonWpAdm

In the final Financial Services Council/ BT political series event of the year, Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull outlined his government’s top economic priorities for 2017.

Mr Turnbull reinforced the Federal Government’s belief and commitment to Australia’s $2.7 trillion financial services sector, which now accounts for around 10 per cent of the economy and employs more than 450,000 people.

Here are our key takeaways from the event:

    • Building a robust financial services sector – Two years on from the Financial System Inquiry a range of reforms are underway to make sure the financial services sector is as “robust and responsive” as it can be. Turnbull stressed that the reforms are a critical part of his government’s plan for a “resilient and prosperous 21st Century Australia.

 

    • We cannot afford to take growth for granted – Last week’s national accounts outcome was a sharp reminder that things can quickly change. GDP fell by 0.5 per cent in the September quarter, to be 1.8 per cent higher across the year. Turnbull stressed that although the growth rate is faster than six of the G7 economies, the figures reinforce the importance of structural and regulatory reform “if we are to protect and advance the living standards of all Australians.”

 

    • Ensuring the sustainability, flexibility, and integrity of our superannuation system – Commenting on the super changes passed by Parliament last month, Turnbull noted how few changes and amends were made to the bill in what he described as a “very complex area.” The PM also reiterated the Productivity Commission’s review of the entire system’s efficiency and competitiveness. Stage two of the review, due next year will consider alternative models of fund allocation, and stage three, following the full implementation of the MySuper reforms in July 2017, will complete the process. Turnbull added that his government will “enshrine in legislation, for the first time, the objective of the superannuation system to provide income in retirement that substitutes or supplements the age pension.”

 

    • Professional standards for financial advisers – Turnbull stated that new reforms will see more stringent training and supervision around financial advice so that “consumers can have confidence in the industry and confidence that the advisers they speak with are ethical and qualified and are putting their interests first.”

 

    • $127 million regulation package – Tackling regulatory issues the Prime Minister said the package will equip ASIC to conduct better surveillance and combat misconduct. It will also tackle cultural change within the banks and review of the role, powers and governance of all of the financial system’s external dispute resolution and complaints schemes – all with the aim of producing better outcomes for consumers and small businesses.

 

    • Enormous potential for financial sector to be among our greatest exports – Australia has one of the largest and most sophisticated managed funds industries in the world, yet Turnbull noted that exports from this industry are among the country’s lowest. Less than four per cent of the funds under management in Australia are managed on behalf of foreign investors. The Prime Minister explained the introduction of Corporate Investment Vehicles (CIVs) which will enable Australian fund managers “to offer products that foreign investors are already familiar with, making it easier for our funds managers to export more of their services.” Turnbull said this would complement the work being carried out on the Asia Region Funds Passport – allowing Australia’s industry “to access a single market, with high standards of investor protection right across the Asia region.

 

  • Fintech to flourish – Technology and innovation were major themes of Turnbull’s address so it comes as no surprise that Fintech was also singled out as a major opportunity for Australia’s financial services sector. The Prime Minister stressed his government was committed to working with the industry to make sure regulation enables innovation, rather than constraining it.