Cork, leading next wave of IFS development in Ireland

Karen Conboy, Chair of the Cork Financial Services Forum comments on Cork’s growing IFS sector

Ireland is a significant global financial services centre, and the international financial services (IFS) sector has never been more important to the Irish economy.

Cork has established itself as the second city for IFS in Ireland. Much of the activity in the sector here happens away from the high street, in areas such as fund administration, payments, insurance and increasingly, fintech and digital solutions. The city is home to numerous prominent global IFS firms such as BNY Mellon, Clearstream/Deutsche Borse indigenous innovators like Valid8me as well as professional services firms boasting specialised teams dedicated to financial services.

As chair of the Cork Financial Services Forum, I was delighted to welcome a full house to the Clayton in Cork for our recent showcase event which focused on ‘Leading through Disruption’, considering the future of the alternative funds sector and the evolving role of technologies including AI in IFS.

As well as Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath TD, we were joined by global speakers who all reflected on the significant technological and regulatory changes that are setting the agenda for IFS at present. This level of disruption brings challenges but also opportunities. New ways of working with AI, data and analytics and digitalisation means that the next generation of financial services jobs will be more technology led and require a different skill set to traditional roles.

The thriving fintech and cybersecurity clusters in the region give Cork an opportunity to become a hub for tech-based innovation that meet the changing needs of sophisticated IFS companies. Collaborations between start ups and established IFS companies, fintechs and regulated businesses are all part of solving the complex needs of the global financial services market.

The ambition for Cork-based companies to be the provider of some of these solutions can be facilitated by the continued pipeline of talent from fintech relevant disciplines and IFS specialist courses provided by UCC and MTU. The Forum is actively supporting the next generation of talent that is already working here in FS roles, through the establishment of an Emerging Leaders Taskforce in the past six months.

Cork should be in the vanguard of the next wave of IFS development in Ireland. There is a compelling mix of existing IFS expertise, fintech and innovation capabilities and IFS specific educational offerings in the ecosystem here to support this ambition. Standing still is not an option.