For the past 25 years, PwC have been partnering with the CBI to produce this quarterly Financial Services Survey.
The latest survey results tell us that, overall, the decline in optimism is slowing down, although it remains at its lowest point since 2008. Operating costs are up as a result of a combination of regulations compliance and investment in IT, which is in turn having an impact on profitability.
Employment numbers are up overall and look set to stabilise over the next three months. Higher levels of spend on training indicate that people are still a focus for businesses and we’re beginning to see a new shape of workforce emerging, supported by automation.
We’re also seeing an increase in IT investment. Capital expenditure is the highest we’ve seen in the past 12 months, as companies focus on creating efficiencies and speed.
Technology is also helping to enhance customer experience and create new opportunities for growth within existing customer bases across financial services. We’re seeing less marketing spend in favour of investment in digitising and diversifying existing products and improving services.
You can read the full survey results here.
