Hosted by PwC Channel Islands, the event was aimed at driving the right kind of economic growth for the Island.
Following the publication last month of the Council of Ministers’ Strategic Priorities for the next three years, which highlighted economic growth as a key focus, the event, held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, aimed to build on the partnership between government and business leaders and provide a forum for discussing key growth opportunities for the Island’s financial services industry and wider economy.
A number of the firm’s UK financial services sector leaders, including Dan Schwarzmann, PwC UK executive board member, visited the Island in order to share their insights into opportunities for growth in their sectors and elaborate on why and how these are relevant to Jersey.
Attendees took part in discussions around the table on their specific sector, including real estate, fiduciary, family office, asset management and private equity, in order to identify emerging trends.
In addition, Assistant Chief Minister Senator Philip Ozouf provided an update on Jersey as an international finance centre and gave his perspective on opportunities for good growth in the Island, while States director of financial services Joe Moynihan also played a key role in the discussions.
Commenting on the event, host Brendan McMahon, senior partner at PwC Channel Islands, said: ‘The Jersey Financial Services Policy Framework set out a compelling and distinctive vision for how government and industry look to the future, and at PwC we want to continue in our efforts to help drive the right kind of economic growth for Jersey, ensuring that our Island remains relevant in a changing world.
A YEAR of diverse fundraising activities has seen RBC Wealth Management staff raise the largest amount ever for their 2014 charity of the year, CLIC Sargent Jersey.
RBC staff raised just over £52,000, a record-breaking amount, through a range of activities. These included bake and car boot sales, a World Cup sweepstake, Jersey Marathon sponsorship, charity shopping nights and their most successful venture – Wigs to Work.
CLIC Sargent Jersey has been helping Jersey families since 1974 with support for children or young people with cancer. Working alongside teams at the hospital and other agencies, the charity provides financial and emotional support to affected families and is currently supporting 14 families.
Dee Farrow, chairman of CLIC Sargent Jersey, said that they were delighted to receive the donation. ‘We are absolutely over the moon to receive so much financial support from RBC Wealth Management employees. It will enable us to provide the rapid response that families need, such as helping with unexpected bills. In these coldest months of the year, a child with cancer must be kept warm, so heating bills can rise quite substantially. We will also be able to help with the cost of flights and accommodation for immediate family when a child is having treatment.
‘We have several families who would very much like to see their wider family but have not been able to due to the cost, so hopefully we can help with that. It is fantastic to know we’ll be able to help in instances like this and we’d like to give heartfelt thanks to all the staff at RBC who gave of their time to raise funds for us.’
Julie Simmons, Sports and Social Charity of the Year co-ordinator at RBC Wealth Management, said: ‘Once again, staff really got behind this year’s charity of the year activities. Our most successful fundraising activity was Wigs to Work, which was a real hit with staff, who came into work wearing a range of wigs, including pink and blue, long and short and straight and curly!’
This year, RBC Wealth Management staff have elected to support Mind Jersey.
THE Channel Islands Securities Exchange has formally opened a branch office in St Helier.
With more than 50% of the exchange’s business coming from Jersey, CISE chairman Jon Moulton said he had always been keen to establish a permanent presence in the Island.
‘From the moment I joined the CISE I wanted it to live up to its name, with our business divided between the two islands,’ he said.
The CISE is now holding some board meetings in Jersey.
‘And we are taking that progression forward,’ Mr Moulton added. ‘We want to be a Channel Islands company – not a Jersey company, not a Guernsey company.’
Assistant Chief Minister Philip Ozouf welcomed what he called ‘an important symbolic and real step’ in establishing the small office in the F3 building in Grenville Street.
‘The exchange has begun a new journey and now has the support of a strong and diverse board of Jersey, Guernsey and UK resident directors. May I express the hope that the Exchange becomes a true symbol of what can be achieved by the Channel Islands working together.’
The CISE started life in the islands in St Peter Port as the Channel Islands Stock Exchange in 1998. In late 2013 Mr Moulton led a restructuring of the business and it rebranded as the CISE just before Christmas that year.
New chief executive Fiona Le Poidevin, who used to head Guernsey Finance, now has the completion of that rebrand as one of her projects for this year.
THE Channel Islands Group of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, the body that represents the public relations industry in the UK, has elected a new committee for 2015.
Following its annual general meeting in January, Adam Riddell will serve a second term as chairman, Guy Le Maistre has been reappointed as treasurer and Mark Oliphant retains his role as secretary for a second year. The seven other committee members, covering both Guernsey and Jersey, are Jim Anderson, Harriet Black, Lisa Downes, Leah Dunford, Natasha Egré, John McCarthy and Nichole Sweetsur.
The CIPR Channel Islands Group aims to promote the highest professional standards within the sector and plans to host a number of events over the course of the year for members and non-members, including a ‘Meet the Editor’ series, talks from PR experts on topical communications issues and training courses.
In addition, the group recently announced it would be partnering with the CIM Channel Islands branch for its 2015 Channel Islands Marketing Awards, specifically to support the ‘Best Use of PR’ Award, while the current president of the CIPR, Sarah Pinch, will be a judge for those awards.
Mr Riddell said: ‘The group had a really successful year last year, including hosting a talk on social media for business, which proved to be the best-attended workshop the group has ever held, and I’m excited to maintain this momentum into 2015. It’s the tenth anniversary of the CIPR receiving its charter this year, and we’ll be reflecting that through our programme of events, which will cover everything from crisis and internal communications to technology and ethics, so there will be something of interest for all communications professionals across the islands.
‘As the PR industry continues to evolve it is important that communications professionals are able to clearly demonstrate the positive contribution it makes to the organisations we represent. The CIPR and its regional groups play a vital role in achieving this by educating members about the latest research and best practice to enhance their professionalism.’
