Origo – Four of our proudest achievements in 2021
Antony Rafferty, CEO of Origo, reflects on four of the Edinburgh-based FinTech’s key achievements over the past year.
While 2021 has been another year that most people are probably glad to see the back of, as this time of year is traditional a period when we take a step back and reflect, I feel as a company we should take the time to consider what we have achieved.
Origo has a 30-year history of delivering technology solutions that make a difference to the financial services industry and to the consumers buying its products and services. Our expertise is in identifying the pain points for the providers, platforms, software companies, and financial advisers in the market and delivering a utility solution that solves the issue and whicheveryone can buy into.
We are proudly based in Edinburgh, but we work collaboratively with companies from the UK and overseas in delivering our industry solutions.
This year there are four areas I would like to highlight where, despite the pandemic, we have been able to help the industry become more efficient, more cost effective and as a result, help deliver better outcomes for consumers.
1. Being selected to build and run the core architecture of the UK Pensions Dashboards.
This year Origo was delighted to be able to announce that Capgemini and Origo had been appointed to supply the central digital architecture for the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP).
Pensions Dashboards will enable pension holders to identify and see displayed their pension policy data, which will help them make more informed decisions around their retirement planning.
This is a project we feel particularly passionate about and Origo was fully committed to progressing pensions dashboards from the day the project was announced. We see it as a major milestone in helping UK citizens to prepare for their futures.
PDP stated that the Capgemini/Origo bid was successful “due to its quality and value for money, plus the credibility and expertise of both parties to deliver the contract.”
2. Driving integration between systems and software.
One of the bugbears of our industry is that systems and software needed to run financial services businesses do not talk to one another and so force the re-keying or manual transfer of data and information between them. Not only does that increase risk to businesses but it makes for inefficient, overly time consuming and so costly operations. The solution is to integrate between companies and systems. In the past that has meant point-to-point integration between individual companies, which is expensive, resource heavy and requires ongoing maintenance and updating as rules, regulation and legislation changes.
As an industry solution, we launched the Origo Integration Hub, which enables participants to integrate once with the Hub and then operate with any other user. Currently, these arefor key operations, such as valuations, account opening, remuneration, transfer tracking and bulk transaction history, and further developments are in hand.
The Hub also helps drive competition and innovation, by levelling the playing field for all players, no matter how deep their pockets.
In 2021 signings to the Hub doubled and we now have over 40 companies integrated, from large providers to innovative new joiners to the market.
3. Doing away with inefficient paper-based systems.
Given we are in the 21st century, it is surprising that paper is still used to the extent that it is in our industry. While tackling operational inefficiencies has not been top of the priority list for financial services firms during the pandemic, for obvious reasons, this is now beginning to receive renewed focus amongst providers as they see it as a means to reduce costs and create operational differentiation in the market.
The Letter of Authority process, which is the way financial advisers notify providers that they are authorised to work with new clients, is a case in point. Currently, advisers have to manually fill in forms and have them signed by the client and then email, or in some cases fax them, to providers. Origo is making a dent in this with our Unipass Letter of Authorityservice, a way for providers to help simplify the current ad hoc way Letters of Authority are processed, creating a utility that delivers greater efficiencies for providers and adviser firms alike.
4. Keeping communications secure.
Cyber security has definitely risen up the priority list for financial services firms in 2021. As an industry we are handling huge amounts of personal and confidential information about individuals, which, if it falls into the hands of criminals, can be used to scam them or steal their identities. This can lead to devastating consequences for individuals as well as fines and reputational damage for the companies involved.
One of the most commonly used ways to communicate, i.e. email, is often the most vulnerable. This vulnerability is why we launched Unipass Mailock as a centralised industry utility to help businesses of all sizes secure their communications.
It encrypts email to keep the contents safe, combined with dual factor authentication, so the sender knows only the intended recipient can open it, and an audit trail is created for compliance purposes.
Two of the industry’s larger providers ”“ Aegon and Royal London ”“ started using Unipass Mailock in the past year to protect their communications with intermediaries and their clients and other companies are in the pipeline to go live.
These are four of our achievements over the past year. We arenot a large company and all that we have achieved is because of the dedication and expertise of our people, who, working together, physically and virtually, have done great things despite the pandemic.
If you haven’t done it already, I highly recommend taking a step back and contemplating your achievements this year. 2021 may not have provided the best environment for success but I will bet you will find you’ve achieved more than you think you have.
Edinburgh named as one of the UK’s leading tech cities
Edinburgh has been named as a UK’s leading tech cities in the UK thanks to its combination of high levels of VC funding, available tech job, advertised tech salaries, number of current and future high-growth tech companies, according to new analysis for the UK’s Digital Economy Council.
Rewarding skilled tech talents
In Edinburgh, skilled tech talent can see job offers with salaries averaging £58,405 for a new role. This is the highest in the UK outside of London and the South East. There are now over 2,000 tech job vacancies in the city, an increase of 85% since last year.
Sandy McKinnon, Partner at Pentech Ventures, said:
“Edinburgh has steadily been growing as a tech hub over the past few years and this list recognises that. The combination of world-class universities, established IT businesses and unicorns like Skyscanner and FanDuel means there is a lot of exciting talent and innovation in the city. We’re seeing this with newcomers like TravelNest, Desana, Amiqus, Biomage and many others that are disrupting traditional industries – there really is so much potential around the city.”
Investment
Tech companies in Edinburgh have raised £117 million through 47 venture rounds, the second highest number of rounds in the UK. These include health tech Current Health (£32.5), foodtech Parsley Box (£17m), and tidal energy company Nova Innovation (£6.4m).
30% of new unicorns created this year I the UK are established outside of London, including Interactive Investor in Glasgow.
Digital Minister Chris Philp said:
“It’s brilliant to see Edinburgh ranking in the top five regional cities for UK tech, with innovative Scottish startups helping tackle some of the world’s major challenges.
“Capitalising on this brilliant growth across the whole of the UK is part of our mission to level up and we are supporting Scottish companies with pro-innovation policies to help people and get the skills they need.”
Levelling Up Power Tech League 2021:
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Cambridge
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Manchester
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Oxford
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Edinburgh
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Bristol
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Leeds
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Birmingham
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Newcastle
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Cardiff
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Belfast
Photo by saifullah hafeel from Pexels
An end of year “Thank You” message from our CEO
As we come to the end of 2021 and look forward to 2022, we’re reflecting on the year and are hugely proud of what’s been happening across Scotland’s FinTech Cluster. Despite the continuing challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic we’ve seen fintech SME Growth, both in number of businesses and in terms of scale, we’ve seen record levels of investment in Scottish fintech SME’s, a true testament to the calibre of the businesses and leaders who continue to inspire us day on day.
The past twelve months have also seen more international growth with up to 50% of Scotland’s fintech SME’s building plans for international trade and more global businesses locating to Scotland as they establish a UK base.
We’ve also had the Kalifa review of UK fintech acknowledge the established progress of Scotland’s FinTech Cluster, and we’re looking forward to supporting the implementation of the Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review led by Mark Logan and building a plan to enable Scotland’s future digital economy.
The FinTech Scotland festival provided us all with an opportunity to meet again face to face and if we needed it, it reinforced the energy, optimism, diversity of contribution and breadth of collaboration that contribute to our fintech successes. A highlight for all of us in the FinTech Scotland team were the hybrid and in person events, kicking off with the DIGIT FinTech summit and ending with the Times and Futurescot event where we welcomed the UK regional fintech clusters to Scotland in the Accelerating UK FinTech conference.
During 2021 we have seen a growth in climate fintech, with new fintech SME’s starting to develop businesses to help address the impact of climate change and support the journey to net-zero, as well as established fintech SME’s expanding their existing capabilities to tackle this important issue. I have no doubt we’ll see more of this in 2022 and we’re looking forward to doing more to stimulate and accelerate climate fintech in Scotland.
With the establishment of the Scotland fintech SME advisory Board we have a clear plan on fintech SME priorities for 2022, and it is a privilege to work with these dedicated leaders who have come together aligned behind the vision of economic, social, and sustainable growth across the FinTech Scotland Cluster.
Looking forward to 2022 we’re focused on supporting fintech SME’s to scale and grow, strengthening international connections, building more impactful fintech collaborations and deliberately driving more fintech Research and Innovation (R&I) in Scotland and across the UK. We plan to launch the FinTech Scotland R&I roadmap early in 2022. It’s a plan that pulls together industry R&I priorities as we ask ourselves, what should finance look like in 10 years-time, and it provides us with a framework to lead the answers to that important question.
In drawing to a close, I’d like to say thank you to everyone that’s supported the FinTech Scotland Cluster across 2021. I’m continually reminded of the privilege it is, to know you and work with you in our collective efforts to lead and achieve our ambitions for fintech in Scotland. I’d also like to say a special word of thanks to the brilliant team at FinTech Scotland. I see their energy, commitment and drive everyday and it’s a pleasure to work them.
My final note is to wish you all a happy and healthy 2022 and we’ll look forward to seeing you all next year as we continue to build on our plans and drive the FinTech Scotland Cluster.
Hays and FinTech Scotland partner to address demand for tech talent
Recruiting expert Hays has formed a strategic partnership with FinTech Scotland, the cluster management organisation which enables collaborative innovation in the financial services sector.
The move is aimed at ensuring a healthy pipeline of tech talent as new research shows that nine of the top 20 salary increases in Scotland for 2021 are related to the fintech (financial technology’) sector, highlighting an increased demand for such roles. With Hays’ global network, the partnership will also play a vital role in helping Scottish fintechs expand abroad.
The research, according to the Hays Salary & Recruiting Trends Guide 2022, shows that security architects saw a salary increase in 2021 of 17.3%, the highest increase within Scotland’s top twenty, whilst DevOps (IT development and operations) roles saw an above average increase of 10%.
To address the demand for niche talent in fintech, Hays’ specialist division, Hays Technology, will support the Scottish fintech cluster in recruiting for skills in fields such as cyber security, mobile banking, cloud applications, AI and blockchain solutions.
Justin Black, director of Hays Technology in Scotland, said:
“Clearly, the high demand for tech roles that we’ve seen in recent years continues and salaries are increasingly rising as a result. This is great news for Scotland which is the largest fintech hub after London. But we need to make sure that the talent pipeline is sufficiently healthy to fulfil the demand going forward.
“Through our recruitment knowledge, best practice and global network, we will be able to inform FinTech Scotland’s strategy, ensuring that the demand for fintech skills is met, and maintained, with a healthy talent stream.”
Nicola Anderson, chief executive of FinTech Scotland, commented:
“Since we launched FinTech Scotland in 2018, we’ve been working closely with Skills Development Scotland, Scottish universities, businesses and government agencies to ensure that skills providers are meeting the needs of tomorrow’s financial community.
“Having access to Hays’ extensive knowledge and data research on how best to attract the required skills makes them an ideal partner to help us fulfil our objectives, whether it’s for start-ups, scale-ups or established organisations.”
The research from Hays also shows that nearly two-thirds of employers in Scotland have increased salaries this year, with 71% planning to do so again over the next 12 months.
Other roles within the top 20 salary increases are in engineering, marketing and procurement which are also skills sought after by innovative fintech firms. Overall, salaries across Scotland increased by 2.6% in 2021.
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Bearer and Trace announce industry partnership
Bearer, the Data security risk platform, has partnered with Trace, a privacy, data security and data governance expert solutions company, to help companies leverage the best of services and software and build a connected compliance programme.
The Trace team brings decades of experience in working with companies to build their data security and data governance capability and apply a proactive Privacy by Design approach. And at Bearer, the team are innovating data risk assessments to build intelligence and stack visibility – meaning customers can scale inventories and surface critical data risks.
Together the teams bring the best blend of human and tech capabilities to help progressive organisations connect the dots for joined up data security, privacy and risk programmes.
“We have been working with Sorcha, and Trace for a number of months now and from the outset, what struck us was her deep expertise in the field while at the same time a fresh perspective that immediately connected with what we do at Bearer. By working together we believe we can offer the industry a very different outlook and bring together a new direction for data security in general.”
Guillaume Montard, CEO Bearer
“Holistic is a word much used – and abused – in this area, but we really are taking that as our North Star in creating this partnership. Together with Bearer, we’re on a mission to break privacy, governance and security out of the silo and help build connected compliance across the ecosystem. We’re going to help organisations properly embed data protection compliance properly so that it informs and enriches everything they do.”
Sorcha Lorimer, Founder Trace
Trace and Bearer’s partnership will kick-off with a complimentary clinic where attendees can pose real life dilemmas to our lead experts. This is ideal for FinTech leaders looking for a fresh perspective on data risk and compliance.
A white paper proposing solutions to some of the most pressing data compliance issues facing organisations will follow, sponsored by the Bearer Data-Sec Lab and community.
AutoRek listed in RegTech100 List
Scottish RegTech company, AutoRek, just announced it has been selected as one of the world’s most innovative RegTech companies as part of the annual RegTech100 list.
Autorek was selected amongst a long list of nearly 1,200 companies produced by RegTech Analyst, a specialist research firm, for its innovative use of technology to solve a significant industry problem and generating efficiency improvements across the compliance function.
The Scottish company is a financial controls, regulatory reporting and data management platform which provides complete and seamless control of data. Despite the pandemic.
Kemal Sangrar, Head of Product, AutoRek, said
“We are delighted to be listed in the RegTech100 for the fourth consecutive year. This award is recognition of our commitment in delivering regulatory reporting solutions to the financial services industry and testimony to innovative strategy underpinning our product. We have had a great year with the launch of AutoRek 6, with many clients looking to upgrade in the coming months.”
Mariyan Dimitrov, Director of Research, RegTech Analyst, added,
“Banks and other financial institutions are investing heavily into AI capabilities to automate highly manual regulatory tasks, support digital onboarding processes and monitor for fraudulent activity. The RegTech100 list helps them filter through all the vendors in the market by highlighting the leading companies in sectors such as identity verification, risk management, communications monitoring, information security and financial crime prevention.”
A full list of the RegTech 100 is available at www.RegTech100.com.
Clearwater Analytics’ IPO Fuels Global Expansion
Clearwater Analytics is on a mission to revolutionise the world of investing.
For more than 15 years, Clearwater Analytics has provided a true SaaS solution for investment accounting and reporting that’s now trusted by more than 1,000 clients worldwide, including institutional investors in insurance, asset management, corporate treasury, the public sector, and more.
In September, Clearwater took an important step in furthering that mission through an IPO. The company is now listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CWAN.
Although this is an exciting achievement for the company, in many ways it’s business as usual at Clearwater. Clearwater has always prioritisedinvesting a large share of profits ”“ 25%+ back into research and development to ensure the continual improvement of the Clearwater solution and to meet evolving market needs. That commitment continues.
In recent years, Clearwater has also committed to a global expansion that enables the company to grow and support clients around the world. Going public helps support that expansion in Europe, a major part of Clearwater’s global team, where the company recently opened offices in Paris and Frankfurt, in addition to existing offices in London and Edinburgh. Clearwater also operates in the U.S., India, and Singapore.
“Clearwater has rapidly expanded our European client base, including adding some of the largest European financial institutions as clients”, said Colin Clunie, Head of EMEA Operations at Clearwater. “This shows the exciting opportunity we have to continue to grow in the region and deliver to our clients at a local level. It also enables us to attract the highest calibre of diverse talent to support our growth, foster innovation, and create solutions for tomorrow’s challenges.”
The Edinburgh operations centre which serves as a key operations hub for Clearwater has grown by 30% so far in 2021, and that’s expected to continue. Clearwater is building out capabilities at all levels ”“ from recent graduates to senior industry professionals. Further, the European team alone speaks 22 languages. This means Clearwater has the depth and expertise to provide world-class service tailored to the individual needs of its growing client list, regardless of location.
Clearwater’s SaaS solution automates and simplifies the complex tasks associated with investment accounting and reporting while providing clients with a complete and validated investment data set across their portfolios daily. For global teams, Clearwater’s multi-basis, multi-currency solution is accessed simply through a web browser, making it easy to work from any location and trust the entire team has access to a secure, single source of truth for investment data.