Simon Kent is a Senior Partner at Kearney and the Global Lead for Financial Services. He is based in the London office and has over 25 years’ experience working across the global financial services market. He is passionate about building successful teams and developing talent, and is an active coach and sponsor who aims to make work enjoyable for all involved.
Kent has extensive experience in working with clients on a range of strategic transformation topics including corporate strategy, growth, efficiency, ESG, and digital transformation. In addition, he has supported clients in launching a range of new fintech and challenger banks.
He has received several awards, authored a series of thought leadership articles, is a regular industry commentator, and represents the firm at the World Economic Forum (Davos). Kent received a BA Hons in Economics and Politics from Newcastle University. He is married with two children and enjoys spending time with family, traveling, and following sports.
Corporate strategy and growth, Efficiency, ESG and digital transformation
The legacy of the financial crisis has meant a few tricky years for many banks. Now, the triple pressures of more regulations, new competition, and advanced technologies are challenging how you do business, whether you’ve been around for a while or you’re a newer name. It’s the same story for insurance companies that are also searching for ways to reach the same goal: customer loyalty. Beyond the industry going digital, consumers’ move to simpler subscription-based models requires a fundamentally different approach. Kearney can help you meet these new requirements and deliver on what comes next.
Wherever you stand, big change is coming, and it’s coming right now. The payments revolution is well underway. One in five consumers are already saying their primary bank is a challenger. Whether you’re in banking, insurance, or payments, it’s time to decide what sort of relationship you want with your customers and how you want to make that happen. But it’s also an opportunity to make a real impact. Kearney can help.
A recent headline declared: “Banking used to be the worst. Then the challenger banks arrived.” Is this really the state of today’s industry? Well, not quite. In fact, whether you’re an established player or new on the scene, the speed at which things are evolving means standing still isn’t an option.
But if the race is to be the brand consumers use every day, the scales are already tipping. Retail banks still hold a majority share of customers’ wallets with long-term arrangements such as mortgages and salary payments, but challenger accounts are increasingly being used for everyday purchases. These transactions are like gold dust when it comes to really knowing who banks with you—giving you a rich layer of insights to inform the products and services you provide. The question is: how close do you want to be?
New payment and credit technologies have also come to the table, meaning competition is no longer contained to the industry. As retailers and tech companies enter the fray, banks must decide where to play and how to adapt. Banks and insurance companies alike are facing more pressure than ever to do the day job quicker, more efficiently, and at less cost—and run it all digitally.
Put together, it’s quite a to-do list. But whether you need a hand to re-examine your strategic operations, develop your digital capability, get closer to your customers, or completely transform, Kearney has the skills and the know-how to help you rise to the challenge.
Since 1926, Kearney has been trusted advisors to the world’s foremost organizations and they continue to live by the principles established by their founder Andrew Thomas (Tom) Kearney so long ago: “Our success as consultants will depend on the essential rightness of the advice we give and our capacity for convincing those in authority that it is good.”
Kearney is a leading global management consulting firm with more than 4,200 people working in more than 40 countries. Kearney works with more than three-quarters of the Fortune Global 500, as well as with the most influential governmental and non-profit organizations.
Kearney is a partner-owned firm with a distinctive, collegial culture that transcends organizational and geographic boundaries—and it shows. Regardless of location or rank, Kearney’s consultants are down to earth, approachable, and have a shared passion for doing innovative client work that provides clear benefits to the organizations they work with in both the short and long term.
