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If your credit card no longer suits your needs, it may be time to apply for a new one.

To decide whether you’ve outgrown your current card, there are a few different things to consider. Below, CNBC Select walks you through the questions to ask yourself before pulling the trigger on a new card.

1.Are you earning rewards in the right categories?
Because different credit cards offer different rewards based on the spending category, it’s smart to consider where most of your money is actually going.

For instance, if you regularly dine out, you may want to consider getting the Capital One® Savor® Cash Rewards Credit Card, which offers 4% cash-back on dining. Or, if you are big on cooking, the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express earns users 6% back on up to $6,000 spent per year at U.S. supermarkets (then 1%). (See rates and fees.)

Some credit card issuers have tools that can help you decide if the card you’re considering makes sense for your lifestyle. For example, the TD Cash Credit Card, which offers 2% cash back at grocery stores and 3% cash back on dining, has a calculator that estimates how much you could earn annually based on your monthly spend on dining, groceries, travel, and other purchases.

2.Are you paying high interest?
The best way to get the most of your credit card is to pay your bill on time and in full each month. But if that’s not possible, you don’t want to be stuck paying a high interest rates on the money you owe. If you’ve got a card with a big balance and a steep interest rate, you might want to consider doing a balance transfer to a credit card with a 0% intro APR.

The Wells Fargo Platinum Visa® card offers 0% interest for the first 18 months (then 17.24% to 26.74% variable APR) and the U.S. Bank Visa® Platinum Card offers 0% APR for the first 18 billing cycles (then 14.24% to 25.24% variable APR). (Read more about how balance transfer cards work.)

3.Does the annual fee outweigh the benefits?
It’s tempting to sign up for a card with a high annual fee because they often come with a lot of cool perks, like statement credits, access to upgrades and big welcome bonuses. But before you shell over money for a card, you want to make sure you can afford the fee and will use the card enough that it’s worth the cost.

For instance, let’s say you frequently travel and are looking at travel credit cards. These cards can have annual fees upwards of $450, but often provide numerous statement credits and perks that help offset the steep fee.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® comes with a $450 annual fee, but offers a $300 annual travel credit and access to over 1,000 lounges with Priority Pass Select membership (valued at approximately $429). Those perks effectively add up to over a $729 value and don’t include credit for a Global Entry ($100) or TSA PreCheck ($85) application (every four years).

4.Do you have a big purchase coming up?
If you plan on taking on a large expense, such as a major appliance or cost of a medical procedure, it can be a good idea to put that charge on a card offering no interest on new purchases for six to 18 months. These cards allow you to pay off debt over time without incurring interest fees — just make sure you pay off your balance in full by the end of the intro period.

One option for financing a big purchase is the Capital One® Quicksilver® Cash Rewards Credit Card. This card offers no interest for the first 15 months on new purchases (then 15.74% to 25.74% variable APR). Plus, you earn 1.5% cash back on every purchase.

5.Have you applied for a card in the last six months?
If you apply for credit cards too frequently, card issuers may see this as a red flag and potential indicator that you may not be a responsible cardholder. However, if you want to shop around for the best credit card offers, consider pre-qualification forms.

Most card issuers offer pre-qualification, which allows you to check your qualification chances without hurting your credit score. Simply fill in some information and receive an answer to whether you may qualify, with no damage to your credit score. Just know, pre-qualification is not a guarantee of approval and when you submit a formal credit card application your credit will be pulled, which dings your score.

Establishing a good credit score isn’t a complex process, but it’s a vital piece of your financial picture. Having a high score gives you access to the best credit cards, a lower interest rate on personal loans and can even come into play when you apply for a new job or rent an apartment.

It’s important to raise your credit score so you receive the best rates and can qualify for more credit cards. If you’re building credit, secured cards, such as the Discover it® Secured, are often your best option, but once you work your way up to good or excellent credit, you may qualify for cards with generous welcome bonuses and robust rewards programs, such as the American Express® Gold Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, two of CNBC Select’s top-rated rewards cards. Thankfully, there are some easy and proactive steps you can take to improve your score.

Read on for CNBC Select’s six easy tips to help you raise your credit score.

1.Make your payments on time
Paying your bills on time is the number-one most important thing you can do to help raise your score. FICO and VantageScore, which are two of the main credit card scoring models, both view payment history as the most influential factors when determining a person’s credit score. For lenders, a person’s ability to keep up with their credit card payments indicates that they are capable of taking out a loan and paying it back.

But your credit score isn’t just impacted by your credit card bills. You need to pay all your bills on time. That includes all your utilities, student loan debt and any medical bills you might have.

2.Set up autopay or calendar reminders
If you struggle to remember to pay your bills each month (so many different due dates, so little time), there’s an easy fix: autopay. If you’re not sure you’ll be able to pay your bill in full, you can set it so you just pay the minimum. And the same goes with your utilities: Most major providers will let you set up autopay that withdraws automatically each month from your checking or savings account (or charges your credit card). In the case of student loan companies, some give you a discount on your interest rate if you set up autopay.

If you don’t want to use autopay, another easy option is setting up a payment reminder. Many banks and card issuers will let you schedule reminders through their websites, including sending you email reminders or push notifications (or both). You can also set up Google or Outlook calendar invites or make a note of the due date on a physical calendar. It doesn’t really matter what notification system you use so long as you pay on time.

The sooner you start paying on time, the sooner your score will begin to improve. And just as a bit of motivation, older credit penalties, such as late payments, matter less as time passes. So start now and stay consistent.

3.Don’t open too many accounts at once
FICO and VantageScore look at the number of credit inquiries, such as applications for new financial products or requests for credit limit increases, as well as the number of new account openings. Making these kinds of inquiries frequently dings your credit, so only apply for what you really need in order to avoid damaging your score.

If you want a new card, but you’re not sure you’ll qualify, you can submit a pre-qualification form online. You can submit as many pre-qualification forms as you want, as they won’t impact your credit score.

4.Get credit for paying monthly utility and cell phone bills on time
If you are already responsible about making your utility and cell phone payments on time, then you should check out Experian Boost. It’s free and easy way for consumers to improve their credit scores. The way it works is simple: Connect your bank account(s) to Experian Boost so it can identify your utility and cell phone payment history. Once you verify the data and confirm you want it added to your Experian credit file, you’ll get an updated FICO score delivered to you in real time. Visit Experian to read more and register. By signing up, you will receive a free credit report and FICO score instantly.

5.Request a credit report and dispute any credit report errors
It’s smart to look over your credit reports from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. You can proactively monitor your credit and receive three free credit reports (one from each bureau) annually at annualcreditreport.com.

Be sure to check for errors on your credit reports that could be hurting your score. While it may seem unlikely that your reports would be flawed, 26% of participants in a study by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) found at least one error on their reports that could make them appear riskier to lenders.

Common mistakes, according to My FICO, occur when a person applies for credit cards under different names, if a clerical error is made when information is typed from a hand-written application or if an ex-spouse’s information remains on a person’s report. If you spot an error, you should then gather any supporting evidence and dispute the mistake either online or by phone with the respective bureau who issued the incorrect report.

6.Pay attention to your credit utilization rate
Your credit utilization rate (CUR) is your total credit card balance divided by your total available credit. For instance, the average American has a credit limit of $22,589 on four cards and a $6,028 balance, according to Experian. That results in a CUR of about 27%. Experts typically recommend keeping your total CUR below 30%.

If your CUR is above 30% and you have no problem paying your bills on time and in full, you can call your card issuer and ask for a credit increase. If you’re struggling to pay off your bills and you have a high CUR, it’s smarter to figure out some areas where you can cut back your spending.

Wells Fargo Securities’ Michael Schumacher sees year-end bond market volume dropping off earlier than usual.

According to the firm’s global head of rate strategy, the slide will likely occur around Thanksgiving instead of mid-December.

Not only is Wall Street still thinking about last year’s painful historic stock market drop, Schumacher blames the geopolitical backdrop. He contends it’s putting bond investors on edge.

“This week it’s Brexit. Probably Brexit again next week. Trade after that. Hong Kong. Iran. You could go on and on and on,” he told CNBC’s “Trading Nation’ on Thursday. “These things are very tough for investors to assess.”

Schumacher said it has been a solid year for investors, so they are hesitant to push their luck with the S&P 500 up 20% so far.

“A lot of people, at least the ones I talk to, are saying it’s been a good year,” he said. “Why should I take a lot of risk around year-end when I can’t really get a grip on some of these things?”

Schumacher suggests it’s not such a bad strategy as the year draws to a close.

‘Dial it back a bit’
“Is it the wisest move to avoid risk? We’re not saying altogether. But dial it back a bit,” he said.

Schumacher recommends high-yield investments as a way to play the atypical backdrop and keep exposure to bonds. He’d also avoid long-duration bonds, particularly the 10-year Treasury due to uncertainty surrounding Brexit’s ultimate outcome.

“The best place to go is in fairly short duration credit,” he said. “Maybe not the very, very front end of the curve, but call it the three-year part out to the five- to seven-year area. Decent yield. Decent carry. Not a ton of downside.”

He also believes corporate debt is an area to consider.

“It’s interesting people like to point to corporate debt burdens being very high. Well, it’s true if you look at debt per say,” said Schumacher. “But corporates have been benefiting so much by virtue of Treasury yields being low that their actual interest coverage is still very, very good.”

As the work landscape continues to evolve, one thought stands out for me as I think about the year ahead: In the workplace, the voice of the individual continues to gain strength — perhaps because of our increasingly intertwined work and personal lives, and the climate we operate in today.

People are a company’s most valuable resource, and in this tight talent market, there is even more responsibility on organizations to create a culture where workers can have meaningful experiences and bring their best selves to work. Business leaders everywhere, particularly CHROs, are recognizing why this is so important: it’s better for all employees and it’s better for business.

A positive employee experience can impact the level of trust workers have and, ultimately, improve performance and retention. This, in turn, impacts the customer experience and helps increase a company’s bottom line. Focusing on a few areas in particular, including diversity, digitalization, and an employee-first culture, can help meet workers where they are as their needs continue to shift.Diversity Means DifferenceWe’ve been focused on diversity since our inception at Workday, but as social issues continue to take center stage in the world, we’ve been reexamining and broadening what the term means to us. Diversity, in our view, really means difference.

Our chief diversity officer, Carin Taylor, explains that diversity is a blend of unique attributes in each of us, including our differences in background, perspective, race, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability, nationality, location, function, and more. We strive to look at diversity with a wider lens, and to understand that the diversity issues that we grapple with in the San Francisco Bay Area might not be the same as the issues in other parts of the globe.

To support our goals with action, we took our Belonging and Diversity program to the next level with VIBE, an acronym for valuing inclusion, belonging, and equity for all. This year, we dedicated a week in June to VIBE — five days of global awareness across the company to continue our journey of creating a culture of belonging and inclusion.

We’re continuing to leverage data from our weekly global employee surveys to understand employee sentiment, and this year we’re placing an increased focus on examining diversity trends. We are analyzing the data to find out if our employees are having a similar experience at our company across gender, race, age, geography, years at Workday, and so on. This enables us to think about diversity in new ways, and we’ll discover where we’re living up to our expectations and where we can improve.
The Digitalization ImperativeShifts in the nature of work, new technologies, and the needs of new generations are driving the digitalization of HR, which organizations must embrace to create modern people practices. These shifts often bring uncertainty, but this is an incredibly exciting time to be in HR. We can help guide companies as they navigate these changes, helping them determine what to automate so that they can elevate the many tasks that are uniquely human, and free up time for teams to tackle this higher-order work, such as figuring out the right approach to a particular strategy.

Bringing a consumer-like experience to enterprise software is another aspect of digitalization that is at the heart of our DNA at Workday. In our personal lives, many of us use Alexa, Google, and Siri — technologies that are fun, innovative, and easy. I expect digital tools in my work life to have the same attributes, and I know workers feel the same way. We focus on being mobile first, and we want employees’ digital experiences to echo their consumer experiences. We are analyzing the data to find out if our employees are having a similar experience at our company across gender, race, age, geography, years at Workday, and so on.

This year we offered open enrollment for Workday benefits on mobile phones. If a team member didn’t complete the process on one device, they could finish up on another. We also bring a consumer-like approach to learning, with interactive media and peer-generated content that is available on-demand and all in one place, with features similar to those we see in our consumer lives, including the ability to recommend videos, create a playlist, and bookmark links.

In this week’s CEO Q&A, Ciaran Mulligan, MD of Blue Insurance, tells Business and Finance about the challenge of managing 14 brands trading across multiple countries, the importance of innovation and new trends impacting the industry.

Q. What are your main priorities and goals in your role?
My role as Managing Director of Blue Insurance is to manage the business and ensure the company continues to grow, innovate and run smoothly in all areas of the business. My role also involves growth development of my senior management team and helping them achieve their targets and goals and enhancing their leadership capabilities. I’m very much a hands on Managing Director so I’m regularly in meetings with my team collaborating on different ideas and addressing the needs of the business on a daily and weekly basis.

As I sold the business in 2018 to my role has expanded to assist our new owners CoverMore in their future developments and plans within Europe.

Q. What are your biggest challenges as CEO?
Brexit still continues to be one of those challenges that doesn’t seem to want to go away. Although we are well prepared for Brexit especially given we have a UK Branch office in Cardiff, until there is a final outcome to Brexit, we are constantly reviewing procedures, currency and regulatory requirements.

Another big challenge is staff recruitment and staff retention. In the current economic climate there are increasing salary demands from software engineers and other staff. Full employment means all staff are demanding greater salary increases however I believe we have been fair with the salary increases applied over the past number of years.

Increased regulation is always a challenge. With over 14 brands and trading in a number of countries, trying to stay on top of all the latest regulatory requirements in each country demands resources in product development while you focus on complying with new requirements.

Q. How do you keep your team/staff motivated?
I think the culture in the business is very good and we care about staff. I also think it helps setting targets and goals to help the staff stay motivated as everyone wants to achieve the best results. The majority of our senior team have come through the ranks of the business so it highlights to staff, if you work hard, you will succeed and grow with the business.

I think we are very lucky in that the majority of the team are very supportive of the business and want the company to be very successful.

Q. What are the challenges facing the industry?
Future Technology is always a big challenge especially for an industry that moves very slowly. As we see more automation, driverless cars etc in the coming years I think some insurers might be replaced with manufacturers who will self-insure those vehicles, eg this week Tesla who are looking to eventually insure all their vehicles.

Q. What new trends are emerging in your industry?
Fintech Companies like Trov and Lemonade are disrupting the insurance industry and leading the way forward with instant and short term insurance period.

I also expect wearables such as the iWatch and FitBit etc to have a big impact in the industry over the coming years. You can already see it emerging in the health industry but soon I would expect these wearables to have an impact in a range of insurance products in the industry.

Health and wellbeing is going to be the next big trend in the industry and could be part of the corporates’ retention policy. I expect to see new products emerge in the insurance industry involving improving the mental health and well being of employees as we all experience more stress in our working and personal lives.

Q. How will Brexit affect you, or have you started to feel the effects already?
Brexit has effected mostly due to the dramatic fall in sterling especially given approx. 35% of our turnover comes from the UK Market.

The effects have already been felt as there are a reduced number of UK holidaymakers travelling abroad due to the weakness in sterling. Time, effort and money spent on preparing for Brexit is another effect which could become pointless if there is a customs union or the UK doesn’t leave the EU in the end.

Q. As an employer are you finding any skill gaps in the market?
Like most companies, we are constantly struggling to fill software engineers positions while trying to keep salary levels at a reasonable level. Apart from that we are managing to fill positions however salary demands are increasing each year.

Q. How did your strategy develop in the context of the banking crisis and economic crisis?
Our strategy was a little different from everyone else. We decided to continue to market our products during the crisis but negotiate better deals on media spend and also get more for our bucks with additional air time, run time etc. We knew our products were competitively priced so we knew consumers would still continue to buy them, eg our www.Multitrip.com product was offering annual travel insurance for €21.99 during the crisis. We knew people would probably reduce the number of holidays they would take during the year but because it so competitively priced we knew they would still take the annual policy which they did. Multitrip.com became Ireland’s favourite Travel Insurance provider.

Another example was we knew the younger generation would emigrate during the crisis so we created a new brand www.backpackertravelisnurance.ie (which offered one and two year travel insurance cover) which was a major success with the amount of the younger generation emigrating looking for work abroad. This brand is still a major success today.

Q. How do you define success and what drives you to succeed?
Success to me is consumers buying our product and being happy with the services they receive. We have been financially successful from the beginning by the fact that we made profit and continued to grow every year since opening in 2003.

We are also very proud to have won Best Travel Insurance Provider award every year since opening, which reflects the quality of the product and service we offer consumers. Blue Insurance has also been a Deloitte Best managed company for the past 6 years. Both myself and my former Partner Rowan were finalists of the EY Entrepreneur of the year in 2011 and we both won Travel Industry Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012.

Q. What have been your highlights in business over the past year?
Selling the business to CoverMore in October 2018 was a major highlight over the past year and the company continued to grow in double digits in 2018. I was super proud to have won Chambers Ireland Business Man of the year in 2018.

Q. What’s the best advice you’ve been given, or would give, in business?
The best advice I would give to a business is be innovative as possible. Always look for opportunities and remember sometimes these can come from a crisis or downturn. Your team are your best asset so look after them as much as possible. Re-invest profits in the business in the early years to help ensure delivery of growth.

Q. Where do you want your business/brand to be this time next year?
Ideally we would like to see the brand Blue Insurance/CoverMore enter the European Travel Insurance Market followed by some of our Niche Insurance products such as gadget, pet and car hire excess.

We would also like to see our Multitrip.com brand retain the coveted position of Ireland’s Favourite Travel Insurance.

Q. What’s next for the company?
Continued growth hopefully, European expansion and a new leader in 2020.

Q. Are there any major changes you would like to see in your sector?
The Insurance sector in general continues to face challenges – high cost of motor claims, high cost of liability insurance for businesses in Ireland and lack of competition in the market.

I’d like to see availability of funding for growth, encouragement of new entrants into the sector and increase in local and national programmes to help new businesses achieve success.

Managing Director and Country Head of leading blockchain company, ConsenSys, Lory Kehoe, on the potential of the technology for business and industry in Ireland.
I’ve worked in strategy and operations consulting in both financial services and technology, for over 13 years. Never in all this time have I worked with a technology as profoundly impactful as blockchain. Blockchain’s ability to automate processes through acting as the golden source of data has led to the technology being adopted by governments, industry sectors and businesses around the world.

Blockchain essentially has the ability to link up all points along a value chain and provide a single, immutable source of truth, this allows for the disintermediation of processes, and can enhance security and speed while reducing costs. Smart contracts within the blockchain allow for the automatic programming of actions once specified criteria are met, such as the release of funds in escrow to a home seller once all the conditions and documentation of the deal are executed.

The multitude of enterprise and social benefits of blockchain or ‘Web 3’ solutions, as well as the associated high value jobs that they bring has sparked intense competition amongst countries such as Australia, France, Germany, Israel, U.K. and Switzerland to become the global leader for the technology. As we enter the future of work, gaining a foothold and a niche in disruptive technologies such as blockchain, machine learning and artificial intelligence will be imperative to Ireland’s sustained economic growth.

This year has brought some momentous gains for blockchain in Ireland, including the launch of the Blockchain Masters (MSc.) level programme in Dublin City University (DCU). However, as a nation, we have a lot further to go if we want to compete with the mounting global interest in this sector. Cultivating a blockchain ecosystem here is central to the work that I do with Blockchain Ireland (www.blockchainireland.net). In May, we held the first ‘Blockchain Ireland Week’ with over 50 free events taking place nationwide. We are increasing momentum, but we need to keep building on this.
International Developments

As Forbes put it ‘Large Enterprises Are Betting On Blockchain In 2019’. According to IDC, worldwide spending on blockchain will reach $2.9 billion. On a global level, hundreds of exciting projects have kicked off across all major sectors – from financial services and insurance, to supply chain management and shipping, to healthcare and pharma, as well as in trade finance.

IKEA announced last week that it has started using blockchain to track and settle e-invoices along its supply chain through smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. And the World Wildlife Fund also announced this week that, alongside ConsenSys, it would launch a Philanthropy Platform, utilising blockchain to modernise sustainable development for individuals, companies and NGOs, with the intention of furthering high-potential efforts towards the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Gartner forecasts that blockchain will accelerate towards more mainstream adoption through 2023 and by 2030 will generate $3.1 trillion in new business value, and recommends that ‘organizations should be exploring the technology now’. Most cases in use operate under the mandate of enhancing efficiency of existing processes as opposed to business disruption and new value creation. This is where I see Ireland’s opportunity to capture a leading role at the forefront of this innovation.

Blockchain for Irish Industry

Blockchain can also be used as a way to turn illiquid or high value assets into digital assets, or tokens as they are also known. For example, think of an aircraft or a property, with the asset’s value being represented as a set of digital assets (tokens) which are held in a secure tamper-proof network. This would make investing in the property more accessible to a wider pool of investors and also enable greater liquidity by the fact that digital shares can be exchanged without the underlying property having to be sold. A World Economic Forum Report has predicted that around 10% of global gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to be stored on the blockchain by 2027.

Blockchain technology will be of great value to Irish Industry over the coming years. Taking the pharma industry here as one example, blockchain could be used to track and trace medical devices such as stents, pacemakers and spinal support screws, providing clarity for medical personnel and consumers with a single source of truth for product specifications and records of use. This would prove invaluable in the case of a product recall. Similarly, blockchain could entirely modernise supply chain assurance in agriculture, particularly for our dairy and livestock production sectors. A solution like this could safeguard Ireland’s reputation as a premier food producer internationally, by providing transparency and data integrity. In the near future, customers may be able to scan QR codes on product packaging in retail outlets through their phones, and access relevant quality and traceability information.

The Way Forward

Blockchain offers consumers and businesses a mechanism to streamline everything from insurance, to supply chain management, data ownership, and asset financing. Blockchain is considered to be particularly suited to financial services applications due to its automation capabilities and auditability. The financial services and digital tech industries are linchpins of the Irish economy. The adoption of disruptive innovations within Ireland will be important to upholding high value presence and growth of these sectors. The willingness of political decision-makers to maintain and enhance Ireland’s attractiveness for new technologies and companies will also be central to the build-out of the ecosystem here. When I established ConsenSys’ presence in Ireland and scaled it up to 45 team members, I had developers leave higher paying jobs across the spectrum of major tech players in Ireland to join us. This is because they want to work building the architecture for what many believe is the next internet, or ‘Web 3’, at the vanguard of computer engineering.

Business & Finance highlights the notable new appointments at Irish Life Investment Managers and Core Research, and new board appointments at New Ireland Assurance and Business in the Community Ireland.
John Thornton, Head of Liability Driven Investment
Irish Life Investment Managers

John Thornton

Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM) has announced the appointment of John Thornton as its new Head of Liability Driven Investment (LDI).

In his new role, John has been responsible for extending ILIM’s LDI product offering to include a swap based LDI fund solution to complement its existing physical bond LDI product. Prior to his appointment as Head of Liability Driven Investment (LDI), John was Senior Fixed Income Fund Manager at ILIM where he actively managed €6bn in fixed income funds, as well as trading cash bonds, bond futures and managing currency exposure.

John joined ILIM in 2011 from UBS in London where his desk was a market maker for European asset-backed securities; trading with fund managers, insurance companies, banks and hedge funds globally. Preceding his role in UBS, John worked at RBS and J.P. Morgan in London, as well as Canada Life in Dublin.

Naomi Staff, Managing Director
Core Research
Core, Ireland’s largest marketing communications company, has announced the appointment of Naomi Staff as Managing Director of its Research Practice. Naomi brings with her over 11 years of experience in market research, with knowledge and insight across a wide range of industries. She also has specific expertise in the finance, alcohol, telecoms and social sectors. Her appointment will be effective from 1st November 2019.

Naomi joined Core in 2014 as Research Director before moving into the role of Business Director in 2017. Prior to this, she held the position of Associate Director in the brand strategy consulting company, Kantar, formerly Millward Brown.

Naomi Staff

Alan Cox, CEO of Core, says:

Naomi is very well-positioned to take the helm of the Research Practice. Since joining Core, she has made a huge impact on the business through her skills as a practitioner and leadership style. Naomi is the right person to continue to grow the business by providing clients with clear, incisive and actionable understanding of consumer behaviour and psychology.”
Core employs a team of 310 people and consists of nine practices – Creative, Data, Investment, Learning, Media (comprising of Mediaworks, Spark Foundry, Starcom and Zenith), Recruitment, Research, Sponsorship and Strategy. Core has been voted Agency Network of the Year for the last six years at the Media Awards and the company was also recently voted one of the top workplaces in Ireland by the Great Place to Work Institute for the tenth year running.

New board appointments at New Ireland Assurance and Business in the Community Ireland
New Ireland Assurance has appointed Mary Kerrigan and Gerry Hassett to its Board of Directors.
Mary Kerrigan is a senior investment professional having previously been a partner with Willis Towers Watson. She is a qualified actuary with over 25 years’ experience in the global investment and pensions industry. Mary is currently also a member of the Independent Governance Committee of the Prudential Assurance Company (UK) Limited and a Board Trustee of the London Irish Centre Charity.

Gerry Hassett has extensive experience in the Financial Services industry, particularly in the Life & Pensions sector. He spent 29 years with Irish Life where he was Managing Director of Irish Life Financial Services, before assuming a role in Canada to restructure and transform the Individual Customer Division of Great-West Life. He is a former President of Insurance Ireland and is now based in Ireland once more where he operates Gain Line which advises, mentors and invests in Fintech and other technology firms.

Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI) has appointed Dave Murphy (CEO PM Group) and Leisha Daly (Senior Director for Government Affairs & Policy for J&J Supply Chain) to its board.

Dave Murphy

BITCI supports Ireland’s top companies on sustainability strategies and also operates Ireland’s only certified standard for sustainability, the Business Working Responsibly Mark.

Dave Murphy has worked in PM Group for 30 years and during that time has been involved in all areas of the business. A Chemical Engineer, Dave’s primary experience of engineering and construction was gained leading significant projects for a number of multinational companies in Ireland and internationally. Dave joined the Board of PM Group in 2006, became Managing Director of Western Europe in 2008 and was appointed Group CEO in 2011.

The demand for skills in the retail banking arena is shifting at a remarkable rate, writes Jane Chidlow, Sector Managing Director of Banking at Alexander Mann Solutions.

There’s no doubt that exciting times are ahead for the retail banking arena. As the customer experience continues to evolve, innovation has become ubiquitous in the industry – and the rise of mobile banking, video appointments and tech-enabled ‘micro-branches’ is creating a climate where the demand for skills is shifting at a remarkable rate.

Looking at Ireland specifically, 250 of the world’s leading financial services firms – including half of the world’s top 50 banks – have internationally focused operations in the country. And with Government plans to further grow the sector, the need for specialist talent only looks set to accelerate.

AI, robots and technology are playing crucial roles in a bank’s competitive advantage. In fact, according to data from leading financial research firm, Autonomous Research, AI has the potential to save banks around 22% of operating costs by 2030. Today, an average top 50 bank in Europe spends 10-20% of overall banking operating expenditures on IT infrastructure for fear of losing its competitiveness. However, it’s no secret that there’s a global shortage of tech and digital skills across the board, and banks are competing with brands that have arguably mastered tech talent attraction such as Facebook, Google and Amazon. So how can firms across financial services change this?

Broadening talent horizons
There have long been discussions about how the sector needs to become more attractive to tech talent, but I’d argue that this approach has limited success. With a mis-match between supply and demand, adding to the competition for top talent will exacerbate the situation. What we really need is a new approach to not only sourcing and training for specialist skills, but also broadening the candidate pools we are tapping into.

When we consider the sheer pace of digital innovation, even those with the right skill-sets now will need to be continuously upskilled as new systems are implemented. With this in mind, it’s important to ask how relevant some existing assessment methods are. We need to shift from skills-based testing to looking at cognitive ability instead. What’s the potential for the individual to take risks? How resilient are they? Do they adapt well during change? These attributes will lend themselves much better to tech roles in financial services in the future and should play a greater role in hiring activity.

Social mobility
Following along these lines, if we’re moving away from technical skills requirements, banks also need to consider their approach to social mobility. Appealing to wider audiences in local communities to attract individuals who perhaps might not have had prior tech training will drastically increase the talent pools available to employers. Consider how your bank can better embed itself in the local community and work with other organisations or not-for-profit businesses to help individuals gain or get back into employment. This will also do much more than just broaden the scope of potential applicants. It will also help more firms across financial services improve the sector’s reputation which has undoubtedly taken a fair few hits in the last decade.

The aging workforce
As much as we try to change it, there’s no hiding from the fact that when many employers think of tech talent, their first thought is of younger demographics. But the truth is, there is a huge pool of individuals out there eager to learn the new skills they need to excel in today’s business environment. In fact, we have had great success with a number of campaigns targeting retirees to retrain them for new digital roles. We have also noted a fantastic response to utilising retired talent to train apprentices and new hires to ensure crucial business skills are passed on.

Consider, as well, how the above-mentioned apprenticeships can appeal to this audience. There’s a real stereotype that those choosing this employment route are school leavers, but we are seeing an increasing number of professionals bucking this trend.

A tailored EVP
Of course, in order to broaden talent horizons in this manner, banks will also need to look at their employee value proposition (EVP) and ensure it is tailored to appeal to all audiences. Historically tech talent attraction activity has ‘quirky’ or ‘funky’ EVP messages to appeal to younger audiences, but these will likely put off older generations and work returners. Consider how your EVP can be tweaked to appeal to the latter audiences as well. It’s important to add that this will also likely help your brand’s overall attractiveness for new talent. As emerging generations increasingly seek out companies with a conscience and employers who care, demonstrating that your business is truly inclusive will add real value to your employee value proposition.

Build, borrow and buy
Businesses across financial services are undoubtedly recognising the monetary benefits of creating a more inclusive environment, both in terms of attracting the tech talent needed to remain competitive and the impact it will have on staff productivity and retention. However, while there have been great steps made in terms of attracting tech talent, it’s crucial that everyone across financial services broadens their horizons when it comes to diversity and skills needs.

It’s no longer a case of choosing to either build, borrow or buy your tech talent. In order to have a sustainable pool of skills, banks need to have a balanced mix of all three, and this shift needs to happen soon.

Are more women at the top good for banks?

When Royal Bank of Scotland confirmed last month that Alison Rose would be its next chief executive, my first reaction was “finally!”. As in, finally, a woman would have the chance to head one of the UK’s — and the world’s — biggest banks.

Although RBS fell out of the list of “global systemically important banks” last year, Ms Rose is the first woman to work her way up the ranks to become chief executive of a global bank of that nature. (Ana Botín has headed Spain’s Santander since 2014, but she, like three generations of her family before her, serves as executive chairman, with a chief executive below her.)

Yet what I am interested in is not just that a woman broke through another glass ceiling. Rather, it is that the sector is finally diversifying to the point where we might be able to tell whether adding women to top management and boards of directors makes any difference.

After a whole series of banks collapsed and took the world economy down with them in 2008, some regulators and industry critics argued that testosterone-fuelled risk-taking was to blame. Former EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes and incoming European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde, among others, have publicly speculated that the 2008 crisis could have been averted had failed investment bank Lehman Brothers instead been Lehman Sisters.

Most industry leaders agree there is value in diversity. “Talent is fairly evenly distributed by gender, so if your top positions are heavily skewed by gender, you probably aren’t getting the ideal talent mix,” says Howard Davies, who chairs RBS.

But he adds that, having taught courses on risk management, he knows “the evidence in this area is particularly thin”. That could be addressed, he says, “by analysing risk committees — I think that would be a very good thing”.

It is difficult, however, to find more than a weak correlation between gender diversity and good performance and governance. There is a well-known McKinsey study that found companies with a more diverse leadership tend to have higher profit margins, but it did not look specifically at finance. Sceptics rightly note that correlation is not causation — it could be that companies that are good already have the energy to devote to diversity programmes.

A 2008 study published in Evolution and Human Behavior, an academic journal, found a strong correlation between high levels of testosterone and financial risk-taking. Another study that same year tested traders’ saliva for the hormone. It found they made more money when they had higher levels, and concluded that the results were linked to increased risk tolerance and fearlessness.

More recently, a 2017 study by Elizabeth Sheedy of Macquarie University in Australia cast doubt on the whole theory. Surveys asking 36,000 employees at 10 banks about their risk-management behaviour found that women and men at senior levels had similar levels of risk tolerance and managed risk in similar ways. In fact, age mattered far more than gender, with older workers showing more willingness to question business practices that may create poor outcomes.

There is evidence that banks do better over the long haul when they have smaller boards with members who have experience in the financial sector and who are more willing to challenge management. But given the gender divide at the top of finance so far, that is not in itself a strong reason to put more women in charge.

None of the eight global systemically important US banks has ever been run by a woman. In Europe, Ms Rose brings the number of female chief executives currently running Europe’s 25 largest banks to three — Carina Akerstrom was appointed to run Svenska Handelsbanken earlier this year and Kjerstin Braathen took over at DNB in September.

It is also clear that two X chromosomes are not a complete remedy. In 2016, Swedbank, Sweden’s oldest bank, was one of the first big European banks to name a female chief executive. But Birgitte Bonnesen became embroiled in the bank’s €135bn money-laundering scandal, leading to her dismissal in March.

Yet Ms Rose’s appointment underscores that we may now be getting to the point where there will be enough data to move beyond saliva studies and anecdotes. A growing number of countries have adopted voluntary targets or even quotas for women on boards, and while banking lags behind many other industries, change is starting to filter through.

A Harvard Law School study completed before Ms Akerstrom and Ms Rose were promoted found that one-third of the board members at Europe’s 25 biggest banks were women, up from 15 per cent before the financial crisis. Authors Lisa Andersson and Stilpon Nestor also concluded there had been progress, albeit slower, on the executive side: 13 per cent of top management committee members were women, up from 9 per cent.

That suggests that we could begin to make meaningful comparisons between banks that have substantial numbers of female leaders and those that do not. Let us figure out whether their risk and remuneration committees are run differently.

Board minutes ought to reveal whether women are more or less likely to challenge management. We should then be able to link those results to banks’ performance in the long term.