Your complete guide to Leaders in Custody Week

A rundown of what to expect from Leaders in Custody week, how to access, how to get involved, what’s on and trailers for each of the daily headline features. 

By Jon Watkins

It is no exaggeration to describe Leaders in Custody Week 2021 as the digital securities services event of the year!

Five days of documentaries, roundtables, interviews and podcasts covering sub-custody, ETF administration, securities services projects/partnerships and network management, along with the announcements of a series of annual award winners through the range of digital features.  

Most importantly, it’s free to access for the securities services community, the content is on-demand and there’s no need to register.
  

Consider this a full guide of how to view the content, what you can expect and trailers for each of the headline daily features. 

What is Leaders in Custody week? 

In the absence of in-person events over the past 12 months, Global Custodian began running documentaries to replace our annual awards evenings. The films in 2020 featured the winners of our awards in one production. For 2021, we went one step further and dedicated a whole week of films and podcasts to celebrate the achievements of the industry. Each day features the winners of our various categories discussing the topical areas of the industry where they have excelled. 

What are the timings of the event? 

There are no timings per se as the entire week is available on-demand, for your convenience. New content, however, will be released each day. 

What’s the schedule? 

Monday – Sub-Custody: A Shifting Landscape (documentary) 

Tuesday – ETF Administration: Supporting Innovation (panel discussion) 

Wednesday – Custody Projects and Partnerships (panel discussion) 

Thursday – Network Management: Adapting to Unprecedented Change (digital feature) 

Friday – Lifetime Achievement and Industry Person of the Year Awards (fireside chats) 

Meanwhile each day will include presentations from our Innovation Award Winners, plus podcasts with the latest GC Legends who will be inducted into our Hall of Fame. 

How do I access? Do I need to register? 

You do not need to register, and access is easy. Just log onto globalcustodian.com/leaders-in-custody at any point from 8am BST on 7 June and check back every day for new content.  

Can I get involved?  

Absolutely! We encourage everyone who attends to leave a comment or enter discussions through our comment section. Plus, throughout the week we will have a live vote to decide our annual Global Custodian Industry Person of the Year award, which will be announced on Friday 11 June. 

How does the platform work? 

Think of it as a Netflix-style platform that we’ve built, where all the videos and features are contained on one-page, on-demand. You can click through the tabs to access content from different days, but all the features will be viewable on a singular page, so you won’t be directed anywhere else. 

How do I vote for Industry Person of the Year?

There is a voting function on the platform and each user can vote once throughout the week, with the vote closing at 2pm BST on 10 June.

Who is speaking?  

A full rundown of our speakers can be found here. 

How long are the documentaries?

The main feature each day is between 30-45 minutes, with bitesize innovation videos lasting between 5-10 minutes and our GC Legend podcasts around 15 minutes long.

How can I see the winners of the awards? 

Each day the platform will contain a list of winners in a downloadable PDF, with the full list published on Friday 11 June on the final day. 

How were the winners decided?  

Agent Banks and ETF Administration awards were both decided based on Global Custodian’s annual surveys, while Editors’ Choice and Innovation accolades were decided by our editorial committee, as were individual awards – Lifetime Achievement and Industry Person of the Year. 

Contacts

We hope this guide answers any questions you might have about Leaders in Custody Week, but just incase, here are some key contacts should you have any further enquiries or issues accessing during the week: 

Editorial: jon.watkins@globalcustodian.com  

Sales: daljit.sokhi@globalcustodian.com 

Research: richard.schwartz@globalcustodian.com 

Subscriptions: ana.peralta@globalcustodian.com 


Daily synopsis and trailers 

Monday 7th June: Sub-custody – a shifting landscape 

Over the past few years, Global Custodian’s agent bank surveys have seen a relative shift in responses in favour of regional service providers, while single-market sub-custodians continue to thrive in select locations. At the same time, the move to digitisation is likely to put further pressure on margins, while non-revenue-earning reporting and compliance demands are claiming an increasing share of available resources. Global Custodian asks if current service models will need to be revisited and speaks to survey outperformers about likely changes in the sub-custody landscape.

 
Tuesday 8th June: Supporting ETF innovation roundtable 

With assets under management in ETFs surging beyond $8 trillion, innovation has taken off with products focusing on everything from ESG to Bitcoin. A growing number of asset managers are also converting mutual funds into actively managed ETFs, and interest in non-transparent ETFs has taken off following their introduction last year. How are fund administrators catering for this innovation and what are the pressing needs from providers to support these products? 


Wednesday 9th June: Partnerships and projects
 

Celebrating our Editors’ Choice awards, we look at the growing trend of partnerships – whether that’s between likeminded service providers, or incumbents and FinTechs – along with some of the most exciting projects delivered by custodians and market infrastructures throughout the past 12 months and how these differ when done in isolation or in a partnership. 


Thursday 10th June: Network Management – Adapting to unprecedented change
 

Technological advancements, regulations and market volatility are nothing new for network managers and the custody industry, but global pandemics, cyber security and travel bans certainly are. This feature will look at how network managers are adapting to a period of change – both expected and unprecedented – and how their roles have subsequently changed. We will look at themes in market infrastructure, regulation and technology, and also explore the due diligence process and the challenges of a global lockdown and its impact on conducting reviews and meeting regulatory requirements. Which elements have been impossible to recreate? Are any new ways of conducting due diligence here to stay? How have risk parameters changed in a post-COVID world? The role of the network manager is more crucial than ever, and this digital feature will place a spotlight on the role in 2021.



Friday 11th June: Lifetime Achievement Award winner and Industry Person of the Year interviews 

To cap off the week we bring you a special interview with our Lifetime Achievement recipient, a familiar face and voice from the securities services industry and one who has taken his organisation to new heights during his tenure at the helm. In addition, we will reveal the winner of our Industry Person of the Year vote, as chosen by you throughout the week. 

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