29 Mar Keeping a focus in the ever-changing, complex wealth management space
Matthieu Cardinal, Vice-President, Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at Croesus, talks to Tom Burroughes, Group Editor at WealthBriefing.
Ed.: This article was published by Clearview publishing in Acclaim magazine (2022). Click here to see the article or here to read the whole magazine.
Tom Burroughes (TB): What sets you apart from your peers this year, and why?
Matthieu Cardinal (MC): 2021 was a dynamic year for Croesus. Although the pandemic continued to impact a number of activities, we were successful in key areas of focus. Here are some of our 2021 highlights:
- Croesus was named among the 100 most innovative WealthTechs worldwide (May 4).
- Croesus became a member of the Platinum Club of Deloitte’s Best Managed Companies (May 5).
- Croesus signed a strategic alliance with Conquest Planning (June 9).
- Croesus announced its transition to the AWS cloud (July 27).
- Croesus was named a 5-Star Wealth Tech Provider by Wealth Professional Canada (October 29).
- Croesus launched Croesus Central, a next-generation portfolio rebalancing product (November 3).
- Croesus inaugurated its newly renovated offices (November 13).
- Croesus signed a strategic alliance with PSTOX to integrate Croesus solutions with Salesforce (November 24).
In spite of all the challenges we faced last year, Croesus remained committed to reach its strategic objectives. Our efforts in product innovation, strategic partnerships, and architecture design resulted in notable industry recognition.
TB: What are you going to do to stay on the front foot in a fast-growing but also challenging area such as this?
MC: Croesus is actively working to diversify its client base and enter new market segments and territories. The company is working on strategic initiatives, which involves redefining how wealth management technologies and capabilities will be provided to clients in such a way that they will benefit from improved productivity and seamless access to a vast array of wealth management tools. User experience will continue to remain at the center of our product vision and development.
TB: What challenges have you had to overcome to reach such a standard?
MC: The wealth management market is ever more complex. It moves fast, and lots of different components work together. In such an environment, it’s easy to lose focus and try to reach too many goals at once.
The challenge we overcame was to keep our focus on what our clients and prospects were telling us and on our deep understanding of our market. This allowed us to deliver solutions and projects that truly fulfill the needs and requirements of our clients.
TB: How has your business and business model reacted to the pandemic? Has morale among your colleagues held up well during the pandemic? What have you done to bolster their spirits?
MC: Like for many companies around the world, the pandemic was a challenge for us. Nevertheless, our business model was not adversely affected because we have been providing our solutions in an SaaS model for over 20 years. For our employees, teleworking became the new normal, and they adapted well to interacting with co-workers remotely rather than in person.
Our Employee Experience team outdid itself in making the transition as seamless as possible. As a result, we developed and implemented a plan with various initiatives to help our employees adjust to the new reality. We also created online activities to maintain morale and a sense of belonging, and to keep the Croesus Experience alive and thriving.
TB: Have your differentiators become more important to your business? Are they still relevant? Whom do you look to for inspiration?
MC: Our differentiators remained as important to our business as in the past. Our strategic planning also ensured that they remained up to par with market expectations. We obviously had to make a few adjustments here and there, but nothing major.
We looked to our clients for inspiration since they remain our best source of insights for improvement. We also look at our competitors and other FinTech players around the world. Our industry is moving fast, and the tremendous number of new ideas that get to market compels us to adjust, evolve, and stay on top of this changing world.
Changes in market regulations must also be taken into account since they chart the course for the industry’s practices.
TB: What do you hope will be the result of receiving this accolade?
MC: Awards and nominations speak volumes and reveal the uniqueness of the Croesus experience. Indeed, we have won many awards in the past 10 years. They represent acknowledgment from the public and a tribute from industry peers to our capacity to innovate, grow, and succeed. These are valuable assets in an industry where trust is paramount. We are proud, yet humbled to have been selected.