The wait for Finance Magnates London Summit (FMLS) is almost over, with the doors of the biggest event of the fall swinging open on November 21-23 at Old Billingsgate. Now in its tenth year, FMLS22 is providing something special for attendees, including a newly expanded content stream.
FMLS22 kicks off with its annual Networking Blitz, together with two full days of exhibitions, panels, and parties. Four content verticals will be explored, emphasizing the online trading, digital assets & blockchain, fintech, and the payments space for sessions, workshops, panels, and debates.
As a reminder, if you have not already done so, take advantage of competitive pricing and register for FMLS22 today.
November 22 – 10:15 – Inspire Stage: Cultivating Female Leadership in Fintech: Challenges and Opportunities
For all its progressive agenda the fintech community is still predominantly male, with only 4% of investment poured to start-ups led by women.
Elizabeth Rayment – Director – YMM
Lissele Pratt – COO & Co-Founder – Capitalixe
Tamara Kostova – CEO – Velexa
Sophie Gerber – Co-CEO, Director – TRAction Fintech, Sophie Grace
Janthana Kaenprakhamroy – CEO & Founder – Tapoly
In this session we explore how this reality shapes women’s prospects and experiences in fintech, as well as structural ways for the industry to improve and create greater diversity, for its own benefit.
You will be speaking on the Cultivating Female Leadership in Fintech: Challenges and Opportunities panel, what do you think will be the highlight of the discussion and why should the audience attend it?
Lissele Pratt (Capitalixe): The most noteworthy aspect of this discussion will be the significant benefits that greater diversity can bring to the fintech industry as a whole. Studies have shown that businesses with a more diverse workforce tend to outperform their less diverse counterparts in a multitude of ways and highlighting this with the audience through stats and case studies will be an integral part of this discussion.
With only 2% of funding going to women-owned businesses, 30% of the fintech workforce acquired by women, and a shocking statistic that women hold only 5% of leadership roles in financial technology – it is evident that we still have a long way to go.
This discussion aims to provide actionable tips that the audience can take back with them to help create change within their own organisations. I firmly believe that by supporting each other and having these types of discussions, we can begin to make progress for the next generation of women in fintech.
Tamara Kostova (Velexa): Female Leadership is not just about women, so I’m looking forward to integrating my own lived experiences in Fintech with the opinions of both female and male market leaders. There are a lot of conversations about Women in Fintech, but this panel is going to focus on what has worked for us in breaking down the barriers that can be instutionalised and proliferated.
Sophie Gerber (TRAction Fintech, Sophie Grace): The highlight for me will be finding out the great things that other female leaders and up-and-coming-stars are doing in fintech around the world. When you are running a business or team you can get so focused on the day-to-day that you don't have time to learn about what others are doing unless it directly impacts you.
Diversity in fintech and the finance industry more generally is super important and so beneficial for businesses – firms that are low on female participation should come along to find out why they should put some energy into changing that, likewise firms that do have high female participation can come along and share their experiences.
No doubt the room will be full of fantastic females in the industry, and everyone should be wanting to meet them which is reason enough to come along!
Janthana Kaenprakhamroy (Tapoly): According to Fortune.com, only 4.8% of global 500 companies are run by female CEOs, this shows that we are lagging behind in terms of gender equality at the top. I'm looking forward to sharing my views on this topic, along with the benefits women bring at the board level.
This is a great opportunity for aspiring founders who are looking for role models or who simply want to learn from top female leaders in the industry and benefit from their lessons learned.
What are you looking forward to the most at FMLS?
Lissele Pratt (Capitalixe): I'm incredibly excited to attend FMLS this year and have the opportunity to connect with many inspiring and driven individuals. I'm also looking forward to sharing my story as a female fintech founder and highlighting the challenges and opportunities that come with the territory.
There's still a lot of work to be done when it comes to gender diversity in this industry, but events like FMLS are helping to pave the way for change. I hope my story can help raise awareness and inspire other women to pursue their dreams in fintech.
Tamara Kostova (Velexa): Finance Magnates is not just bringing industry leaders together, but inciting the best conversations, so I’m looking forward to discussing a partnership that will push Investing-as-a-Service forward.
Sophie Gerber – (TRAction Fintech, Sophie Grace): I'm looking forward to catching up with the industry – friends, clients, colleagues – seeing what's happening in the market and meeting new people. Over 10 years of the London expo the industry has evolved a lot and it's always great to be able to see and hear in one place the broader themes which are impacting participants and their businesses.
Janthana Kaenprakhamroy (Tapoly): It's my first time going to FMLS, so I'm excited to compare notes with leaders from across our industry, and to connect with insurers as well as investors.
Tell us a bit about what you do/your company/who you are looking to network with?
Lissele Pratt (Capitalixe): A bit about me, I am the Co-Founder and COO of Capitalixe, and we are a Fintech consultancy specialising in helping medium to high-risk industries obtain reliable payment, fintech and banking services globally. What we essentially do is match companies up to providers that best fit their needs and requirements.
I'm looking forward to networking with like-minded individuals who are passionate about making a difference in the fintech industry. In an ever-changing landscape, it's important to be able to rely on a strong network of peers for advice, support, and collaboration.
Tamara Kostova (Velexa): Velexa’s investing technology platform empowers financial institutions, and disruptive players to capitalise on the demand for modern and ubiquitous investing solutions by new-generation investors. We’re looking for companies who are re-invent their wealth management experience through embedded investing.
Sophie Gerber – (TRAction Fintech, Sophie Grace): TRAction does regulatory trade and transaction reporting for CFD and FX firms as well as the broader financial industry. We are keen to meet with firms that are interested in optimising their current operations for this important regulatory piece, our existing clients and also other firms that offer similar services.
Consultants and advisors are also super important to us to further understand client pain points. Shared experiences are so valuable even if you are competing with someone and TRAction's staff love to participate in the conference.
Janthana Kaenprakhamroy (Tapoly): Tapoly is one of the first on-demand insurance providers for the Gig Economy market in the UK. We aspire to solve insurance problems for the 1.1bn under-served gig workers and micro-SMEs worldwide through our partnership with (re)insurers, MGAs and brokers.
Check out the full agenda today and join the conversation surrounding FMLS22!
