G L O B A L B R I E F I N G R E P O RT R E V I E W L I E C H T E N S T E I N B A N K E R S A S S O C I AT I O N B R A N D E D S T O RY
When Slowing Down Leads to Speeding Up By Simon Tribelhorn
Without the past, there is no future. Tradition is important – especially for banks like ours, given that they pursue a long-term, cross-generational approach in all their thought and action. But we cannot rest on the laurels of our past. In other words: Tradition must not mean that we unconditionally stick to what we’ve always done, without constantly questioning ourselves and our surroundings. We need a good mix between the proven and the new – between tradition and innovation. This is why, together with our member banks, we have developed our new multi-year strategy, Roadmap 2025. Its leitmotif is “Growth through innovation and sustainability”, deliberately placing an even greater emphasis on sustainability than we already have in the past. The goal is for the banking centre to play a crucial and creative role shaping the GROUPOFNATIONS.COM
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so urgently needed transformation of the global economy and society towards greater sustainability and to achieve a real impact with our products and services for the benefit of our clients and future generations. We strive for a comprehensive approach to sustainability, whereby the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations not only serve as guiding principles, there is a strong business imperative to deliver them. The recent ‘Better Business, Better World’ report revealed that pursuing sustainable and inclusive business models could unlock economic opportunities worth at least US$12 trillion a year by 2030 and generate up to 380 million jobs, mostly in developing countries. Hence, we do this knowing that our clients expect more than simply high-quality services. Our clients also want financial institutions to contribute to solving the environmental and social
challenges of our time. Are we on the right track? – Yes, we think so, but we are aware that much remains to be done. And again speaking for Liechtenstein banks, especially in our core business – investment advice and asset management – our range of products and services must be swiftly further expanded. The coronavirus pandemic has caused us all – including investors – to reflect more deeply about the future. The focus has shifted dramatically towards health and security, and sensitivity about one’s own financial security in the future has noticeably increased. The slowing down of our everyday lives has led to a speeding up of sustainable investments. A change in thinking can be seen in society, politics, and business: Energy companies like Total and BP are looking for new, sustainable business models, and even traditional car producers are converting their entire fleet to e-mobility; the German Bundestag is holding general parliamentary debates on sustainability; and Austria has set out a clear objective in its current government programme 2020-2024 to become climate-neutral by 2040 and to invest in sustainability, to name just a few examples. In addition to sustainability, we must also incorporate the opportunities and risks of digitalisation in a meaningful way. COVID-19 has shown us this impressively as well. In particular the way we work, and above all where we work, changed significantly during the coronavirus pandemic. Up to 90% of the employees of our financial institutions had to work from home and in some cases still do. The coronavirus did not invent the home office, but it dramatically accelerated an existing trend. What was unthinkable just a few months ago has suddenly become reality and will become an integral part of our everyday life in the future. In the medium to long term, neither employees nor employers will want to – or be able to – completely do without the advantages of working from home. Hybrid forms or the “flexible office” are likely to dominate after the coronavirus. In any event, three questions relating to this new world of work will occupy
