Tracy Vegro has just celebrated six months at the helm of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) when I meet her at 20 Fenchurch Street, where the professional body is based.
By joining the CISI, she has “completed the set” of roles in policy, regulation and at a professional body.
“A lot of my working career I was a Whitehall civil servant,” she tells me as we look out over the City.
The CISI has its own private entrance to Sky Garden (advertised as ‘London’s highest public garden’), of which we make full use.
My interest here is to make sure membership bodies have a life beyond the city traditions and the livery halls
“I worked in the Department for Business, the Government Equalities Office and the former Department of Energy before it changed recently.”
Swings and roundabouts
In these roles, Vegro was often involved in financial services, but from the point of view of legislation.
“This was back in the New Labour years when everything was about politicians and businesses having a common agenda and making sure there was a good choice for people,” she says. “It was all about making it easier for consumers and small businesses, especially consumers of loans.
“Then, as is always the case with financial services, things tended to go swings and roundabouts. We saw things like Northern Rock and the financial bailout at the taxpayers’ expense and all that kind of thing,” she recalls.
Hopefully, the client base is going to be more informed in the future, but they may also want advice delivered in a completely different way
The failure of the British mortgage lender in 2007 was followed by the collapse of much bigger and global banks, which sparked the 2008 financial crisis.
Vegro says, in policy terms, she “saw the full cycle”, adding: “You really see how things can change.”
In 2013, she went on secondment to The Co-operative Bank.
“I don’t know if you remember?” she asks. “It was mired in scandal a short while ago.
“No disrespect to the Co-op, which has done a brilliant job of turning it around, but it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that it would all survive.
“The group had to make quite a lot of divestments and sell off Co-op farms and pharmacists to shore up the bank, which they absolutely did.”
I think the opportunities to develop new talent from different routes will be important
From there, Vegro went to work as a regulator.
“I moved to the Financial Reporting Council [FRC],” she says. “And then, latterly, I was at the Solicitors Regulation Authority, where I did a lot of stuff that was more legalistic.”
But the law regulator has financial services relevance because many legal matters relate also to estate management and financial planning.
“Up to this point I’d worked in core Whitehall and then seen how some of the legislation impacts in the real world by working for Co-operative Bank, and then regulation,” says Vegro.
“I thought that, for my next challenge, a member body would be really interesting because you’re much closer to the practitioners.”
“I’ve done the full gamut,” she laughs.
Listening to members
Now, she is laser focused on making sure the CISI remains relevant in a changing world.
We haven’t quite got the vocab right yet on ESG. People use different words interchangeably
“My interest here is to make sure membership bodies have a life beyond the city traditions and the livery halls. Financial services is the biggest earner for the UK economy and we want youngsters coming in to stay in the sector for life,” she says.
“We’ve got to continue to be really relevant, and make sure we attract younger members. I really wanted to be known as a membership body that’s modernising and going with the grain of what people want.
“So listening to our members is really important, ensuring that our qualifications continue to be broad.”
With regard to continuing professional development, Vegro is excited by all the things that are happening to improve the consumer experience. She believes they provide an inspiring opportunity for the CISI.
“[Taking this role has] been a good choice,” she says. “It’s been exciting.”
Having apprenticeships in financial services is a big, positive step forward
Six months ago feels like a “watershed moment”, adds Vegro, and her goals are “pretty much the same” as when she was first approached for the CEO role.
She is particularly passionate about increasing diversity in the sector, and sees this as ripe for development.
“One of the things I used to work on at the FRC was gender diversity. Having been in the Government Equalities Office, I once did some work on something called the Women and Work Commission.
“From a very low base we got some traction on gender, and I think it was to do with people having to report it. In other aspects of diversity, it’s almost still silent.”
From her experience of visiting companies and meeting people, things are not changing as quickly as they should be, Vegro feels.
I don’t think anybody can be credible in the advice space without really understanding the principles of ESG and how to use them
“There’s a lot more to be done [on diversity]. But I’m not sure there’s an easy answer to how you do it. And I sense that some people still seem almost uncomfortable to even discuss it; whereas in other professions they are just more willing to have an open discussion.”
She believes it is “much easier” in a public-sector context, where it is possible to apply more positive discrimination or targeting.
“In financial services, and particularly financial advice, it is around what clients want or what people think clients want,” she says. “So you’ve got to have that in mind. And I wonder if that stops a real step change happening.”
Responsible investing
Another subject she expects to rise up the agenda in the coming years is responsible investing.
There has been a culture of poaching staff from firm to firm. You see people move a lot more than in other sectors
“We’re seeing interest on all fronts. All of our firms feel it’s an absolute must-do. They all have to be clear on what they’re offering.
“There are so many bits of rules and guidance and so on. You’ve got every regulator playing its part. My old team at the FRC has just put out new guidelines on ESG [environmental, social and governance]. We [CISI] work in alliance with some of the banking institutes on some exams.
“It’s a very big topic. I don’t think anybody can be credible in the advice space without really understanding the principles of ESG and how to use them.
“They sound simple, don’t they? But how do you bring that to life for a potential investor?”
The ESG shift, Vegro says, has been very good for the CISI, and the membership body is “constantly looking at doing more”.
Some people still seem almost uncomfortable to even discuss diversity; whereas in other professions they are just more willing to have an open discussion
She adds: “I’ve never seen an area where there’s been so much genuine interest on all fronts — from the profession, from regulators and from consumers. For some consumers, particularly younger people, it’s massively important that they wouldn’t invest in X. Investments have got to meet these criteria.
“Advisers have to make sure they are giving the best advice and people understand.
“We haven’t quite got the vocab right yet. People use different words interchangeably.
“We think we have a role to play in making sure that confusion is tackled in a way that leaves people better informed.
“But it’s a growth area, and quite rightly.
“It’s also one that translates into every country in the world. Cop28 [the 28th Conference of the Parties] is in the Middle East this year.”
I really wanted to be known as a membership body that’s modernising and going with the grain of what people want
Cop28 is the latest annual United Nations summit that brings together most countries of the world to discuss how to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
It will take place in Dubai in November this year and has been billed as ‘a prime opportunity to rethink, reboot and refocus the climate agenda’.
“It’s a big opportunity,” she says.
Professional development
Unsurprisingly, as well as tackling climate change Vegro is a passionate advocate of professional qualifications and development.
She says having apprenticeships in financial services is a “big, positive step forward”. But she believes it will be important to ensure there are multiple routes people can take to get their qualifications in financial services and advice.
In December last year, the CISI teamed up with Fitch Learning to launch the Financial Services Career Accelerator education programme. This aims to support the profession in finding future apprentices from a broad range of young people, and to provide an entry to those for whom financial services careers may seem inaccessible or exclusionary.
Listening to our members is really important, ensuring that our qualifications continue to be broad
“I think the opportunities to develop new talent from different routes will be important,” says Vegro.
There has long been a “war for talent”, as she calls it.
“In financial services, good people have always been in demand and there has been a culture of poaching staff from firm to firm. You see people move a lot more than in other sectors.”
And she doesn’t envisage this situation letting up. In fact, as roles in the profession evolve — spurred on by a changing world — she believes the race for talent will only become more intense.
“I don’t make this point politically, but we heard a lot about the Edinburgh Reforms as a strapline [last December], and we haven’t heard much about the detail of it,” she says.
I thought working for a membership body would be really interesting because you’re much closer to the practitioners
“One of the reasons behind it was to attract more people into more jobs here in the UK. There genuinely are roles that don’t get filled. And then there are some really important ones that you haven’t got enough people for.”
She continues: “[The notion of the sector being] fit for the future is something you can’t ignore.
“Hopefully, the client base is going to be more informed in the future, but they may also want advice delivered in a completely different way.”
She warns firms that, if they do not become tech enabled, and if they do not upskill to meet client expectations, they will get left behind.
As for the future, Vegro has a message for members.
“The world is changing and you can have a voice. As a membership body we can share insights, and I really want to do that,” she says.
We got some traction on gender, and I think it was to do with people having to report it
“Not everybody loves social media, but platforms like LinkedIn, where you can put a couple of questions out there or share a few observations, I think you should use them.
“Sometimes even just asking the question is the start of some change,” she adds. “If you’ve got a raft of members and you don’t ask them what they want, that’s a wasted opportunity.”
Charitable intentions
Amid all the change — both inside the CISI and in the wider world — Vegro does not want the body’s charitable intentions to get lost.
“I want to make sure we have clear, charitable objectives. As a membership body it’s easy to forget you’re a charity. But our charitable objectives are important.
“They can make a big difference in a world that needs people to make a difference.”
We can share insights as a membership body. I really want to do that
The CISI last year launched a global initiative called the Future Foundation, the aim of which is to improve financial literacy skills, as well as the experience and outcomes of financial learning, through the provision of grants.
“It’s not always easy to do that in a bigger organisation. It has straplines and values, but it’s much harder to make them a reality.
“In a smaller body, with charitable status, you can make a difference,” says Vegro.
Snapshot CV
Tracy Vegro started her career as a civil servant, working on a range of public policy issues — including financial services and company law, energy and climate change, and equalities and diversity legislation — in several Whitehall departments.
She was selected for the High Potential Development programme and as part of this was seconded to The Co-operative Group to work on the recapitalisation of The Co-operative Bank following its very public governance problems.
She then became a City regulator and joined the Financial Reporting Council, followed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
She is a non-executive director on the board of Salix Finance — a government-funded body responsible for energy efficiency improvements in public-sector buildings and housing. She also chairs LawtechUK’s regulatory response panel.
Married with twin daughters, she was awarded an OBE for services to business and diversity in 2020.
This article featured in the June 2023 edition of MM.
If you would like to subscribe to the monthly magazine, please click here.
As a Chartered Fellow of the CISI, I do value my membership. But on reading the headline of the Tracy Vegro interview I held my head in my hands in despair. “We want youngsters to stay in the sector for life”. I can’t think of much that is more inappropriate. Lifetime tenure in the advice sector is an egregious error. Swallowing all the provider guff over a lifetime hardly gives one a broad perspective. What wider sense of commerciality does it provide? The better off clients are already wary of impecunious advisers telling them what to do with their money. Some of the best qualifications for dispensing advice is to have ‘skin in the game’. How many even now can claim to have that?
A wider experience provides a measure of gravitas and combined with appropriate qualifications, a healthy dose of cynicism and an independent mind set is surely the preferred CV. Sadly one may not expect much better from a career bureaucrat.