Andrew Kail leads Financial Services practice of PwC in UK
PwC’s UK Financial Services practice has appointed Andrew Kail as its new leader. Kail, who succeeds Kevin Burrowes next month, has more than 25 years of financial services experience.
Andrew Kail has worked at PwC since 2001, in his most recent role he was Senior Partner and the head of the firm’s financial services Assurance practice. Previously, from 2008 to 2011, he headed PwC UK’s Insurance Group. Kail holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Manchester, and has been a Member of London Leadership Team for Business in the Community since 2013.
From 1 July 2016, Kail will take over leadership of PwC’s UK financial services unit, one of the firm’s largest industry groups, from Kevin Burrowes. Kail brings more than 25 year of financial service experience to the role, which includes being the lead partner to a range of PwC’s FTSE100 and FTSE250 audits. In his new role, he will be responsible for supporting clients deal with a range of uncertainties that beset the market, including new business models and the threat from nimble competitors. Burrowes, who started in the role in 2013 and has worked for PwC for more than 22 years, joins the firm’s UK executive board from 1 July as head of Clients & Markets.
Kail says that he is “delighted” with his promotion, stating “We have a fantastic business with an exceptional client base and an amazing team of people within it. It is a privilege to be trusted with its leadership and I am very excited about the future.” Commenting on the outlook in the industry, Kail remarks “Given the level of change [the financial services industry is undergoing] I am confident that the need for world class professional services will remain high. To help our clients we are investing significantly in areas such as risk and regulation, cyber, data analytics and technology, including Fintech.”
According to a recent study by EY, optimism of European banking executives is at a 4 year low, in part due to the rise of competition from, among others, FinTechs – a $19 billion market – and large technology players pushing into the space. A recent analysis by Oliver Wyman found that, if the financial services industry sticks to the status quo, the sector will face a $1 trillion value shift in the coming years.
