EY promotes Alex Birkin to EMEIA financial services consulting head
London based professional Alex Birkin has been named as the new Managing Partner of EY’s financial services consulting wing in Europe, Middle East, India and Africa. He assumed the role having worked within the firm’s financial services segment for more than two decades.
Commenting on his appointment, Birkin said, “It’s an honour to lead this outstanding team and build on the strong foundations in place. The pace of change across the financial services sector is accelerating. Our financial services clients are transforming themselves to realise long-term value for their clients, talent, shareholders and society as a whole. Our job at EY is to help them do this by maximising the power of their people, their technology, and their innovation.”
As of the start of July 2021, Birkin took up the role of EY’s EMEIA Financial Services Consulting Leader, replacing the outgoing Xavier Freynet. Birkin’s predecessor led the practice since 2016, but has now taken up the job of Head of Financial Services at EY France.
In his new position, Birkin will oversee EY’s financial services consulting business across 18 EMEIA markets. At the same time, he will lead more than 5,500 people, and assume responsibility for consulting services provided to some of EY’s largest European and global financial services clients.
Birkin has been advising the financial services industry for more than 23 years. He joined EY in 1997, and worked his way up to become Partner in 2005, before taking on his most recent position in 2016. Over the last five years, he has been EY’s Global Wealth and Asset Management (WAM) Consulting Leader, as well as its EMEIA Wealth and Asset Management Industry Leader. This saw him take responsibility for EY’s services delivered to clients in WAM in EMEIA, and for WAM consulting services globally, including services delivered to asset owners, wealth managers, asset managers, asset servicers and alternative asset managers.
Commenting on Alex’s appointment, Omar Ali, EY EMEIA Financial Services Managing Partner, said, “I’m delighted that Alex has accepted this role. Our FS clients face significant pressure to transform, driven by the need to innovate at scale, meet customer demands for tech-enabled products and services, and compete in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Alex brings the ideal combination of leadership ability and sector expertise to help our FS clients transform and grow their businesses in a more complex world.”
Late last year, EY also saw change at the top of its UK financial services consulting wing. Anna Anthony was named as the new leader from the start of January 2021, taking over from Omar Ali, who had held the role since 2015.