Banking Sector Scorecard, 2021 Update - Thematic Research

This report assesses the key themes that are transforming the banking market right now, utilizing our thematic scoring methodology to identify which companies will do well in the market in the future - and the companies that will falter as a result of their lack of investment in the key banking themes. In this report, we score the world’s leading banking players against the 10 themes that are impacting their industry the most. Our resulting thematic engine helps us identify the strongest and weakest players in the banking sector over the next two years.

The future success of retail banks will be determined by how well they respond to themes. Themes - whether an innovative technology, a political event, or indeed a global pandemic - can blindside executives, evolve in fast and unpredictable ways, and render existing modes of operation obsolete. As such, firms that invest in the right themes often end up winning while those that miss the big themes often end up lagging behind.

Scope

• Retail banking is going through a period of profound transformation, accelerated by COVID-19. Long overdue infrastructure mismatches (over-branched and under-digitized) have been corrected at pace and at scale by otherwise slow-moving incumbent institutions.
• AI-enabled credit scoring saw digital banks such as WeBank and MYbank limit non-performing loan ratios to single digits while incumbents set aside billions in loan loss provisions.
• Rather than being displaced by COVID-19, the ESG theme has been buttressed by it. Being forced to shut down huge sections of the economy reminded everyone the environment can have a direct impact on economic performance.

Reasons to Buy

• Understand which banks are best positioned for success within critical themes and why.
• Learn which banks are under-invested in key themes and thus most vulnerable to disruption.
• Understand which themes your institution can address (and how) to drive share price.