"Innovation is not about scale or complexity. It's about falling in love with a problem and then applying all your resources— be they intellectual, emotional, or material —to solving it in a way that makes a meaningful difference."
Henry Burton
SPX Limited

Tell us a little bit about your idea and your journey to coming up with it.

Jersey’s trust, corporate and fund services sector has fiduciary responsibility for an estimated £1 trillion of client assets. Central to this fiduciary responsibility lies the duty of directors and trustees to protect these assets, which includes ensuring they are adequately insured. Yet, given the sheer volume of entities and the diverse range of assets under their stewardship, coupled with a lack of specialised risk and insurance expertise, effective risk and insurance management presents a significant challenge.

Current risk and insurance management practices across Jersey’s offshore fiduciary services sector are non-standard, inconsistent, and inefficient, making it difficult for fiduciaries to fulfil their duties effectively and increasing the likelihood of oversights and errors, representing significant financial liabilities to both clients and providers.

Additionally, the absence of a systematic and transparent approach to risk and insurance management at the client entity level makes it difficult for trust, corporate and fund services businesses to understand and manage their fiduciary exposure effectively.

Our project proposal aims to address these issues, offering a solution that will reduce risk, increase productivity and help businesses better understand and manage their fiduciary exposure, and most importantly, assist fiduciaries in fulfilling their duties more effectively, thereby safeguarding the substantial assets under their management.

My journey to addressing this problem began during my career in the Lloyd’s & London insurance market, coupled with recent experience developing innovative digital solutions. Recognising the opportunity to address this industry-wide challenge, I recently undertook a hands-on auditing exercise of a Jersey based trust company’s insurance management approach. This two-month audit provided invaluable insights into the practical challenges and pain points, forming the foundation of our project proposal.

 

How will Impact Jersey help your project grow further? Where will you take your project after Impact Jersey?

Impact Jersey’s support is an important catalyst for our project. The funding will accelerate the development of our insurance management platform, enabling us to move from concept to a viable product faster. More than that, the validation and endorsement from Impact Jersey will help us gain credibility, attract potential partners and clients, and open doors to further funding and support.

With Impact Jersey’s backing, we will be able to conduct more extensive testing and refining of our platform, ensuring it truly meets the needs of the fiduciary services sector in Jersey. We will also be in a better position to explore collaborations with local stakeholders and explore integration with existing systems and processes.

Beyond Impact Jersey, we have ambitious plans for our project. Once the platform is established and successfully adopted within Jersey, we plan to scale our solution to other markets facing similar challenges. We believe our platform has the potential to revolutionise insurance management processes not just in the financial services industry, but in any sector where asset management and protection are key. Our ultimate goal is to become a leading solution in the insurance management space, contributing to more efficient and secure asset management on a global scale.

 

What makes Jersey a great place for innovative projects?

Jersey is a fantastic place to innovate. Our size makes it so much easier to connect with key players and decision-makers, and the support provided for innovation in Jersey is also exceptional. Organisations like Digital Jersey and Impact Jersey provide invaluable resources like funding, mentorship, and networking opportunities.

Additionally, the regulatory environment in Jersey is very open to innovation. The regulators are approachable and willing to engage in discussions about new business models and technologies.

Jersey also benefits from a highly skilled workforce, particularly in the finance and digital sectors. This pool of talent is a great resource to tap into. The island’s geographical location is also a plus, placing it neatly between the UK and Europe and making it ideal for businesses looking to scale and expand internationally.

And, of course, the island’s world-class digital infrastructure. With one of the fastest broadband speeds in the world, it provides a strong foundation for tech-based projects.

 

What does innovation mean to you?

Innovation is not about scale or complexity. It’s about falling in love with a problem and then applying all your resources— be they intellectual, emotional, or material —to solving it in a way that makes a meaningful difference. Falling in love with a problem means you’re committed to truly understanding it from all angles—its nuances, its challenges, and the real impact of it on people and businesses.

 

Read more: Meet the second wave of Open Programme grant recipients