Speaker 1:
Welcome to Viewpoint, a TD Securities podcast. Listen in as we draw perspectives from a variety of thought leaders on key themes influencing markets, industries, and the global economy today. We hope you enjoy this episode.
Scott Smith:
Hello, and welcome to Viewpoint, a TD Securities podcast. My name is Scott Smith and I will be your host for today's episode. I'm a managing director at TD Securities and a financial services specialty salesperson in the equities division. I've been a financial services expert for 25 years. Before that, I was a research analyst in equities covering the payments business, so I have some background here.
I'm thrilled to be hosting today's podcast with Cavin Wong and Liza Januzi. Cavin is a managing director regional head of global transaction and financial institution coverage in the EMEA, Asia-Pacific, and based in Singapore. He's responsible for delivering and executing the global transaction banks business strategy across correspondent banking, cash management, global trade finance, and expert in agency finance with financial institutions and corporate clients in both regions. Liza Januzi is a managing director in the global transaction banking business and is responsible for the relationship management and TD's cash and treasury management for the US money center banks, US regional banks, America's foreign financial institution coverage, non-bank financial institutions, and financial institution business for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Given that that's a mouthful, perhaps both of you could briefly describe what your roles mean in a little bit less bank speak.
Liza Januzi:
Thank you, Scott. Thank you so much for hosting us today. I think you did a great job actually with my background. I lead our Americas region. For us, that's North America, Latin America, and Caribbean. To put it more simply, we manage global partnerships in the financial institution space.
Cavin Wong:
Yeah. Thanks for the kind introduction, Scott. I manage the global treasury banking business for both EMEA and APAC region. Really, covering all the financial institutions, government, and corporate client segment and based in Singapore. I really cover the entire suite of global treasury banking products for all our client segments across both regions.
Liza Januzi:
Scott, back at you. How did you end up in financial services?
Scott Smith:
I chose financial services because they are the first derivative of almost every economic activity that happens for industries and for consumers. Whether you're banked or unbanked, you have to have some access to the system. It's so critical for everything that happens in the world. It really seems like a great place to be.
You're both heading to Sibos very soon. In addition to all the prep work around client meetings, you're probably also spending a lot of time thinking about how to cultivate talent to help you manage those relationships with the rapid evolution of the financial space. Let's dig right into the question of talent acquisition. Banks have a pretty strong history of successful innovation in product development. I'm reminded of the fact that banks were once considered irretrievably behind in P2P payments, but managed to get together, build Zelle, and subsequently outperform many of the fintechs, both in terms of share price as well as users on the platform.
Despite that, banks do still continue to struggle on the talent side to some degree. What do you think potential employees might be missing about the opportunities at working for a bank and what do you think that opportunity looks like?
Cavin Wong:
Let me take this first question, Scott. I think the key takeaway to your question is really how do we as banks acquire the right talent for the right job fit? All potential employees need to know that.
In today's market, it's no surprise that banks are really the middle of an identity shift with the entire financial industry at a crossroad. Previously, success in banking was really all about stability and predictability. But now, the industry is really undergoing a massive shift given widespread digital transformation, AI, changing expectations from both clients and employees.
A recent survey in 2025 found out that 75% of employers are really having a hard time finding the right talents that they need. But yet, just 10 years ago, only 36% say the same. With AI, digital innovation, the skillsets that employees really have been traditionally hired for do not necessarily match the skillsets needed to navigate the evolving landscape.
Now, I want to bring this discussion back to the importance of hiring the right talents in the transaction banking and payments industry. Today we have instant realtime payments with adoption of ISO 20022, which means that faster payment rails and interoperability are baseline expectations not differentiators. I think that we've got to make that clear. Now, competition is really heating up from fintechs that offer Amazon-style user experience for payments. Treasury and payment services are really embedded in the clients' ERP systems, trade finance platforms, and marketplaces via open banking and API-first strategies. AI is driving fraud detection, liquidity for costing, and compliance monitoring. You know what, the list goes on.
As you can see, there is really a widening talent gap in the workforce that banks need to address, and potential employees need to bridge this gap. If banks really can't adapt to the changing times by reskilling, attracting and retaining talent, investments in AI transformations may really well fall flat.
Let's just all not forget that there's also a powerful generation shift right now that we are experiencing. The banks, all banks need to really understand the mixed generation of talent to help drive AI innovation. With Gen Z stepping into the workforce, banks like ourselves in TD are really being forced to reevaluate the HO patterns, hiring process.
Scott Smith:
All right. Well, let's talk about Gen Z. They're digital natives and natural change agents and will make up 30% of the workforce by 2030. They have been molded by the digital age, grew up in the shadow of recessions, COVID-19 pandemic, mental health crises, and constant economic change, despite the fact that the Great Financial Crisis is only an abstract idea to most of them. In fact, the oldest of Gen Z were probably around 10 years old when the GFC hit. Why do you think banks still have the traditional image in their collective consciousness and what can we do to change it?
Liza Januzi:
Well, I think banks still have a traditional image because their branding, customer experience, and regulatory posture emphasize stability over speed and innovation. Those are values that really class with Gen Z's digital-first innovator mindset. Even though banks are investing heavily in digital, their client-facing or their public-facing identity still remains rooted in that heritage image, if I can say that. Ironically though, Scott, I think Gen Z and banks do want a lot of the same thing, growth, innovation, impact, but historically they have misunderstood each other.
The other factor that I think we need to consider is that for banks, a lot of the innovation takes place in the background and it's invisible to the retail Gen Z customer. They realistically grew in an environment where it was seamless digital integration and platforms. But I do think banks are making huge strides and the innovation that we're doing in banks is becoming a lot more apparent in the public domain. There's thousands of examples that we can offer here, but I think to put it very simply banks have been very successful in deploying AI in providing personalized financial advice. That really took off during the COVID pandemic.
Lastly, I think on the point of the global financial crisis, even though Gen Z didn't experience it fully or lived through it fully, I think they grew up in its shadow. What I mean by that is they either had parents or family members that lost jobs, or the media portrayed banks as they were growing up in a way that traditional in nature.
Cavin Wong:
Yeah. I would just say a couple more points on the topic of Gen Z. What Liza mentioned earlier, in this AI-driven world, retention of talents is really less about locking in the talent themselves with perks. But really, more about unlocking that ability, purpose, and sense of urgency. If you really make them feel like they're shaping the future, not being shaped by it, they will really stay with the organization.
It's really more about purpose over process. Younger professionals want to see their work tied to societal, environmental outcomes, which means that companies really need to articulate impact to win loyalty of these employees.
Scott Smith:
Clearly there's a perception gap for the emerging talent about the banking industry. I'm not sure most of them would understand that, according to a McKinsey study, banks spend six to 12 percent of their revenue on technology. That's versus the TMT sector, which spends something like four to five percent. Banks actually make up about 16% of global IT spend every year. Given that, why do you think this perception or misperception continues to exist?
Liza Januzi:
Well, I think since we're going to Sibos, why don't we break it down more so related to transaction banking where we can offer some clear examples. I think what it comes down to is a mismatch in storytelling. Fintechs highlight convenience and user experience, while transaction banks emphasize resilience, security, and compliance. This reinforces that traditional image even though transaction banks are leading in cutting-edge areas like embedded finance, tokenization of deposits, and treasury automation.
Let's also not forget that banks have the heavy burden of significant regulatory obligations that they must meet. That's of course important to keep the global financial system safe. I think whether it's by my standards or Gen Z's standards, that really is not flashy. It doesn't compare to the customer-facing developments that generally happen in the market, but again it's critically important. Even with that in the equation, banks are investing billions of dollars in innovation. I think going forward though, Scott, the challenge will be not only doing the innovation, but also reframing it and communicating it in a way that resonates with the next generation.
This is something that we're heavily focused on at TD and we're really excited about how we can actually not only grow with our clients, but also with our colleagues. A public example that we can probably discuss is TD Securities launched the AI Virtual Assistant, which is an internal chatbot, and what it really does is it aggregates and synthesizes vast amounts of information.
Scott Smith:
I use that chatbot every day.
Liza Januzi:
Yeah.
Scott Smith:
So do a lot of people on our desk. It's working great and we're really happy to have the innovation on our end. With the financial services industry now growing more rapidly than ever with respect to technology in all areas, from client services, to advice, to payments and transactions, Cavin, what skills and attributes will define future talent?
Cavin Wong:
Maybe I can bring the question to what TD is looking for future-ready talent. I think at TD, future-ready talent is really defined by adaptability, agility, and a growth mindset. As the banking industry undergoes rapid transformation with AI, digital innovation, we're really looking for people as curious and excited as we are to be on this journey. We are really seeking individuals that are eager to learn and really bring a fresh perspective to complex problems. The next generation of leaders we will consider will have to lead the world in a world where banking looks more like technology plus ecosystem orchestration.
Maybe I can give you some examples as to what I mean, Scott. The first of it is really we will consider hiring tech-first thinkers, where people are really affluent in the concept of APIs, digital infrastructure, AI tools. But not necessarily coders, but leaders who can really speak the same language as tech teams and fintech partners. The second example would be a future-ready talent that TD will consider are client-centric translators. People who are able to connect complex backend innovations to clear value stories for treasurists, CFOs, and CEOs.
Maybe I give you a final example. People who are really having a global mindset with cultural agility. Payments is really border-less right now. Future leaders must navigate different local regulations, global client needs, regional platforms, like RCM Pay Now, [inaudible 00:12:34], while respecting the cross-cultural collaboration. This will really define the next generation of talent hires in TD and any bank organization.
The transaction banking payments industry is really shifting from pipes to platforms and ecosystems. Future leaders won't just manage flows, they will really orchestrate networks, integrate technology, and humanize complexity. If we really recruit and grow leaders who are digital fluent, client-centric, and globally agile, you will really future-proof the transaction banking business for the next 10 or 20 years in the industry.
Scott Smith:
Many of the companies that actually built the backbone of the internet are much less relevant today than they were, and some of them have even gone away, and the survivors are the companies that put businesses on that backbone. What do you think banks are going to look like in the next 10 years?
Liza Januzi:
Well, first off, I would agree with that analogy. I have to say that partnerships will continue to be instrumental for banks to be able to grow and stay ahead. It's really impossible for banks to build everything themselves and I think most institutions have come to that realization.
In terms of what I think banks will look like in the next 10 years, that's tough, but I think transparency will become a new form of currency and banks are likely to evolve into talent-first organizations. You heard from Cavin on that theme as well. I think more importantly, success will hinge on how human expertise and AI work together. More so, we need to also empower employees and bring the right skillset to the workplace with the right frameworks, which will allow banks to be better equipped to lead as the financial world enters into a new era.
If we go into more specific examples in transaction banking, think of how AI and humans can actually interact. In payment processing or anything transaction banking related, AI could potentially handle things like processing, reporting, and reconciliations. But also, if you take it one step further, think of the client experience where AI actually moves liquidity before a client knows that they need it. That would optimize working capital globally.
On the human side, I think where we can add value is the soft skills, the strategic thinking, and the risk management. Of course, that will allow us more time to actually deliver on greater customer service and solutions to our clients.
Scott Smith:
It's certainly a fascinating time in the industry and the evolution is happening at absolutely breakneck speed. Thank you both for your insights today, and the best of luck at Sibos. Liza, I know you are speaking along with several other TD members, so good luck, break a leg.
Liza Januzi:
Thank you, Scott.
Cavin Wong:
Thank you, Scott.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for listening to Viewpoint, a TD Securities podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to this series on Apple Podcasts or on your favorite podcast platform. For more thought leadership content, visit tdsecurities.com, and follow us on LinkedIn for all the latest TD Securities updates. For relevant disclaimers to this podcast, please refer to the Viewpoint episode page on our website.
