Nicolas Léonard: The Horizon Conference is celebrating its 10th edition this year. Has it become a major event in Deloitte's calendar over the years and why?
John Psaila: From the outset, we wanted to offer an event that was not to be missed and that was awaited by all the players in the marketplace. An event that would be marked in advance in the diaries and that would offer unique and high quality content. It is clear that 10 years on, the event is still a success. I think this is due to the richness of the panels offered, the quality of the speakers from all over the world who join us for this event, but also to its innovative format which each year holds many surprises and allows the conference to maintain its appeal for the decision-makers of the market.
The main ambition of our event is to gather, exchange, debate and draw together the contours of tomorrow's world.
What are the concrete objectives of this event?
Our firm has always had and continues to have the desire to share with market players the perspectives, developments and challenges that are shaking up the financial world as a whole and on which we work every day. This is our primary ambition: to gather, exchange, debate and shape tomorrow's world. We are fortunate in Luxembourg to have a considerable number of leading financial players, and the Horizon Conference has become their annual meeting over the years in order to look ahead and lay the foundations for future success.
How did you choose the topics and speakers for this year's conference?
This year we chose to focus on the 2030 perspective. It is clear that in today's world we need to think in the medium and long term if we are to respond intelligently, pragmatically and effectively to the many challenges we face. This is also true for the investments that need to be made to seize the opportunities that will arise. The actors who have the capacity to project themselves will be the winners of tomorrow's world and it is on this basis that we have built this year's edition, with the desire to offer our guests a plural view of the future.
The terms “covid", "crisis", "pandemic", for example, do not appear in the programme of this year's edition. Is this a desire to project into the future?
The theme "Perspectives 2030" naturally invites us to look ahead. This can and must be done in the light of what we are going through, but must go beyond that. Whether it is the climate challenge, the role of technology, the future of the stock market or, more broadly, the face that the world of finance will have in the future, there are a multitude of questions to be addressed that go beyond the pandemic that we are experiencing. Finally, we believe that the majority of players have learned the lessons of this episode and want to project themselves into the medium to long term and make resilience one of the drivers of their future growth.
What are the arguments that should convince a CEO, CFO or decision-maker not to miss the Horizon Conference?
After 10 years, what can I say? The event, its speakers and panellists, but also all those who have already marked their agenda are reasons enough to be convinced that it is a moment not to be missed. I have no doubt that this 10th edition will be a success and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our professionals who have been involved in the success of this project since the beginning and all those who have come to participate from Luxembourg, Europe and beyond.
This article was originally published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.