Tartan Week dividend: Scottish financial sector leaders look to woo US companies

Industry body Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE) recently launched a growth plan with the aim of unlocking a further £7 billion of value for the Scottish economy by 2028. It has also set a target for Scotland’s financial services sector to reach £1 trillion of assets under management by 2030.

Recent major investments in Scotland have been announced by US financial institutions JPMorgan Chase, which has more than 2,000 people north of the Border and runs a major tech base in Glasgow, as well as BlackRock and Morgan Stanley. Fund manager BlackRock marked 25 years in Edinburgh last year.

SFE chief executive Sandy Begbie, who has been attending Tartan Week as part of a delegation including politicians and business leaders, said: “Scotland’s world-class financial services industry has a proud shared history with the US. JPMorgan traces its roots in Scotland back to the 19th century, while BNY Mellon was established by founding father Alexander Hamilton, who was of Scottish descent. In recent years, we have seen major investments in Scotland from US financial institutions including BlackRock, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, and we are determined to continue developing these strong links to attract further investment, creating economic growth and high value jobs.

“The appeal of our sector to foreign direct investors lies in the strength, depth and maturity of our ecosystem, our world-class universities and talent pool, our record of innovation, and our strong connection with London. We launched our new sector growth strategy in October which sets out our plans to add between £4bn and £7bn to the Scottish economy over the next five years. To support these ambitions we want to see an even greater number of US companies come and be part of our thriving and supportive ecosystem.”

Begbie attended meetings with major US investors on Thursday including an energy sector roundtable at the United Nations Plaza, focusing on opportunities for investment in Scotland’s renewables sector and the global competition for capital. He then attended two financial services roundtables discussing SFE’s growth strategy and the “From Scotland to the World” campaign, before speaking at a Scotland Office reception for around 50 senior leaders. Other sector representatives in attendance included Fintech Scotland, TheCityUK and the Scottish Chambers of Commerce.

Financial services are the biggest sectoral contributor to Scotland’s economy, representing some £14.3bn, or 9.6 per cent, of gross value added (GVA) as well as being the second largest exporter, exporting £9.2bn in 2021. Scotland’s financial and related professional services sector is also a significant employer, providing jobs for around 148,000 people - around 9 per cent of national employment.

JPMorgan has had a presence in Glasgow for more than 20 years and in 2019 announced plans to build a new state-of-the-art technology home in the city, enabling it to add hundreds of jobs, many of which are focused on machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Scottish Financial Enterprise unveils strategy to see 'powerhouse' sector generate more financial and social prosperity