We welcomed nearly 200 guests to the event on Friday 15 October 2021, in support of Age Concern Jersey
The event, held at the Royal Yacht Hotel in St Helier, was an evening of firsts, wrote Niall Husbands MCSI, then president of the CISI Jersey branch (Paul Groden, Chartered FCSI, was appointed president in November 2021). The first in-person event for the branch since early 2019 was also the first time they had welcomed members of the CISI Board to the annual dinner.
Niall wrote:
It was a great pleasure to host the guest speaker, Joe Twyman, one of Britain’s best known and most respected political pollsters as the founder and director of Deltapoll, having previously worked as head of political and social research at YouGov and who was a director at the founding of that company in 2000.
Particular thanks were given to the sponsors of the event, Nedbank Private Wealth as gold sponsor, First Trust as silver sponsor and the bronze sponsors of Abrdn, BNY Mellon, Ogier, Pershing and Seven Investment Management for their continued support during the challenging logistics surrounding the event that had been originally scheduled in March 2019, and which had been postponed several times due to the Covid-19 virus. The Royal Yacht venue had been exceptionally helpful during this uncertain time.
I also thanked the members of the Jersey Committee for their hard work: Allie McMahon, Chartered MCSI, Ashley Correia ACSI, Bianca Jacques, Chartered FCSI, Ed Loader, Chartered FCSI, Gary James, Chartered FCSI, Leigh Hanna, Paul Clohesy, Chartered FCSI, Paul Groden, Chartered FCSI, Rhea Wright, Chartered FCSI, Rholo Mba, Chartered FCSI, and Zena Whiteley ACSI.
The evening raised money for Age Concern Jersey, and it was lovely that a former president of the Jersey branch, Ben Shenton, Chartered FCSI (president 2011–2013) resumed their place on ‘Top Table’, this time in their capacity as vice chair of the charity.
While the interruption caused by the pandemic was challenging on many levels for businesses and individuals, it also presented an opportunity to communicate more broadly and much more easily thanks to technology, a point that was flagged when I hosted a Jersey branch webinar that had questions from not only Jersey, the Crown Dependencies and the UK but also from around the world … which came as a (very pleasant) surprise when questions came in from sub-Saharan Africa! This did, however, prove that the global reach of our institute is very real. Even during a worldwide lockdown, we have remained an integrated community of professionals, dedicated to learning and to communicating.
In a strangely reassuring way this may have helped those on a small rock in the English Channel feel less isolated, and led to a recognition that we should all embrace a new way of going about our business, and recognise the value of the opportunity we have to share experiences in order to learn.
Top table guests included: David Porter, chief adviser, prudential and conduct policy, Jersey Financial Services Commission; Debbie Duarte, president, Insurance Institute of Jersey, Simon O’Donoghue, chair, Chanell Islands Wealth Managers Association; Dan Bisson, managing director, Nedbank Private Wealth; David McFadzean, head of investments, Nedbank Private Wealth; Jane Valls, executive director, GCC Board Directors Institute; Paul Groden, Chartered FCSI, vice-president (now president) and treasurer of the Jersey branch; Michael Gray, non-executive director, Jersey Finance; Connétable Richard Buchanan, assistant minister for external affairs and financial services, government of Jersey.
If you would like to support future dinners, please contact nikki.macmillan@cisi.org.