TheWealthNet the preeminent and highly respected source of daily news regarding the UK Wealth Management market, recently interviewed Stewart Foster as part of its tech spotlight series. The interview was published on the 31st January and is shown below.
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Key Info
Stewart Foster, chief executive and co-founder of wealthtech Step Fourth, is an IT entrepreneur and has worked at executive level for 20 years at both private and public companies.
He spent his early career at JP Morgan on its FX trading floor before spending nearly 10 years at software house, Financial Objects.
In June 2007, Mr Foster co-founded Third Financial Software (sold to Nucleus Financial in 2024) who are now a supplier to the UK investment management market. He was also responsible for setting up its FCA regulated technology and operations outsourcing service which grew from zero to over £1 billion of assets under management in 2017 its first full year of operation.
In October 2020, Mr Foster stepped down from the main board and set up Step Fourth, which launched to market in December 2022.
Why do you specialise in this area?
My calling is one where I get deep personal satisfaction from knowing I have helped others.
My clients are the bosses of investment management companies, who are guardians of their client’s wealth, and they take that responsibility extremely seriously. There is nothing more satisfying to me, than when a wealth manager thanks me for providing the technology that improves the service they offer to their clients.
As a business owner, I have the luxury of being able to have a laser focus on building innovative technology products that the market really wants, rather than selling products that have already been built. I know if I get the product right, everything else follows.
What are the key trends shaping technology at the moment?
There is a hugely exciting opportunity for AI to help our industry drive operational and investment efficiency. However, I see an unhealthy pressure on wealth managers to be seen to immediately adopt AI solutions, even though they don’t have the data infrastructure in place to gain any benefit.
Buying a shiny new tennis racquet is always tempting but won’t make you play like Roger Federer, and the racquet will be out of date in a year anyway.
I believe the biggest AI winners will be those investment managers that have the confidence to invest the time and effort on their fundamentals and the far less glamorous world of getting their client data in order. Such companies will be best placed to leap forward, digitalise their operations, increase operating margins, improve client service and get real value out of AI, as exciting and meaningful solutions hit the market over the next few years.
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve received?
I started my career in JPMorgan's investment bank and it taught me that the only way to survive was to work harder than the person sitting next to you. It was a great lesson.
Success is much higher correlated to how hard you work, than how talented you are. There are many routes to success, but they all involve working very hard. There are a lot of hours in the week, so there is still plenty of time for family and other activities.
What are your favourite ways to relax/switch off from work?
One highlight is a twice weekly battle with my tennis coach, belting the ball as hard as possible while he runs me around the court. Wonderful fun and very therapeutic.
Do you have a pet(s)? What are they like?
Two mini dachshund dogs, and a gentle giant of a main coon cat who is more than twice their size. They are all best friends, providing they do exactly what the cat wants.
If you couldn’t do your current role what would your dream job be?
I love building companies and bringing new technology to market but, in another life, I would love to have been the general manager of the San Francisco Forty-Niners.