What is Armstrong Wolfe?
Armstrong Wolfe is a global firm which brings together the financial services COO community to address market wide, non-proprietary challenges.
We manage this connectivity through the International COO Community (iCOOC), our paid corporate membership programme. We invite our members to participate in our high-quality and engaging discussions within the COO community, leveraging their expertise.
An Overview of our Programme
Our round table discussions take place during dinners, breakfasts, or through online forums. The intimate in-person settings offer valuable opportunities for engaging in high-quality conversations with influential decision-makers and thought leaders and their deputies.
The round table discussions primarily involve groups of COOs (Chief Operating Officers), groups of Chief Control Officers, and COOs reporting to the Chief Risk Officers. The topics for discussion are driven by the community and cover a wide array of topics including: Innovation, Transformation, Regulation, Conduct and Culture, DE&I, and Talent development.
We organise additional formats that enable more focused discussions on topics of immediate interest to our COOs and CCOs: Member firms can request small “cluster” calls on narrowly defined challenges or topics with 2-6 of their peers, as well as broader debates on topics of industry interest that gather a broader cross-section of the industry.
Membership
Within our iCOOC community, senior executives can participate in our roundtables and host iCOOC calendar events. These interactions are held under Chatham House Rules, ensuring private and trusted conversations.
The role of these discussions is to provide analysis, insights, considerations, and potential solutions to facilitate cross-industry COO dialogue and debate managed through iCOOC and our other forums.
The collective expertise of the community can be instrumental in offering effective solutions for the COO community to address challenges such as crypto, blockchain, AI, regulation, and geopolitical risk management.
Participation Benefits include and are not limited to:
- Attend events within our program such as round table dinners, online fora, and working groups.
- Participate in events, such as being a panelist, facilitator, or judge, as opportunities arise.
- Participate in steering committees to drive the agenda for the community.
- Host iCOOC programme events to showcase your company’s brand and extend warm hospitality to your peers.
- Providing thought leadership and expertise to the COO community.
- Request Cluster Calls to encourage vibrant discussions and sharing of best practices on particular topics of interest with your peer network.
- Share content through various channels such as the Armstrong Wolfe COO Magazine.
- Support diversity and inclusion initiatives such as Women in the COO Community (WCOOC) and Ad Centrum.
Why become an iCOOC member?
Armstrong Wolfe provides leading, keynote industry speakers and strategic partners to provide thought leadership and solutions development to the COO community.
Gary Simpson
COO, Global Markets at ICBC Standard Bank
“Armstrong Wolfe has uniquely positioned itself as an effective conduit for the COO community to agree, discuss and take proactive measures to address the key themes and challenges facing the financial sector, both planned and unforeseen. By combining peer knowledge and perspectives with deep SMEs and solution providers, AW forums and events provide invaluable support to sell and buy side COOs.”
Mark Price
Regional Head of Financial Markets Africa & the Middle East, Global Head ofFM Business Development, Standard Chartered Bank
“Having been a COO in Markets for most of the last 20 years, Maurice and AW have been a key driver of providing definition and understanding of the ambiguous role the COO plays. More importantly, he has successfully created a sense of community (in particular through WCOOC) that has sped up the continued professionalisation of the COO role. Since meeting him at the very first Markets COO breakfast roundtable, through to discussing my recent shift into the business, his insight and perspective have been a big help to me and I’m sure to many other COO’s over the years.”
Steven Kiker
Chief Operating OfficerWells Fargo
“Maurice and the team at Armstrong Wolfe have been a great resource for our COO team at Wells Fargo. Their insight into critical issues that impact the COO community is invaluable and their ability to create a vast network of like-minded professionals across the financial services industry is something that our team finds great value in.”
Loretta Marcoccia
Executive Vice President & Chief Operating OfficerGlobal Banking and Markets,Scotiabank Banking and Markets
“At Scotiabank, we appreciate the work that Armstrong Wolfe has done to advance a shared understanding of the COO office across financial services, build awareness of the intersection of conduct, culture, purpose in an organization and to drive connection and collaboration across the global COO community.”
Jason Hope
General Manager, Business Controls,Monitoring and RemediationWestpac Institutional Bank
“More than a decade ago Armstrong Wolfe were the pioneers of bringing the globalbanking COO/CCO community together to discuss topical and emerging issues. As a result, they and their network are at the forefront of thought leadership in this space.”
Pascale Moreau
Global COO of Markets, Business,Transformation & OversightSociété Générale
“Under Maurice Evlyn-Buftons’ leadership, Armstrong Wolfe offers a broad view of market activities through the COO angle, looking at the strategic day-to-day actions that enable financial markets to function. It offers key insights from major market players on new trends and technologies, as well as interesting pointers for business development and transformations. Armstrong Wolfe’s Women in the COO Community (WCOOC) initiative actively engages with women in leadership and disruptive subjects linked to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Definitely a must have when belongingto the COO community.”
Armstrong Wolfe Forums & Events 2025
In 2025 we will be providing for our members 99 events, of which 60 will be face to face and 39 on-line.
We strongly believe that whilst the opportunity to meet on-line is now a very important part of any business activity and has enabled us to bring our worldwide community together in real-time for meaningful debate, that in-person events are the bedrock of our community’s ability to truly engage. Contact Maurice Evlyn-Bufton (CEO) or Isabelle Scannell (EMEA and APAC Relationship Manager & WCOOC Global Programme Lead) to discuss membership or for any further information you need.
Become a Member
Join the only global membership committed to the advancement of the Financial Services COO.
Contact Maurice Evlyn-Bufton (CEO) or Isabelle Scannell (EMEA and APAC Relationship Manager & WCOOC Global Programme Lead) to discuss membership or for any further information you need.
Be engaged, connect with the industry and your peers, empower your people through knowledge transfer and learning.