Bridging The Gap In Wealth Management With Wealthtech
Wealthtech is disrupting the wealth management industry and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. In Q2, global funding for wealthtech doubled as investors anticipated cashing in on the growth bubble created by the coronavirus pandemic.
According to KPMG Global, the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation in the wealth management industry. Forex trading went up by 300% as various trading platforms and commodities enjoyed significant growth.
US trading broker IronFX posted a 25–50% month-to-month growth in forex accounts. Numerically this corresponds to 220,000 new client trading accounts between March and June 2020.
While the desire to invest might be there, data still shows us that there is a massive gap in wealth management services in the US. In an article published by CNBC: 99% of Americans Don’t Use a Financial Advisor, correspondent Michelle Fox cites several reasons most Americans shy away from professional financial assistance:
· A DIY attitude combined with readily available information online makes people believe they can invest sans wealth manager
· The younger population is riddled with student loans and other debt and feel they don’t have enough saved up to begin investing
· The presumption that working with a financial advisor will be costly also keeps people at bay.
What is the solution to get people to invest more?
How then can the gap in wealth management be bridged? Enter wealth technology, also known as wealthtech. Put simply, wealthtech is any technology that is designed to streamline wealth management and investment efforts. Wealthtech has as objective automating and making the entire wealth management experience more efficient.
The 4 problems solved by wealthtech
Wealthtech prides itself on providing solutions to some of the biggest problems in wealth management. Let’s see how wealthtech solves four of these conundrums.
1. Facilitates automatic portfolio building
40% of Americans have no clue as to how their investments are allocated within their portfolios. A further 50% aren’t quite sure whether to invest in a mutual fund or in a single stock. Fortunately, wealthtech steps in to assist investors to structure their portfolios automatically.
2. Allows wealth managers to scale service provision
Wealth management consulting can be time-consuming. This invariably causes the hefty consultation fees that scare rookie investors away thereby widening the gap in wealth management. However, with wealthtech, wealth managers are able to scale their efforts through the use of artificial intelligence and bots which can be used to respond to rudimentary inquiries.
3. Wealthtech is accessible to anyone, anytime
People no longer have to travel to see wealth managers in person. Through apps and websites, investors can access wealth management services from anywhere and at any time. The gap in wealth management is thus mitigated as wealth management becomes accessible to all.
4. Wealthtech modernizes old infrastructure
Outdated legacy systems often hampered the efforts of advisors in reaching the younger generations in the past. Thanks to modern wealthtech infrastructure, wealth managers can reach a previously untapped market and begin the wealth management conversation.
The bottom line
The evolution of wealthtech will see it becoming a feature in daily life as it is adopted by more people. As old barriers are overcome, we can hope to see a reduction in the gap in wealth management.
To learn more about how technology is changing the wealth management industry, read my blog The Rise of Robo-Advisors in Wealth Management.