Since the Great Recession of 2008, the wealth and asset management industry has been in upheaval. It is and will continue to be constantly growing and evolving in the future.
Recent research from wealth management firms states that assets under management are set to grow up to US$150 trillion by 2025, notwithstanding the uncertainties such as the Brexit negotiations, China’s consumer-driven economy, rising population, and geopolitics. The continued wealth creation and changing consumer trends will disrupt the existing business models and reshape the wealth management industry.
To cope with the intense market competition from the new entrants and to be aware of the diverse asset class preferences of the clients, wealth management firms should know the pulse of the trends, and challenges and should adapt to technological advancements to address them.
A recent study by the Boston Consulting Group says that global wealth will grow from US$275 trillion to US$355 trillion, representing nominal growth of 30 percent and real growth of 15 percent from 2021 to 2026. North America tops in the high-net-worth individual (HNWI) population and wealth growth, Eurozone comes next, and Asia-Pacific is in third.
The shift in wealth demographics has led to heightened expectations among HNWIs. They are expecting more personalized and digitalized offerings from wealth management firms. If the demands are not met, long-term survival and success would be difficult in the wealth management ecosystem.
When the portfolio grows, the process of managing a large portfolio with diverse asset classes gets complex. Analyzing data, obligations, and collaboration with the required team gets nearly unmanageable. Hence a scalable and customizable wealth and portfolio management solution that supports wealth managers in this transition is very vital.
In the wealth industry, transparency is considered one of the most important competitive advantages. When financial wealth advisors are more transparent with their investors, trust will automatically build up. The more the executives are transparent to their clients, the more investors are willing to invest bigger further.
Managing disparate data in an integrated platform is vital. If the client data is present in separate silos, getting a 360-degree view of clients’ portfolios would be tedious and nearly impossible to provide demanding personalized services in the market.
A single platform for end-to-end wealth management process will aid to streamline the workflows, reduce turnaround time and attain greater operational efficiency.
To stay relevant in the future and to meet the escalating demands of different investor segments, digital transformation is the key. Early fintech adopters seize the competitive advantage to stay ahead in the game.
To survive in the digital wave, the incumbents should have their core systems in advanced technologies with enhanced cyber security.
Overhauling the rigid legacy systems into the cloud-based solution will help to achieve cost effectiveness, customer-centricity, and interoperability at a time.
The key benefits of deploying cloud-based solutions are
The economically influential generation, Baby Boomers are preparing to pass their immense wealth to the next generations, Gen X and Millennials.
Millennials are game changers with distinctive expectations and a holistic set of life goals. They are digital natives, socially conscious, and open to diversified investments. Their wealth growth will be rapid due to the accumulation and inheritance of wealth from baby boomers.
Since the competition will be so severe and fierce for the incumbents due to intergenerational wealth transfer, they should redefine their wealth advisory solutions and approaches with acute sensitivity to clients’ interests and goals like ESG and digital assets.
Besides, understanding the industry trends and customers better will be inapt if proper tools are not used to deliver the expected offerings. The incumbents should constantly re-evaluate their existing wealth management software to check whether it aligns with their current and future needs.
Wealth managers should reinforce the right approach in financial planning and choose a flexible, responsive model that takes advantage of emerging technologies. Delivering transparent investment management services is the main key to sustaining in the digital wave and market competition.
Bullfinch wealth management suite from KGiSL is a holistic solution for end-to-end wealth processes offered by KGiSL with 99.8% accuracy in reporting, rebalancing, and reconciliation. Bullfinch is developed to embrace the evolving demands of the customers and deliver a superior client experience through advanced technologies such as Machine Learning and AI.