The market is experiencing momentous transformation in terms of asset classes and investment opportunities, of client socio-demographics and segments, of technology-enabled business – and operating models, and much more.

The group of companies to benefit from Wealthtech are expanding just as well to a plethora of institutions, from retail banks catering for evolving needs of mass affluent customers, to the emerging class of challenger ‘neo-banks’ and digital institutions.

For each of these opportunities and beneficiaries a unique, tailored WealthTech solution is designed, rather than a ‘one size fits all’ universal answer. This is what makes our industry exciting!

Objectway was Platinum Sponsor of the Middle East Wealth Tech Forum in Dubai investigating and discussing how current demographics, institutions and technologies are changing and affecting wealth management growth, which opportunities to catch and how to respond to the challenges of today and of tomorrow.

Industry outlook: what the present and the future both hold

In 2022, institutions are still massively challenged by the strong pressure on margins, resulting from market competition and fees regulation. Complacent overstaffing and inefficient operations are no longer sustainable and operational efficiency must be delivered to address this challenge, increasingly leveraging on the productivity of technology together with efficient outsourcing models.

Another current challenge, expected to stay and increase, is the economic fluctuation and volatility of markets. For reliable returns form the investment of wealth, this calls for dynamically adaptive and intelligent portfolio management, tested by extensive adoption by a growing number of customers, leading the market in versatility, effectiveness and the use of AI for competitive advantage.

Generally, alignment to technology is essential to make solutions work seamlessly and better if technology is based on most widespread operating systems, database management engines, coding environments and, not least – APIs for both easy integration and open banking compliance.

Also, regulations and demands that governing bodies put on the Wealth and Asset industry keep rising and changing, and solutions that are fully compliant with acting regulations in all markets are a must have! Examples are regulations like GDPR or MIFID (including the ESG requirements in MIFID-2).

What’s more, mindsets and attitudes between successive generations and client expectations are drastically, exponentially evolving. Among other things, today’s next generation is showing an ever-growing sensitivity and attention to the social and environmental impacts of their financial decisions. The ESG dimension of asset classes and individual portfolios has become a major differentiator between providers and a compulsory competence for advisors and Wealthtech vendors including detailed and sophisticated ESG capabilities in their solutions.

Born digital, the next generation is also critically demanding for omni-channel solutions to be available not just on phones, but also on multiple daily use devices, for ex. the Apple watch.

As a result of all this, customers increasingly rely on a trusted, transparent partner, always ready to help them and responsive to both their sudden and long-term needs. And this is not something that you achieve, it is embedded in a customer-centric culture and DNA.

At the same time, they increasingly demand for products that are a perfect blend of future-oriented innovation with robust present-day performance. Yes, bleeding edge technology and industry firsts are great terms, but it’s offering that “this product just works” peace of mind, reliably and luck of problems that eventually makes you the best in class, allowing customers to derive maximum value from most competitively priced investments.