With over 160 attendees throughout the day, the Swiss WealthTech Live 2024 conference, which took place at the SIX ConventionPoint in Zürich, was packed with insightful conversation and active debate around a comprehensive and compelling agenda. Clearly, there is plenty to talk about in Swiss WealthTech today.
In more than one way, 2023 was a tumultuous year for the Swiss wealth management industry: the merger of the two biggest players, continued innovation from the world of FinTech, new entrants, a continually expanding ecosystem, and ever-demanding clients. It is fair to say that the industry landscape is more exciting than ever.
In case you were unable to make the event – or even for those of you who were – below is a taste of some of the key themes explored during the various keynote presentations and panel discussions. For greater depth on each topic discussed, look out for additional content in the form of article write ups and video highlights – that we will be sharing in the weeks to come.
Event highlights
AI – meeting expectations?
With endless hype – and even a degree of concern – over what Artificial Intelligence (AI) can and might do to the industry, to jobs, and to the client offer, the discussion looked at practical use cases on the application of AI and the safeguards that have been put into place to ensure that AI does not take over the world (yet). It was an informative session with interesting use cases and a panel discussion that could have gone on for the whole day!
The ever-evolving role of technology
Whether it be the ongoing challenges of dealing with the complexity of legacy technology, or the opportunities afforded by the endless wave of innovative software designed to supercharge the adviser, afford better productivity, and more focus on the client relationship, the debate explored the best ways to maximise technology’s value. By engaging the people and the broader business in the process and – in many cases – by building an ecosystem of technology partners to help deliver differentiation, wealth managers hold the key to their own success.
Innovation – here to stay
Well, there is certainly plenty of it! How can innovation be fostered, encouraged, and best leveraged in an organisation? Where is innovation best originated? What lessons can be learned from other industries? Whose job is innovation anyway? These points – and more – were explored during a session that underscored the need to continually challenge the way of doing things to delight the customer today and into the future.
Sustainability – continuing to gather pace
With an ever-growing interest in sustainable investing and a continued focus on ESG, how can wealth managers clearly and compellingly demonstrate how their ESG investments are performing? What analytics are most effective in helping the wealth manager communicate the impact of an investment decision? All topics tackled during the session focused on powering sustainable investment decisions.
The changing role of the external asset manager (EAM)
A mainstay over the last 20 to 30 years of a relatively stable Swiss wealth management sector, the external asset management (EAM) model is now being forced to adapt like never before. This panel took a closer look at the role of technology and broader ecosystems in enhancing the EAM model for bank custodians and, ultimately, the end client.
The world of the client experience
So, how does the industry serve up relevant, personalised, and timely investment recommendations along the lines of Netflix? What do clients want? How does this differ by client segment? How will the ‘Great Wealth Transfer’ affect how wealth managers serve and interact with their clients? And how will technology be best leveraged in this context? Some of the questions discussed and debated during the panel examined the ongoing and ever-evolving nature of client demands and the overall CX.
So, what does the future hold?
No two years are the same, and at the time of writing, we are already anticipating continued adoption of technology to support productivity and growth. Growth via merger and acquisition (M&A), be that bank on bank or banks and WealthTech providers, must surely be something to watch out for.
Keep up-to-date on all things Swiss WealthTech
The event took place at the same time as the launch of our comprehensive and insightful 2024 edition of the Swiss WealthTech Landscape Report (WTLR). It explores many issues discussed and debated live during the event – you can access the report here.
Look out for further content we’ll share from the discussions – video clips, session write ups, individual articles, Solution Showcases and more.
And if you would like to be kept in the picture with regard to future events we have planned in Switzerland, keep a look out by following us on LinkedIn @TheWealthMosaic.
We look forward to continuing many of the discussions and lively debates initiated in Zürich, as we continue with our aim of bringing together industry players, vendors, and other key players in wealth management in an active and insightful debate on the pressing issues we collectively face.
About Swiss WealthTech Live 2024
The Wealth Mosaic returned to Zürich, Switzerland, on the 6th of February, 2024, for its second Swiss WealthTech Live event. For anyone active in the Swiss/European wealth management community and interested in the role of technology in shaping the here and now and the future of the sector, this event series has been designed for you.
Hosted at the SIX ConventionPoint in Zürich, the event covered the most pressing topics of the moment, hosting and engaging market participants from private banks, cantonal banks, external asset managers, family offices, technology vendors, consultants, and more to express their views, experiences, and vision for the future.
The event was sponsored by SIX Group and is brought to you in partnership with Owen James, the Swiss Finance + Technology Association, and Tenity.
The event series caters to a diverse audience of professionals and industry experts from the wealth management and wider financial services as well as WealthTech and wider FinTech communities. Each event attracts 150-200 individuals who are eager to learn about the latest trends, technologies, and innovations that are shaping the future of wealth management.
For more information on our WealthTech Live event series, please contact office@thewealthmosaic.com.
Thank you to the esteemed speakers!
Thanks also to our community that joined us at Swiss WealthTech Live 2024. A special thanks to all the speakers, including Roy Kirby and Jürg Stalder of SIX Group, Arash Sorouchyari, Fabian Käslin of Banque Havilland, Dr. Damian Zech of Quintet Private Bank, Elie Yazbeck of Julius Baer, Maryann U. of Bil Switzerland, Roger Furrer of ERI, Nelson Wootton of SaaScada, Raphael Bianchi of Synpulse, Fredrik Davéus of Kidbrooke, Alexandra Lau of BLKB, Tillmann Lang of Invoya, Mark Bagnall of Figg, Marion Fogli of Alpian, Dimitri Petruschenko of EAM.Technology, Jamie Vrijhof-Droese of WHVP, Doron Bollag of Tareno, Sonja Schürch of Zürcher Kantonalbank, Anthony Gimigliano of Swissquote, Simon Alioth of Synpulse/OpenWealth Association, Salar Armakan of swissQuant, Christian Cebreros of The Good Guys Company, Tom Williams of Point Group, Tomas Hurcik of Orca, Tamara Kostova of Velexa, Alexandre Gaillard of InvestGlass, Marc Oliver Hauser of Tenity, Nicolas Huras of MiCa Group, and Arian Khamooshian of Storyline.
