On April 29 2026, a cross-section of FinTech founders, enterprise leaders, investors, and advisors came together at EY’s offices in New York for WealthTech 2026. Deepening the insights from February's WealthTech 2026 report, the event provided a snapshot of where the wealth management technology market stands today and where it is heading next.

Delegates heard that:

• AI is eroding traditional product and lead-generation advantages, forcing WealthTech firms to rethink their approach to competition.
• “It’s more important to create a relationship than to win the deal.” Firms that land small but embed deeply can outgrow those chasing large, one-off wins.
• WealthTech buyers tune out early when presentations start with features, rather than immediately demonstrating how a real problem is solved.
• “Talking to the VP of operations isn’t going to get anything done.” The bottleneck isn’t procurement – it’s internal alignment inside the client. Deals stall not just because of process, but because vendors are talking to internal stakeholders who feel the pain but lack the authority to act.

A market defined by abundance—and noise

The day began with the Spring 2026 US WealthTech Vendor Forum, characterized by the sheer scale of competition in the US WealthTech space. With more than 3,000 solutions now tracked across the WealthTech landscape, speakers told differentiation has become a structural challenge rather than a tactical one.

In an opening keynote Susan Quinn, CEO of Circle S Studio, said that firms are no longer just competing on capability but on clarity. In a market where buyers are inundated with pitches and platforms, “technology is going to get you to the market – clarity is what gets you chosen”. She critiqued what she called “bankrupt language” and feature-led messaging – arguing that too many firms still describe what they do rather than the outcomes they deliver.

Whether discussing marketing, sales or capital raising, speakers repeatedly returned to the idea that success now depends on articulating a specific problem for a clearly defined audience — and doing so in a way that is simple, human and outcome-driven.

The erosion of traditional moats

If Quinn highlighted the messaging challenge, Wim Van Lerberghe, Founder of Advintro, addressed the erosion of traditional competitive advantage – arguing that both product and lead-generation moats have effectively disappeared. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has commoditized prospecting, automated outreach, and even accelerated product replication. “Distribution is the new IP, and momentum is the new moat,” he said.

This shift has significant implications for how FinTech firms allocate resources. Where capital once flowed primarily into product development, it is increasingly being directed toward go-to-market capabilities – sales infrastructure, partnerships, and brand-building. The rise of fractional commercial teams and venture studio models reflects this rebalancing.

Trusted relationships remain one of the few durable differentiators, Van Lerberghe added. In a world of abundant tools and replicable features, the ability to build credibility and stay embedded with clients over time becomes a key driver of long-term value.

Capital, consolidation and the search for “real” value

From a capital markets perspective, EY partner Irfan Iqbal provided a grounded view of how investors and acquirers are currently assessing WealthTech businesses.

He told attendees that deal activity is rising again, with a clear “barbell” pattern emerging: large, high-value transactions at one end and smaller, earlier-stage deals at the other. But beneath the surface, valuation discipline has tightened. Investors are increasingly focused on tangible indicators of durability – recurring revenue, demonstrable economics, and defensible positioning within large addressable markets.

He also cautioned founders not to benchmark themselves against headline valuations in the press. Instead take a realistic view of what their business can become. Whether a firm is on a path to US$20 million, US$100 million or US$1 billion in revenue, aligning capital strategy with that trajectory is critical.

“Always be for sale, but never be for sale,” he cautioned. While it’s important to stay open to strategic conversations, it’s even more important to maintain control of the narrative and long-term vision.

Breaking into the enterprise: trust and timing

For many fintech firms, the ultimate prize remains large enterprise adoption. Yet as Charles Smith, Principal, Business Consulting at EY, outlined, this is also where the greatest friction lies.

Procurement complexity, long sales cycles, and internal risk aversion continue to slow adoption, with onboarding processes often taking 12 months or more. The deciding factor in accelerating deals, he said, is not just product quality but access to the right stakeholder – typically a senior decision-maker with a clear, urgent problem to solve.

This reinforces the importance of ecosystem-driven approaches, including initiatives such as EY’s Founders Circle aim to bridge the gap between emerging FinTechs and large institutions by providing validation, guidance, and direct introductions.

Integration, ecosystems and the path forward

As the sheer range of solutions on offer continues to grow and grow – and the technology stacks within individual firms becomes more complex – integration is becoming an increasingly essential aspect of firms’ technology concerns. The challenge is no longer access to technology but making systems work together effectively.

Speakers observed how firms are moving away from fragmented “spaghetti architectures” toward more cohesive ecosystems, where interoperability and workflow optimization are critical to delivering ROI. This reinforces the broader shift from standalone products to connected platforms and partnerships.

Innovation is accelerating, but so too is competition. Technology remains essential, but it is no longer sufficient on its own. That means the key factors that separate leaders and followers in modern-day WealthTech are not technological ones, but ones related to providers’ communication, distribution, understanding of client needs, and positioning within the broader WealthTech ecosystem.

As EY’s Head of Wealth Partnerships Michael Hogg said: “If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together.”

Watch this space for more coverage from WealthTech 2026 in the coming days!

Want to explore the trends and technologies shaping wealth management? Our WealthTech 2026 report, on which this event was based, is available here.

About The Wealth Mosaic
The Wealth Mosaic is a UK-headquartered online solution provider directory and knowledge resource, focused specifically on the wealth management industry.

For wealth managers, the buy side of our marketplace, The Wealth Mosaic is designed to enable discovery of key solutions, solution providers, and knowledge resources by specific business needs.

For solution providers and vendors, the sell side of our marketplace, The Wealth Mosaic exists to support the positioning, exposure, and business development needs of these firms in a more complex and demanding market.

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