We’ve come to the end of the first day of The Wealth Mosaic Live: US – a day where audiences were treated to new perspectives on technology and the future of the US wealth management sector. Kicking off with the US WealthTech Vendor forum, we heard wealth management marketing, and the untapped potential for consolidation between the banking and wealth management worlds.
The Wealth Mosaic: US vendor forum
We heard from Margaret Hartigan, founder of wealth management platform Marstone, who reviewed the state of wealth management within banks and credit unions, where under a quarter of banks even have wealth management operations.
Banks are increasingly conscious of the potential wealth management offers: 78% of banks plan expansion into the area. “Banks are dying to get into wealth management,” she told attendees. Clients want more consolidation between banking and wealth management, with younger clients especially interested in consolidating their financial services providers. “We must focus on enabling banks with wealth,” Hartigan said.
A fireside chat between Intention.ly chief of community Tina Powell and chief of client strategy Joe Steuter opened up new perspectives on how AI is reshaping marketing and SEO in the wealth management world. While so far clients have been focused just on SEO, there’s now another horizon – Generative Engine Optimisation, or GEO. “Google was an answer engine,” Steuter said. “AI is an action engine.” Firms that want to maintain a visible presence need to leverage both.
Powell and Steuter emphasised the importance of building their brands outside their own domain, because AI especially loves unbiased third-party mentions. “Really pay attention to what you’re doing outside your domain, particularly through content generation partners like The Wealth Mosaic,” Powell said. “Everyone should have their landing page there because they afford you that luxury.”
Advintro founder Wim Van Lerberghe spoke about the unexpected impact of AI in giving more human qualities – connection, trust, and soft skills – even greater purchase. While originally AI had raised fears that the human would be removed from the equation, it has instead made authentic relationships even more important to clients. Van Lerberghe drew on his decades of front-line experience to give audience members valuable advice on how they could combine the power of AI with the human skills that are now the real differentiators.
Mark Ovaska, CEO and co-founder of integration specialist Precept, spoke about how new business relationships can become reusable growth assets by treating integrations as products – and standardising the terminology they use. Ovaska showed audience members how they could cut cycle time, de-risk embedded partnerships, and monetise their APIs.
Keeping pace and changing culture
The event continued with a discussion from OneVest vice president Rich Hart, who spoke about the rapid changes transforming the industry as digital-first clients keep pace with a client base accustomed to the seamless integrations they experience outside of the world of wealth management, including through e-commerce platforms. He pointed to the urgent need for process simplification and fundamental technology redesign – rather than simply updating legacy paper-based workflows.
The day ended with a stimulating vision of the future of US wealth management from a panel including EY’s Charles Smith III, Envestnet Principal Director Crystal Andrus, and PureFacts Chief Revenue Officer Robert O’Boyle, who argued that while technological change is transforming the industry, the main barrier to growth in the space is actually organisational and cultural.
O’Boyle said firms are struggling to rethink how they can leverage data and technology, and a cultural shift would be crucial to help firms scale their operations efficiently and improve client engagement. Without that shift, he warned, technology investments wouldn’t reach their full potential. Andrus highlighted the implications of this cultural shift – saying that the full embracing of tech necessary to stay ahead would affect resource planning, coaching, and operational models.
The conference continues
The Wealth Mosaic: US Conference continues tomorrow in Atlantic City, with discussions of private markets, an actionable AI adoption playbook, and the importance of impactful video communication in transforming client communication into moments that resonate.
