Chief Executive Review
I am of course talking about the increasing geopolitical unrest – whether the Russia-Ukraine war or conflict in the Middle East – which is creating a sense of unease, uncertainty, and driving ongoing inflation. When combined with upcoming political elections in various key countries (the US, the UK, South Africa, India, and Russia) macro-predictions for the entire year need to be taken with a grain of salt.

Looking at the client level, however, there is more that we can get our teeth into. While the uncertainty (and inflation) will affect client behaviour, we can make strong, educated guesses about how this will manifest. For example, for the first time in the recent past, bonds and direct indexing are experiencing an upsurge in popularity as they are seen as safer options.

Interestingly, this does not appear to be coming at the expense of ongoing trends in alternative investments. When it comes to younger investors, there is still a marked interest in cryptocurrencies, ESG investments, and more.

Why is this? Well, there is no one factor, but I believe a key reason is because client interests are continuing to be influenced by developments in technology. The impact that Generative AI has and will likely have – both in terms of benefiting business growth and in the associated cybersecurity or regulatory risks – is immense and opens up new avenues of opportunity for clients and firms alike.

This can be seen with investments (the rise of direct indexing is an example of this); and also when it comes to service expectations. Continuing with previous years’ trends, clients want better digital service options for investment, portfolio management, and support.

There is no doubt about it – wealth management firms have their work cut out for them. They must mitigate the risk of global uncertainty while embracing the latest technologies and offering diverse investment options, without falling afoul of industry regulations or security breaches.

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