In a financial world that’s becoming increasingly automated, the intermediary’s defining characteristic – personal, trusted and expert advice – is set to be more valued than ever. Already, sophisticated clients are looking for an increasingly personal service, despite the advances of technology.

It’s true that digitalisation is becoming essential in wealth management. After all, today’s next gens are tomorrow’s ultra-high net worth clients. The Amazons and Apples of this world have conditioned them to expect a seamless digital service in everything that they do.

But at Julius Baer we see digitalisation as more of an opportunity than a threat. As a traditional wealth manager, this is something we have thought about when designing our own strategy. Our conclusion is that no digital technology can replace the depth of relationship and trust that we have with our clients. And the same applies to intermediaries.

Indeed, we believe that trust will give intermediaries a keen competitive edge in years to come. The role of technology is to enhance their client relationships.

Trust at a premium

Why is trust so important today? Because clients have greater need for a high-touch personal service just as the trend towards digitalisation makes it more rare. Clients want their advisors to interpret the world’s volatile macro trends, preserve their wealth and provide holistic wealth management solutions.

Broadly speaking, the world is becoming more complex. The profusion of investment opportunities internationally, emergence of new sustainable and virtual investment products, and likelihood of new tax legislation, all mean that sophisticated clients require expert advice.

When it comes to servicing clients’ greater needs, technology gives intermediaries an opportunity to enhance connections with clients and new products to offer them. If you can deliver an outstanding user experience with seamless connectivity, your clients will trust you even more than they do already. At the same time, your relationship managers will be able to serve your clients more efficiently.

Turning to digital assets, crypto coins are already providing new assets for diversifying your clients’ portfolios. Over the next few years, you can expect far more innovation as traditional assets and illiquid assets become tokenised. Private investments could be substantially transformed. As they become more liquid, the line between public and private markets is likely to become blurred. Ownership and the transfer of other illiquid assets – such as real estate or art – could be simplified and made more secure and verifiable through the use of non-fungible tokens.

Helping intermediaries

At Julius Baer we intend to help intermediaries take advantage of the opportunities of the digital world. We are also happy to introduce our intermediary clients looking for ways to harness technology to improve their infrastructure to F10, an international FinTech incubator with offices in Zurich.

The way we live our lives and conduct our business is changing rapidly. But the trust that clients place in their intermediaries will remain constant. Bringing together wealth management and digital technology can enhance that trust.