Making digital investing work for wealth firms, from strategy to service

High-net-worth individuals now expect to manage their portfolios with the same level of convenience and control they experience in other premium services. They want real-time visibility, easy access to information, and the ability to make adjustments without delays. Timeliness, transparency, and a sense of control are now part of the standard experience.

For wealth firms, this shift presents a need to change how investment experiences are delivered. This includes providing intuitive digital tools, shortening decision cycles, and offering more responsive ways for clients to interact with their portfolios.

Delivering on this requires rethinking how the entire investment journey is structured, from onboarding to ongoing management.

Wealth managers today are operating in a more complex and pressurized environment than ever before. According to BCG, cost-to-income ratios for smaller firms have reached as high as 82% — a reflection of rising operational costs and tightening revenue margins. At the same time, clients increasingly expect fast, and data-informed interactions across every stage of their financial life.

This shift is also drawing interest from a new wave of challenger players:

• Robinhood is expanding beyond its trading roots to offer wealth management and private banking services aimed at retail investors with growing portfolios. 

• Revolut is launching a standalone wealth app focused on investments and financial planning, signaling a clear push into the space traditionally held by wealth managers.

• Nubank, one of Latin America’s largest fintechs, has integrated all its investment offerings into a unified mobile experience, making wealth-building tools available in a more streamlined and intuitive way .

These firms are setting new expectations (especially among emerging HNWIs) for digitally native investing that’s simple, fast, and integrated. Established wealth managers will need to meet that standard to compete.

The next wave of wealth management growth will come from firms that rethink how wealth is experienced. As client expectations evolve, the pressure to modernize is only growing: as noted by Capgemini, 81% of next-gen heirs plan to switch wealth management providers within one to two years after inheritance, largely because existing systems don’t meet their digital expectations. 

This shift also comes with changing investment preferences; 15% of HNW’ portfolios now include alternatives such as private equity and digital assets, highlighting a growing need for diversification beyond traditional products.

Meeting this demand requires digital platforms that are flexible, responsive, and capable of integrating a broader range of investments and planning tools.

Performance dashboards, digital proposals, and shared planning spaces play a key role; they support more meaningful engagement, reduce service friction, and make the investment process feel more accessible and collaborative. 

For advisors, it means less time on admin and more time focused on delivering value. For clients, it’s a more accessible, collaborative way to build toward their financial goals. In this way, digital investing is becoming central to how firms address cost pressures and strengthen relationships at the same time.

Rising costs remain a challenge, but digital investing offers firms a practical way to ease friction and improve both efficiency and engagement.

This illustrates how digital tools, when embedded thoughtfully, can directly reduce complexity while strengthening the advisor-client relationship:

• Digital platforms can simplify onboarding by reducing manual inputs and aligning investor profiles with product eligibility, helping firms minimize errors and shorten time to invest.

• Automated tools such as rebalancing and tax optimization reduce repetitive tasks, allowing advisors to spend more time on strategic planning.

• When digital tools support real-time engagement and collaboration, firms are better positioned to retain clients during key life transitions and market shifts.

It’s simple: embedding investing capabilities into a broader digital ecosystem allows wealth managers to scale personalization and responsiveness, without driving up operational costs.

What separates investing strategies that create value from those that don’t is how intentionally they're built. Rather than adding features, it’s about focusing on four essentials:

1. Broader investment access: Offer alternatives like PE, VC, and hedge funds to expand product choice and grow revenue per relationship.

2. Advisor enablement: Give advisors real-time insights, proposal tools, and shared workspaces to increase efficiency and engagement.

3. Client collaboration: Use in-app chat, proposal journeys, and performance dashboards to keep clients involved and confident in their plans.

4. Automation: Automate tasks like rebalancing, mandate execution, and alerts to reduce manual work and improve consistency.

With the right foundation, firms can deliver differentiated value at scale, even as expectations grow and margins tighten. It’s a more practical — and more profitable —way to deliver investment services at scale.

Digital investing has become an important area for growth, but not all approaches deliver the same results. What sets leading firms apart is how well digital tools are aligned to advisor workflows, client needs, and long-term strategy.

Backbase helps wealth firms ready to lead the shift toward intelligent, advisor-led investing. Our platform brings onboarding, planning, execution, and reporting into a coordinated flow, helping firms deliver smarter investing experiences without added complexity. With Backbase, you can:

• Expand advisor capacity and client reach

• Deliver personalized, data-driven insights in real time

• Support high-touch service with low-touch operations

Ready to move forward?