AI and Blockchain: Disruptive Forces in Wealth Management

The wealth management industry is one of the latest industries to adopt intelligent technologies. Blockchain allows wealth managers to precisely identify and recommend products to customers. AI in wealth management empowers consultants and adds customer value by using big data tools such as intelligent tagging and knowledge graphs to uncover previously hidden links and insights.

The major factors that influence the wealth management industry are information, analysis, decision-making, and infrastructure. Unfortunately, these are uncharted waters for retail investors.  The first step in wealth management towards AI is for companies to leverage their data and visualize links between data sets. Smart tagging and knowledge graph technology optimizes news and research data for machine learning and personalization.

According to an IDC report, Forbes Global 2000 companies account for at least 25 percent will use Blockchain as a digital trust foundation by 2021. While blockchain has started to create waves in the wealth management industry, the unexplored domain is how it transforms the way the industry works. Artificial intelligence allows automation and portfolio management to be improved significantly. Some algorithms can do much better than most people have done manually. Investing in AI is not just a test, but it is beneficial for users. Today, its tech portfolio is mainly focused on the world’s richest hedge funds and banks, which in recent years have invested heavily in equipment, technology, and human resources to set up state-of-the-art in-house infrastructure, big data analytics, AI-powered systems, and more. Companies such as TrustVerse use both AI and blockchain technologies to help people manage their crypto assets and their entire online identification.

The blockchain technology has a number of uses in the wealth management industry. It is used to remove friction from the on-boarding process of the customer, streamline portfolio management, speed up the clearing process, reduce the burden of anti-money laundering, and allow wealth managers to know their customers.

According to Gartner, blockchain is set to grow by 43 percent in the wealth management industry by the next five years. The technology could transform the value proposition of wealth management for operations and has the ability to streamline customer service operations. The success of the technology will depend on its distributed nature and the willingness of a firm to participate.