The number of deals in the wealth tech space reached a record in the first quarter of 2017. Can the trend continue for the rest of the year?
New York based technology research company CB Insights notes that since 2012, several banks and global wealth management firms have made co-investments in wealth tech.
Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase are co-investors in Motif, Northwestern Mutual and Citi Ventures are co-invested in Betterment, and UBS and Santander InnoVentures are co-investors in SigFig.
The majority of the investments have gone to companies that fall into the robo-advisors category, including Betterment, Motif, Personal Capital, WealthNavi, Folio, ForwardLane, and SigFig.
Asia's Turn?
In Asia while there is a vibrant and expanding wealth tech scene no significant deals have been struck. Local banks are working closely with startups but there has been no major investment yet.
Some banks working collaboratively on wealth management financial technology services with fintech firms that have taken part in an accelerator program belonging to the bank.
And yet Asia-Pacific will clearly be the global driver in the sector.
Wealth is growing faster in the region than anywhere else and with Asia’s high internet penetration rates and the online habits of new millennials, robo-advisors have the potential to be a huge success in the region.
