The year in WealthTech started with clear trends emerging. As highlighted in the first report in a quarterly series about wealth management technology, 2025 began with investments in AI, a push for portfolio management partnerships, and strategic moves by fintechs. Here’s a glimpse at 2025 in WealthTech—so far.
AI Accelerates
It’s no surprise that artificial intelligence is in the spotlight. According to our Dimensions IT Survey 2025, half of wealth management executives in North America at firms with more than $1 billion in assets under management (AUM) indicate that they’re either live in production with generative AI or are piloting/have a proof of concept (POC) underway. Wealth managers and the tech vendors that serve them are acting on these commitments to AI in three ways.
1. Wealth managers are investing in AI to make advisors more productive and operations more efficient.
Some of the largest American wealth management firms have launched partnerships with providers of AI and generative AI (GenAI). Investments by BNY, Carson Group, Cetera, Osaic, and Raymond James are being made to help operations teams and advisors save time on manual processes. Other wealth managers are likely to follow suit with AI investments, particularly for front office functions, ranging from prospecting to meeting note-taking.
2. Use of GenAI meeting assistants is soaring.
AI assistants (including standalone companies and product features of legacy vendors) are on their way to the mainstream in wealth management. The first quarter of 2025 saw the announcements of AI assistants by two CRM providers (Advisor360 and Wealthbox), and several big-name client partnerships were announced by AI startups (Jump, Zocks). Three AI meeting assistant startups announced early-stage funding (Mili, Jump, and Zocks), while one was acquired (Parrot AI). These GenAI advisor meeting assistants are relied on for meeting preparation, meeting transcription, note-taking and summarization, meeting/client intelligence, data-transfer/documentation (such as integrations with CRM systems), and follow-up automation (e.g., assigning tasks, drafting emails).
3. WealthTech providers are going all-in on AI.
Wealth management software providers are launching new AI product features across CRM, financial planning, investment research, and marketing. One recurring theme in product launches so far: AI recommendations/summaries within financial planning software (such as from Libretto, FP Alpha, and OneVest). Over 80% of WealthTech vendors surveyed by Celent say advisor AI agents/copilots are of “high importance” in wealth management.
Portfolio Management Partnerships Take the Spotlight
When Morningstar announced its exit from the advisor practice and portfolio management market, the remaining players hit the headlines with bolstered offerings through partnerships and acquisitions. A race for innovation is playing out now that Morningstar clients are becoming “free agents.” Two major players (CircleBlack, Orion) made acquisitions to incorporate their competitors’ portfolio management and reporting into their offerings.
TAMPs/portfolio management providers are teaming up with other tech vendors in areas including custody (Advyzon), alternative investments (GeoWealth), wealth-as-a-service (Envestnet), real time data (Orion), and direct indexing (TradePMR). With 51% of wealth management firms in North America planning to modernize their portfolio management systems in the coming two years according to Celent research, vendor competition is only just beginning to heat up.
Fintechs Infiltrate Wealth Management
Legacy wealth managers, custodians, and brokerages are facing competition from fintechs in capturing the Great Wealth Transfer and NextGen clients. More than half (57%) of wealth management executives indicate that the threat from fintechs and other challengers is increasing.
Fintech apps that typically service retail customers are moving upmarket by launching wealth management and private banking services for wealthier investors. These B2C fintechs are coming for the wealthy, infiltrating the wealth management industry through RIA custody (Robinhood) and wealth management services/advice like managed portfolios, financial planning, estate planning, and tax planning (Robinhood, Revolut, SoFi).
These digital brokerages and neobanks are in the process of democratizing services that were previously only available to the ultra-wealthy, bringing them to high-net-worth (HNW), mass affluent, and even mass market investor segments.
Looking Ahead
These initial trends indicate a dynamic start to 2025 in WealthTech. As the year progresses, wealth managers, advisors, and tech providers should pay close attention to rapidly evolving news in the wealth management technology space.
AI implementations are positioned to impact everything from day-to-day operations to long-term relationships between advisors and their clients. Understanding the trends in this highly competitive environment, along with expectations of various market segments, is particularly crucial in order to meet the needs of existing and prospective clients.
