2025 Wealth TrendsDo Wealth Managers Have the Tools to Confront Global Change?
Four megatrends forging global change
January 2025
Global megatrends and shifting client expectations are giving rise to a new, interconnected system of personalization, transparency and technological forces requiring wealth managers to dramatically rethink how they deliver services. Learn how these forces are reshaping the industry — and how MSCI has built solutions designed to enable advisers to capitalize on emerging opportunities while mitigating risks — in our report with a survey of key stakeholders.
Artificial intelligence, blockchain and the Internet of Things are sweeping across most industries, changing how businesses operate and interact with their customers.
Climate change and sustainability are becoming a critical focus of governments, businesses and communities and, consequently, important to investors seeking to identify opportunities and manage risks.
Advances in technology along with demographic shifts are profoundly impacting health and health care. An aging population in developed countries, for instance, is leading to higher demand for health-care services.
An expanding middle class in China, India and other emerging markets is boosting demand for consumer goods, financial services and real estate.1 This new source of demand has the potential to affect trade patterns and investment flows.
What does this mean for your clients?
We believe these megatrends are giving birth to three broad trends capable of completely altering the wealth management industry:
Personalization in wealth management was primarily reserved for select high-net-worth clients before technological advancements began to make it possible to efficiently scale solutions. Wealth managers can now more readily offer bespoke portfolios to a broader client base and clients now expect customized portfolios that reflect their unique financial goals, risk tolerance and values.
The exhibit below, based on the results of our survey sampling 220 wealth-industry professionals, including investment teams, portfolio managers and financial advisers,2 indicates an industry-wide pivot toward personalization, with demand growing across client segments.
Investment preferences and tax optimization are top drivers of personalization
Source: MSCI survey, conducted in June 2024.
But managing and reporting against a standard model that has been customized to an individual client’s needs still poses many challenges to investment teams. Many wealth managers struggle to balance bespoke services with operational efficiency, particularly when scaling across a larger client base.
MSCI WealthMeeting the modern needs of wealth managers
MSCI Wealth delivers an array of data, analytics, indexes and tools built to address these key trends reshaping the industry.
Our portfolio-construction tools enable wealth managers to build bespoke portfolios designed to align with each client's unique preferences and risk tolerance. Incorporating elements such as sustainability considerations and exposure to transformative sectors, these tools are designed to allow personalization without sacrificing efficiency.
Our survey revealed that wealth managers seek a platform with a simplified interface for portfolio monitoring and management, coupled with dynamic insight capabilities. MSCI Wealth allows advisers to scale their processes and manage a larger number of clients without compromising personalized attention.
Our insights and reporting tools offer clear, extensive views of portfolio composition and performance. These tools help wealth managers seeking to articulate the impact of global trends on their clients’ investments, facilitating more informed decision making. Whether explaining exposure to sustainable technologies or detailing risk-mitigation strategies, our solutions provide new levels of clarity to clients.
Our risk-management tools, powered by advanced technology, are built to help wealth managers identify and mitigate risks associated with global megatrends, from climate change to geopolitical instability. Our data and technology solutions are designed to streamline operations and reduce costs so advisers can focus more on client relationships and strategic decision making.
Our survey highlighted that incorporating private asset analytics within total portfolio analysis is a significant concern for respondents, with 51% rating their current solution poorly or only fair. Unlike traditional tools focused on one-dimensional analysis, MSCI Wealth, incorporating our Private Capital Solutions data, integrates public and private assets for an extensive view of portfolio performance.
MSCI Wealth helps financial advisors, portfolio managers and investment teams prepare for the next frontier in wealth management:
- Deliver personalized services at scale
- Provide new levels of transparency to clients
- Confidently make data-driven decisions
- Efficiently manage diverse asset classes, including private investments
- Stay on top of regulatory change and emerging risks
Interested in solutions from MSCI Wealth?Get in touch.
1 “The future of the middle class in emerging markets,” Oxford Economics, Oct 2024; ‘Emerging markets could hold the key to growth in the face of macroeconomic storms’, World Economic Forum, Jan 4th, 2023.
2 The survey, conducted in June 2024, reflects opinions of the professionals themselves, not their clients, although the opinions of financial advisers may be strongly influenced by past conversations with clients. Half the respondents were based in the U.S., with about a quarter each in the EMEA and APAC regions.