Wealth management trends in Finland

Introduction: contrasting Finnish and global wealth management
 

The wealth management industry is changing, as proclaimed by various global and US-based studies. For example, it is estimated that in the upcoming years, trillions of US dollars in wealth will be transferred to younger generations – whose preferences for service channels, branding, and self-service differ from their parents¹. This wealth shift will also hit Finland, for the first time, in the next few years, posing a major opportunity to all players.

However, not every global trend is relevant in the Finnish wealth management market. After all, the Finnish market is small, has few high-net-worth individuals², and Finns tend to tie a large portion of their wealth into real-estate³.

During fall 2024, we investigated the applicability of global wealth management trends in Finland. We interviewed and surveyed Finnish wealth management leaders and wealthy investors, and contrasted their perspectives to a similar global study⁴. This article showcases our key results.

Advisory & tech: high-touch advisory is expected to remain central, supported by tech without novelty-hype
 

Finnish wealth management leaders believe in personal advisory, whereas the global study paints a more tech-disrupted future.

Finnish leaders trusted that genuine customer needs would keep driving personal advisory demand. Advisory was believed to adapt to customer needs, help regulate emotions (see Quote 1), and reduce cognitive load (Quote 2). Leaders also saw that advisory drove customer retention and referrals (Quote 3). Similarly, most investors enjoyed personal service, though some hoped for more proactivity (Quote 4).

Quote 1: “The advisor’s role has turned more therapeutic, like [telling a customer to] ‘stop stirring things up and stick to the plan’” (wealth management leader)

Quote 2: “Many people don’t want to know everything. They’d rather find a valid advisor and trust them” (wealth management leader)

Quote 3: “If things have gone well, word of mouth will make rounds, especially in smaller towns” (wealth management leader)

Quote 4: “No advisor asks ‘how is it going’ or where my money comes from. […] But if I move 200,000 out of my account, they’ll call me about it right away” (wealthy investor)

While the global study acknowledges the benefits of personal advisory, it also emphasizes digitalization by saying, for example “firms will need to take digital experiences to the next level”. In contrast, Finnish leaders were skeptical about tech transforming the field (Quote 5). For example, where the global study touts that “60 % of Gen Y and Z investors do not expect to use an advisor by 2030 due to advances in technology”, Finnish leaders thought that if you aren’t financially knowledgeable – no matter how digitally native you are – you will seek out a real person for help when you come into money. Finnish investors expressed similar attitudes of tech being a hygiene factor (Quote 6).

Quote 5: “People with dough don’t talk to robots” (wealth management leader)

Quote 6: “I’m ready to change my mind if someone shows me something […], but now I can read Inderes’ reports on my own without a GenAI summarizing them” (wealthy investor)

Still, Finnish leaders felt a need to invest in technology, especially in the backend. GenAI was thought to find a productive role, be it in mass marketing, customer service analysis, or legislation handling. Also, automation was believed to replace various monotonous wealth manager tasks, such as aggregating client information, taking notes, and cleaning data. However, all interviewees shunned blockchain, internet of things, and augmented reality.

We view this value-oriented attitude to tech as a strength in the Finnish wealth management scene. No tech for tech’s sake, but rather focus on value to users and clients.

Sustainability: anticipated growing demand despite a currently low request rate
 

Most Finnish leaders trusted that environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing would be relevant in the future. For example, one mentioned that their new customers mostly buy index and ESG funds. Similarly, investors emphasized sustainability – within the confines of monetary gains – with one even having specific themes in their investing (Quote 7).

Quote 7: “Clean water is important, as are gender equality and equity […] but everyone invests profits-first” (wealthy investor)

Our interviewees also recognized that ESG investing is currently imperfect. For example, not all believed that current ESG funds do a good job at selecting companies (Quote 8), and many were down-to-earth about sustainability’s relation to monetary gains (Quote 9) and the difficulties of defining what’s sustainable (Quote 10).

Quote 8: “ESG started well but has lost its way, with some [systems] ranking a US tobacco company higher than Tesla.” (wealthy investor)

Quote 9: “We don’t think [ESG investing] is any use gains-wise” (wealth management leader)

Quote 10: “In the aftermath of the war on Ukraine, when cheap energy disappeared, we found that green energy wasn’t a shortcut to happiness” (wealth management leader)

Overall, Finnish attitudes toward ESG investing matched those reported in the global study: short-term headwinds but faith in long-term growth. This growth, however, won’t happen on its own, requiring effort in addressing greenwashing concerns and educating investors.

Conclusion
 

Our study sheds light on how Finnish wealth management leaders and customers view some of the field’s hot topics. Here we’ve shown preferences for high-touch advisory and value-oriented technology, as well as faith in sustainable investing.

If you’d be interested in hearing more, feel free to contact us.

About the study

Our study is based on a global survey of 2,000 investors and 250 wealth management firms. To understand specific local trends in Finland we additionally interviewed more than 20 Finnish investors and wealth management leaders. The interviews of organizational leaders focused on their perspectives on current and future trends, whereas, with investors, we primarily discussed their experiences and preferences regarding the services they received. Finally, we synthesized our findings with the global results highlighting key insights most relevant to the Finnish market.