WealthTech, financial education and generational transfer: why value today is built before products

The European banking system is undergoing a structural transformation that goes far beyond the digitalisation of channels or the evolution of financial product offerings.

In wealth management, the true competitive arena is no longer defined solely by performance, but by the ability to preserve existing relationships and cultivate new ones with younger generations, protecting assets under management and ensuring long-term continuity.

This is the space in which WealthTech operates.

Today, value no longer stems merely from access to specific or innovative financial instruments, but from the ability to support people through the financial decisions that everyone, sooner or later, faces over the course of a lifetime. In this context, financial education is not an end in itself, but a strategic means: a tool to improve decision quality, increase client retention, encourage action and create fertile ground on which to build a relationship between banks and individuals, no longer just “clients”.

The great generational transfer and the invisible risk

Over the next twenty years, the wealth management industry will undergo an unprecedented transformation. According to Capgemini’s World Wealth Report, more than USD 83.5 trillion will be transferred globally to younger generations by 2048.

A capital shift of this magnitude makes it clear that the challenge is not merely financial, but relational and operational. In the absence of tools that facilitate dialogue with younger generations and help institutions understand their needs and expectations, the risk is not only about poor decisions, it is relational. Trust erodes, and over time, assets move elsewhere.

This systemic risk, linked to the so-called “Great Wealth Transfer”, has the potential to profoundly reshape the distribution of assets under management, potentially leading financial institutions that fail to adapt promptly towards decline. It is, in effect, a case of “survival of the fittest” applied to the banking sector as a whole.

According to the UBS Global Family Office Report 2025, only 53% of family offices worldwide have structured succession plans, and just 26% involve the next generation from the early stages. In Italy, the situation is further compounded by insufficient financial literacy: the Bank of Italy’s 2023 survey of young people aged 18 to 34 shows that only 35% correctly answer questions on basic financial concepts.

The risk therefore extends beyond the preservation of wealth to the ability to maintain stable relationships over time, or even to create them in the first place. In the presence of fragmented or near-conflictual financial dialogue between generations, capital may continue to be managed, but relationships quietly and inevitably deteriorate. In such cases, trust must be actively supported by tools that enable understanding and dialogue.

From wealth management to decision management

This represents the true inflection point for contemporary wealth management. Managing wealth is no longer just about selecting the best products, but about reducing information asymmetry, empowering individuals to feel in control of their financial decisions, improving decision quality, and repositioning the advisor, not as the sole guardian of financial outcomes, but as a competent and empathetic guide.

When people understand what they are doing, they make better decisions, stay engaged for longer, and plan with greater confidence and awareness. In this sense, financial education becomes a driver of economic value, and therefore of core business, rather than an ancillary initiative or a reputational exercise.

Financial education as strategic infrastructure

The key point is that financial education is not a goal, but an infrastructure on which to build. It enables banks to protect assets during generational transitions, improve the quality of client decisions, and establish new, long-lasting relationships.

For the future of wealth management, the question is no longer whether to invest in education, but how to integrate it, at scale, with measurable impact, and aligned with business outcomes, within banking processes.

Backed by €700,000 in pre-seed funding from financial industry executives and international investors, Finanz aims to close Europe’s financial literacy gap, transforming it into a tangible source of value for banks, advisors, and the people they serve.