By FINTECH Books Contributor, Kamales Lardi Follow: As digital technologies increasingly disrupt the Wealth Management industry, collaborating with start-ups has become a viable approach to identify, validate and scale solutions as a means to stay relevant and compete in the digital age. Although these digital ventures have the potential to transform incumbent players, the number of start-ups innovating on behalf of the Wealth Management industry pales in comparison to other segments.
The fundamental challenge lies in the attempt to converge the traditionally ‘physical’ environment of incumbents with the new ‘digital’ operations that WealthTech start-ups create. This chapter will aim to lay out the types of start-up collaboration approaches that we see in the Wealth Management industry, as well as discuss the opportunities and challenges of each approach, including:
Organizations set up digital ventures, incubators or hubs outside of the existing organizational environment to sponsor, run or participate in accelerator programs.
Internal teams across various functional areas collaborate with independent start-ups to accelerate innovation process and identification of new opportunities.
An internal digital unit is set up to explore new opportunities brought on by digital disruption. The incumbent company may look to acquire promising start-ups and their teams to embed the culture of innovation and entrepreneurial thinking in the company.
The key to success lies in selecting the right approach that fits the needs of the company and its inherent organizational culture. The chapter will also cover the critical success factors for start-up collaboration by looking at cross-industry examples. For example, the way banks approach FinTech innovation could serve as a guide for the Wealth Management players to cultivate relationships with the WealthTech community.
The Wealth Management industry can benefit greatly through start-up collaborations. However, focusing on the structural approach to collaboration and cross-industry learning could be the key to address the growing challenges of digital disruption.