Why Fintech is eating wealth management

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This week, we’re talking product. Not in the techy, roadmap, backlog kind of way. In the who actually wins this market kind of way.

Because the battle to win over Europe’s emerging class of retail investors isn’t going to be won by banks with bigger balance sheets. It’ll be won by the platforms that build better products. Ones that feel made for this generation, not inherited from the last.

Product wins. Not pedigree.

Let me be blunt: legacy finance is going to lose this war. Not for lack of capital. Not for lack of connections. But because they don’t know the customer anymore.

They’re still building for “high-net-worth individuals.” Still assuming trust is earned through logos and men in suits. Still thinking a slick brochure and some glass offices are enough to woo the next generation of wealth.

They don’t realise the mass-affluent investor they’re chasing has zero emotional connection to their brand. They grew up using apps like Revolut. They do their research online and figure things out for themselves. They don’t need a broker trying to sell them on a fund when they can find the information with a few clicks on their phone.

And here’s the thing: That customer isn’t asking for luxury, they’re asking for clarity.

They want a platform that works. That makes sense. That doesn’t make them feel like they missed a class in financial jargon just to get started.

Legacy firms can’t fake that. No matter how much they spend on digital transformation decks and 10-year “innovation” roadmaps.

This next wave of investors isn’t just underserved, they’re misunderstood. And the ones who build for them will win.

The shift is already happening

Retail investors now control 50% of global wealth. And they don’t plan to just sit on it either. Allocations to private market assets are set to triple over the next 7 years, from $4 trillion to $13 trillion. That’s not a trend. That’s a complete restructuring of the investing landscape.

(There's over €150 billion sitting in Irish bank accounts as we speak. We’re great savers it seems, but it’s losing on inflation. I wonder how much of this will be mobilised over the coming years as Irish people wake up to the fact that there are better opportunities out there for our hard-earned cash?!)

At the same time, traditional finance is fumbling the handover. Their entire model was built for another era, one where “access” meant a relationship manager and a quarterly statement. But the new generation doesn’t care about prestige or pedigree. They care about usability. Transparency. Control. They want a platform that works the way the rest of their digital life works - fast, clean, self-directed.

Legacy wealth firms think they can win this market by repackaging their offer with new fonts and a social media intern. But that’s not what this segment is buying. Millennials and Gen Z aren’t waiting to be invited into the club - they want nothing to do with them. They’ve grown up investing through apps, making decisions on the go, learning in real-time. And when the product experience doesn’t match that expectation, they move on.

This isn’t just a generational wealth transfer. It’s a complete rewiring of trust, value, and user experience. And the incumbents are losing the plot.

The real battlefront: Product

This is where the war is actually being fought.

Not in ad budgets. Not in investor decks. In product.

Because it turns out, access isn’t enough if the experience is crap. A younger generation of investors has grown up managing money through clean, intuitive apps. They’re used to investing with two taps, seeing real-time data, and getting clear explanations without having to Google every third word.

So when they land on a private markets platform that feels like a bank built it? They leave.

Legacy finance can’t build like this. Not because they don’t have the resources - they’ve got all the money in the world. But because they don’t have the mindset. Their default is complexity. Ours is clarity.

A beautiful interface isn’t just a “nice to have”; it’s the trust layer. If the product feels clunky or chaotic, users assume the backend is too. That’s why modern fintech doesn’t just look different. It feels safer. And in a category as historically gated as private markets, that feeling matters.

So while the incumbents rebrand their websites and throw cash at compliance-heavy “digital onboarding journeys,” fintechs are shipping faster, listening harder, and actually building for the people they serve. That’s the edge.

What access actually means

Access is one of those words that gets thrown around a lot in finance. But for most firms, it still means the same thing it did 20 years ago: can you afford the ticket? Can you pass the KYC checks? Do you meet the minimums?

But that’s not how this new generation defines access. To them, access means:

• Can I understand this without needing a finance degree?

• Can I invest without having to speak with someone?

• Can I move money quickly, see what I own, and know what’s happening with it?

This isn’t just about reducing friction. It’s about removing intimidation. Because the truth is, most people don’t avoid investing because of risk, they avoid it because the experience feels like it wasn’t built for them. 

The biggest opportunity in this space isn’t creating “exclusive access”, it’s building default inclusion. That means simplicity by design. Education that doesn’t patronise. Interfaces that build trust without dumbing things down.

If you’re serious about building for this wave of investors, you can’t just open the door. You have to actually invite them in. And then show them where to go. That’s what real access looks like.

Final thoughts

The future of private market investing isn’t just regulated. It’s designed. 

And the platforms that win won’t be the ones with the biggest balance sheets or the most expensive legal teams. They’ll be the ones that feel like they were built by someone who actually uses them.

Legacy firms still think this is a distribution problem. It’s not - It’s a product problem. And they’re not product companies. Which is why they’ll keep losing.

Because trust isn’t earned through heritage anymore. It’s earned through experience. And experience is built, not bought.

What we’ve been working on at Shuttle

• We live streamed our first webinar today, hosted by Ian Madigan! 🎥 🔴 We’ll share the recording on socials and via email soon!

• Our new AI chatbot is nearly complete. Soon you’ll be able to query the latest opportunities, information about your portfolio, membership, etc. via WhatsApp and the platform 🤖

• We started the process of hiring a full time Head of Compliance! If you know anybody interested, tell them to email [email protected] 📧

The Unsophisticated Investor is brought to you by Scott & Rob, the founders of Shuttle. We’re both sick of private markets being a playground exclusive to the ultra-wealthy so we started a company to challenge the status-quo. Shuttle’s singular focus is to unlock private markets for Millennial and Gen Z tech professionals and help them build wealth through the highest performing private market opportunities.

Scott & Rob
Shuttle Co-Founders