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AI to transform wealth management, Microsoft executive says
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 14, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 26, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 14, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 26, 2026
AI is transforming wealth management by lowering barriers for startups and enabling banks to offer services with fewer resources.
By Oliver Hirt
ZURICH (Reuters) - Artificial intelligence will bring major upheaval to wealth management, a Microsoft executive said, as the technology's potential to process information vastly reduces the hurdles required to compete with established banks.
AI's ability to condense financial data will allow just a few people to offer services that previously occupied entire teams in a bank, said Martin Moeller, head of AI & GenAI for financial services, EMEA, at Microsoft.
"Generative AI will reshape the competitive landscape," Moeller told Reuters. "AI will, for example, significantly lower the threshold for market entry for startups, similar to what the digitalization and internet wave did decades ago."
Since early 2024, Swedish payment service provider Klarna has been using AI from Microsoft's partner OpenAI which performs the work of 700 employees.
The world's largest asset manager, UBS, also sees great potential for AI. CEO Sergio Ermotti said this month it could boost productivity and make jobs easier.
Moeller said generative AI will reduce costs for newcomers, and it can also help family offices, private wealth managers for the super-rich that compete with wealth managers.
"Banks that have so far been barely active in wealth management could enter the business with the help of AI without having to invest much in customer advisors," he said.
AI's advance is gaining momentum from changing customer behaviour, with young entrepreneurs increasingly willing to manage their investments themselves, Moeller said.
In response, many banks are working to enable customers to independently consolidate information using AI.
"Customers should have access to complex information 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Moeller. "Portfolio construction can also be handled by conventional AI."
AI currently does not advise on products or specific investment decisions, but the next stage of development, so-called "agentic AI", which makes independent decisions without human involvement, is expected to arrive in around two years.
(Reporting by Oliver Hirt, writing by John Revill, editing by Susan Fenton)
AI will bring major upheaval to wealth management by significantly reducing the number of people needed to provide services, allowing just a few individuals to handle tasks that previously required entire teams.
Generative AI will lower the threshold for market entry for startups, enabling them to compete more effectively in the wealth management space without heavy investments in customer advisors.
Many banks are working to enable customers to independently consolidate information using AI, reflecting a shift in customer behavior where young entrepreneurs prefer to manage their investments themselves.
'Agentic AI' refers to the next stage of AI development that can make independent decisions without human involvement, although current AI does not yet advise on specific investment decisions.
UBS's CEO, Sergio Ermotti, believes that AI could boost productivity and simplify jobs within the wealth management sector, indicating a strong potential for the technology.
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