What Is Wealthtech?

Weathtech is becoming an increasingly popular term in the startup world, but what does it actually mean?

Well, in simple terms, wealthtech is a sub-sector of fintech, specifically focused on helping people build and manage their wealth.

This could be investing, saving, planning for retirement, managing their stock portfolio or just understanding where their money is going.

And lately, wealthtech is having a bit of a moment.

In fact, yesterday on Sifted, the publication looked at which wealthtech companies VCs were watching. As more people look for ways to manage and grow their wealth, especially in times of economic volatility, wealthtech is well positioned to help.

How Is WealthTech Different From Wealth Management?

Now this all might sound a bit familiar if you’ve heard of wealth management before. And it’s true, wealth managers also help people grow their wealth and plan for the future.

However, wealth management has historically been very expensive, which means it was mostly reserved for those that already had considerable wealth. Financial advisors were an asset that only the elite few could afford…until now.

Wealthtech flips that model entirely. Instead of hefty fees and meetings in corporate offices, wealthtech helps people use tech and AI to lower costs and make wealth building more accessible to the masses.

Some startups do this by replacing human advisors entirely, others mix technology with human expertise. The thing they have in common is that they rely on technology to drive their service, rather than old school relationship building.

What Are Some Types Of WealthTech Companies?

Wealthtech companies, whilst all driving people to the same end goal, (growing their wealth) do this in a number of different ways.

Some of these include:

Educational platforms: Some wealthtech platforms help people understand the power of investing, providing them with beginner-friendly ways to get into the market.

General investing: Some platforms almost act as digital brokers, helping people invest easily through them.

Automated investing: For many, choosing what they invest in can be a bit overwhelming. Some wealthtech platforms have automation built in to remove any emotion or guesswork from the process.

Retirement planning tools: One of the main services wealth managers provide is financial planning for the future. Wealthtech platforms help by giving people general advice and allowing them to easily invest in private pensions, providing useful tax advantages.

Some WealthTech Companies To Explore

If you find yourself wondering which wealthtech companies are out there, we’ve rounded up some worth exploring.

Wealthsimple

Wealthsimple is a consumer-facing wealthtech platform that helps people invest, save and trade in one place.

Through their ‘smart investing’ products, alongside their financial advice service, they help people better manage their money without worrying about understanding jargon.

Acorns

Acorns positions themselves as a financial wellness app, helping people save, invest and grow their money.

Based in the US, Acorns has repeatedly won awards for helping to make investing more understandable and easy to do for families around the world.

Human Interest

Human Interest sits firmly in the retirement space. Its platform helps small and medium-sized businesses in the US offer retirement plans to their employees, without the admin headaches.

This not only benefits the companies by keeping them compliant, it also helps employees save for the future.

Monzo

Now you might be thinking – monzo isn’t a wealthtech platform, it’s a bank! But actually, monzo has a number of features that places it firmly in the wealthtech space.

Specifically, their savings pots and ISA integrations in the UK make it easier for their users to put away money periodically.

Flanks

Flanks is an AI tool that gives wealth management insights to customers.

Through their platform, customers are able to access personalised advice and AI-driven wealth management, helping them make smart decisions about spending and investing.