Creating a Wealth Management Platform for Millennials and Gen Z

Jul 13

4 min read

Problem

The wealth management industry struggles to attract and retain younger investors like millennials and Gen Z. These groups have unique expectations and preferences, such as:

Desire for socially responsible investing
Need for mobile-friendly platforms
Demand for educational resources and modern, user-friendly interfaces

According to PWC article [1]

"A pending “great transfer” of wealth is set to bring about $70 trillion1 in assets to younger investors, who may have different investment philosophies and goals than previous generations.".

Specifically targeting and serving them has a large market opportunity.

Idea

Develop a SaaS platform designed for younger investors, featuring:

A sleek, modern, and intuitive user interface
Comprehensive educational resources on investing
Tools for socially responsible investing
Full mobile accessibility for on-the-go management

This solution will cater to the unique preferences of millennials and Gen Z, making wealth management more engaging and accessible.

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Key Players already on the market

Robinhood: A popular commission-free trading app known for its sleek interface and accessibility to younger investors.
Acorns: An micro-investing app that rounds up purchases and invests the spare change, appealing to younger investors with its simplicity.
Betterment: A robo-advisor that offers socially responsible investing options and educational resources.
Wealthfront: Another robo-advisor with a user-friendly interface and educational content tailored for millennials.
Stash: An investing app that offers fractional shares and educational resources to help new investors learn about the market.
SoFi Invest: Offers both active and automated investing with educational resources and a modern interface.
Ellevest: A platform focused on women investors, offering impact investing options and financial education.
M1 Finance: Provides a customizable investing platform with automated rebalancing and educational content.
Public: A social investing app that allows users to follow other investors and offers fractional shares.
Invstr: Combines social features with real and virtual investing, along with educational games to teach investing concepts.
Greenlight: While primarily focused on kids and teens, it offers educational resources and tools for young investors to learn about the stock market.
Titan: An active investment management platform targeting younger investors with a focus on transparency and education.

Venture Capitalists

Here are some well-known venture capitalists working in investment and wealth management:

Sequoia Capital
1. Location: Menlo Park, California, USA
2. Focus: Technology investments, including fintech and SaaS
Accel Partners
1. Location: Palo Alto, California, USA
2. Focus: Technology companies, including fintech and SaaS
Bessemer Venture Partners
1. Location: Multiple offices globally
2. Focus: Consumer, enterprise, and healthcare, with investments in fintech
500 Startups
1. Location: Mountain View, California, USA
2. Investment Stages: Seed, Series A
3. Focus: Wide range of startups, including fintech and SaaS
New Enterprise Associates (NEA)
1. Location: Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA
2. Investment Stages: Seed through growth-stage
3. Focus: Technology and healthcare companies, including fintech

While these VCs have a track record of investing in fintech and SaaS companies, when approaching these VCs, it would be important to:

Emphasize the unique features of your platform that cater to younger investors (millennials and Gen Z).
Highlight the socially responsible investing tools, as this is a growing trend in wealth management.
Showcase the mobile accessibility and user-friendly interface of your platform.
Demonstrate the potential for recurring revenue, which is attractive to VCs investing in SaaS companies.
Be prepared to discuss your growth strategy and how you plan to differentiate from existing offerings in the wealth management space.

Online Forums

The Advisor Forums - Wealth Management - https://www.wealthmanagement.com/forums
Investing | Wealth Management - https://www.wealthmanagement.com/forums/investing
Citywire Funds Insider Forums - https://moneyforums.citywire.com
r/PersonalFinance: This subreddit has 12.9 million members discussing personal finance topics, including investing advice

Conferences - MarketCounsel Summit

- Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning

- AdvisorCon

- EWAS

- The Ascent

- NAPFA's Large Firm Forum

- Institutional Investor’s Retirement Plan Advisor Institute

- SWAY | LIVE

- Wealth Management EDGE

- InsideETFs+

- WealthStack

- RIA Edge

- FinovateSpring

- FinovateFall

- Envestnet Advisor Summit

- NAPFA Spring National Conference

- DeVoe Elevate

- BNY MELLON | PERSHING INSITE

- Morningstar Investment Conference US

- FPA NexGen Gathering

- FPA Annual Conference

- Orion Ascent

- Investments & Wealth Institute (IWI) Experience

- MilMoneyCon

- AICPA & CIMA Engage

- The Exit Planning Summit

- Barron’s Advisor Teams Summit

- Financial Planning Association (FPA) Retreat

- Broadridge 360 Advisor Summit

- 2024 FINRA Annual Conference

Target customers:

Millennials, Gen Z, Young professionals, First-time investors, Tech-savvy individuals, Socially conscious investors, Mobile-first users, Financial education seekers, DIY investors, Digital natives

Next Steps

Conduct customer interviews with millennials and Gen Z to validate the problem and gather insights on their preferences and pain points.
Create a minimum viable product (MVP) with basic features like a modern user interface, educational resources, and mobile accessibility.
Develop a prototype of the socially responsible investing tool and test it with a small group of target users.
Launch a landing page to collect email sign-ups and gauge interest in the platform.
Use feedback from early users to iterate on the MVP, focusing on improving the user interface and educational content.
Implement analytics to track user behavior and engagement on the platform.
Develop partnerships with financial educators and socially responsible investment funds to enhance the platform's offerings.
Plan and execute a marketing campaign targeting social media channels popular with millennials and Gen Z.
Continuously gather user feedback and make data-driven decisions to refine and expand the platform's features.
Explore funding options such as angel investors or crowdfunding to scale the platform.