Fannie Wurtz at French-based asset manager Amundi, which has €2.2 trillion ($2.5 trillion) in assets under management, discusses latest trends across the wealth and distribution markets in Europe and Asia, highlighting the firm’s investment in digital technology and clients increasing use of digital platforms. 

As investment managers boost use of digital tech and clients become digitally aware, Fannie Wurtz (pictured), head of wealth & distribution division at Amundi, told this news service in an interview how 77 per cent of retail investors use digital investment platforms and hold an average of 50 per cent of their portfolio digitally.

Despite the impression that only young people are digitally savvy, Wurtz said the use of digital investment platforms is high across all age groups, with over two-thirds of those aged 51-60 digitally engaged. 

A comfortable retirement is the top priority for retail investors worldwide, but only one in four are on track to achieve what’s needed, according to Amundi’s recent survey assessing how digitally engaged retail investors are. The survey looks at holding investments on digital platforms, using digital sources of information and advice for decision making, covering 25 countries with over 11,000 retail investors surveyed across a range of demographics. 

There is also a divergence between different countries with Finnish (95 per cent), Brazilian (89 per cent), Swedish (89 per cent) and South Korean (89 per cent) investors embracing digital means more strongly than their peers in Thailand (46 per cent), Japan (64 per cent) and France (65 per cent), the survey shows.  

The report is part of a continued ferment about digital technology â€“ a term covering internet-driven platforms, blockchain, AI, and many others - within the world's wealth management industry. And even ultra-high net worth clients â€“ a segment typically seen as a "white glove" market requiring more labour-intensive attention â€“ is not immune to this trend, as this article argues.

Seeking facts
Three quarters of retail investors also look for investment information through digital means, the report said. This figure is lower in Europe (69 per cent) and higher in Asia (76 per cent).  Thirty-eight per cent of respondents favour media influencers from TV, radio, podcasts, online blogs and social media for investment guidance, whereas 31 per cent prefer to go direct to the investment provider’s website.  

However, Wurtz said investors still want the human touch, particularly when it comes to long term financial planning. Despite concerns that the rise in digital tech use could threaten jobs, she believes that digital is also an opportunity for financial advisors as they are increasingly using digital tools such as simulators. Hence, the two go hand in hand and she emphasised how global wealth is rising, estimating the growth of global financial wealth to rise from $275 trillion in 2023 to $367 trillion in 2028.

Wurtz also said that Amundi has been accelerating the expansion of its own wealth capabilities, notably with the recent acquisition of aixigo, a German-based technology company that has developed a high value-added modular service offering for distributors of savings solutions. Its platform enables new services to be deployed quickly and easily into existing IT infrastructures of banks and financial intermediaries. 

“We have also been growing a lot in Asia, a region that benefits from positive trends such as the rise of the middle class and increasing GDP growth,” Wurtz continued. India, for instance, is one of the fastest growing economies, she added, and Amundi’s joint venture with the State Bank of India has above 15 per cent of market share in the country. “Wealth development and the number of investors embracing digital technology is much higher in Asia,” she said.   

ESG
Despite concerns that investors appetitive for ESG-focused investments is waning, Wurtz highlighted that there is still a lot of demand for it, notably in Europe. “Ninety per cent of EU institutional investors have ESG criteria in their Request for Proposal (RFP) and 30 per cent in Asia. It is paramount for EU investors,” she said.

See more about Amundi and its investment strategies in 2025 here and here.