Deutsche Asset Management has unveiled Baloise as the first client to deploy its investment robot. A tool that paves the way for a new era in the digitization of banking, also in Switzerland, said Roger Bootz in an interview with finews.com.
Roger Bootz wouldn’t call it a robo-adviser, but rather a human robot. Bootz, a Swiss citizen, is the head of the public distribution of passive investment products in Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Deutsche AM.
«It» being Wise – the Whitelabel Investment Software Engine designed by the fintech division of Deutsche AM. The fund unit of Deutsche Bank this week unveiled its first contract with a customer for Wise: the German unit of Baloise, the Swiss insurance company.
The two firms have launched the Monviso sales platform, through which Baloise clients can access the wealth management products of Deutsche AM via the Internet. The entry level for would-be investors is 400 euros only.
Half Robot, Half Human
The work in the background is being performed by Wise, the human robot. «The investment process is fully digitalized, but the investment strategy and the products sold correspond with the view of the CIO, in other words the strategic view of Deutsche AM,» Bootz said.
What is special about the product is that Deutsche doesn’t take the technology directly to the customer, unlike for instance UBS with its Smartwealth tool. It is partners such as Baloise which perform the last step, selling the product to the end-user – B2B2C as the jargon has it. This might be the beginning of a new era in the digitization process of the banking industry, Bootz said.
«Fintech has reached the level of 3.0,» said the banker, who used to sell UBS index funds across Europe. «There’s a new breed of technology experts who specifically support established financial service companies in the digital transformation process.»
From Confrontation to Division of Labor
From the early confrontational times, via the cooperative state, the industry has now reached the level of division of labor. Companies that don’t want to move to the digital world on their own, buy solutions – such as Wise, the human robot.
For the time being, Deutsche AM is only looking in the European Union for partners for Wise: «A distribution in Switzerland may come at a later stage.»
Selling to Digital Providers
Of course, Deutsche AM is working along the basic idea behind Wise in Switzerland as well. The bank for instance is offering complete model portfolios – such as the one contained in Monviso – to digital providers. The cooperation agreement with Swiss robo-adviser Descartes Finance is a pilot for this business: «We are in talks with further providers,» Bootz confirmed.
Other digital solutions, such as Glarner Kantonalbank’s Investomat and Truewealth of Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank also receive products from Deutsche AM.
«Through Wise on the one hand and the model portfolios on the other, Deutsche AM is more of a solution than a product provider,» Bootz said.
Looking forward, customers will be judged upon their entire financial needs, rather than by loans or investment demands. «This way of looking at clients is likely to have a great future in the Swiss financial market, which is specialized in meeting complex demands of very wealthy clients.» A lot of work then for fintech 3.0.
