Bluerating February 2025
Commercial banks have long been under intense pressure from financial advisor networks. Banks are increasingly serving as a breeding ground for new advisors: for some networks, this pool accounts for over 85% of new hires. Financial advisor networks are gaining market share among Italian investors, from 6% to 22% over the last ten years, and from 17% to 41% among private clients.
As if that weren’t enough, challenger banks are increasingly entering the competitive arena. These are new-generation banks, completely digital and without physical branches, challenging the traditional model by offering simple, fast, low-cost banking services that can be managed via an app.
Challenger banks are using technology to reduce operating costs and offer innovative products that appeal to an increasingly broad and diverse audience.
Compared to the past, thanks to the exponential increase in the use of digital platforms and social networks across all generations, challenger banks are now able to attract not only penniless young people but also senior investors with significant financial resources.
Among the challenger banks are Scalable, Trade Republic, and Revolut (4 million customers in Italy), which in other European countries, such as Germany, are enjoying successes unpredictable until a few years ago. More recently, Satispay, the payment app launched in 2013 in Italy, has also entered the asset management market, offering investments in three mutual funds developed with Invesco.
In this scenario and with these prospects, commercial banks have launched a counterattack.
First, by investing in the network of bank managers working in branches, equipping them with tools and an increasingly broad offering, motivating, training, and incentivizing them. Second, by supporting the branches with new networks of managers working off-site, two cases in particular: Intesa Sanpaolo’s Global Advisors and, a few days ago, the network of agents at UniCredit Financial Services.
UniCredit Financial Services is building on the current network of approximately 800 myAgents agents, who will become buddy agents. They will be joined by a new network of Financial Advisors, currently under construction, called buddy advisors, thus expanding the off-site advisory offering to all products, including investments.
In a single move, the bank led by Orcel is responding to the challenge of challenger banks with its digital buddy bank, while also laying the foundations for the creation of its own advisor networks: innovation (challenger bank) and proximity (advisor) are the key words for this transformation.
We are confident that the market will only benefit from these innovations; increased competition will lead to greater attention to costs and efficiency, which for the best players will also mean increased quality and market share. For the others, we wish them all the best.
Nicola Ronchetti