A shift European wealth managers can't ignore

New customer and regulatory demands

For finance, regulations such as the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), launched in December, create both challenges and opportunities for digital transformation. 

While much of the attention has focused on fintechs, wealth managers and private banks will feel its full ripple effects. The message is clear: the era of experimentation is over. From now on, digital innovation must be compliant, explainable, and client-centric.

Why this matters for CXOs

The expectations are now dual:

1. Deliver compelling, adoptable digital experiences

2. Prove those experiences are transparent, auditable, and aligned to regulatory frameworks

At JOURNEY, we don’t interpret regulation. But we do make it executable. We partner with your legal and compliance teams to embed the requirements into the digital experiences your clients and advisors use every day. Because in our experience, it’s not the strategy that fails….. It’s the execution.

Trust, transparency and superior digital experiences

Clients are no longer passive participants. The new generation of European investors is younger, more digital, and more discerning. They expect:

• Seamless digital journeys with access to human advice when it matters

• Personalised, explainable insights, not just dashboards

• Confidence that compliance is built in, not bolted on

We saw this shift firsthand in New Zealand, where JOURNEY partnered with New Zealand Financial Planning to launch Lemmi: a digital-first wealth platform for generations locked out of traditional models. Lemmi combines a friendly interface with deep risk and compliance frameworks—proving that accessibility and regulation can coexist.

Beyond wealth: evidence from a regulated sector

This isn't unique to finance. In another highly regulated European industry, pharma, JOURNEY worked with UCB to launch Impact Aid. The platform empowers medical reps and healthcare providers with real-time tools to improve patient outcomes and drive compliance.

Pharma’s regulation is as complex as almost any other industry, including finance. The parallels are: 

• Personalised yet compliant experiences

• Real-time data powering real-world decisions

• Scalable platforms that balance innovation with regulation

Whether the audience is a patient or a portfolio holder, the need is the same: digital tools that are human-centred, trustworthy, and auditable.

Execution at scale: Solve & Evolve™

The challenge isn’t strategy. It’s getting from pilot to production. JOURNEY’s Solve & Evolve™ method was built to bridge that gap:

• Evolve aligns your 3–5 year ambition to compliance, technology, and CX strategy.

• Solve delivers that vision through phased, feasible execution, embedding controls and workflows into your existing systems.

We’ve used this approach across Europe and APAC, from healthcare to financial services. It’s not a quick fix. It tackles the hard issues with a compressed, focused framework that works at scale. 

Moving beyond the pilot stage to take flight. 

Regulators are ready. Investors are waiting. The opportunity for digital leadership in European wealth management is real, but only if firms move from concept to capability.

If your digital roadmap needs a compliance-ready execution partner, JOURNEY is ready to help.