the wealth management market | Italy

1.1 Introduction

Asset management refers to the set of activities revolving around the investment of funds on behalf of customers in portfolios containing different types of assets (e.g. financial, real estate, land, art) with the aim of optimizing the return while limiting risk. The typical products offered by asset management consulting firms are savings, life insurance and investment products (equity, bond, currency and commodity portfolios).

In this context, asset management is structured around 3 main activities:

• The creation of a balance sheet: professional, economic and familiar situations;
• The implementation of an investment project: risk aversion, objectives in terms of return, etc. ...;
• The management and investment of capital: according to predefined criteria of profitability, risk, transmission, financial flows, etc....

Asset management is often in the hands of large banking groups, mainly retail banks (Société Générale, BNP, etc.) or investment banks (Rothschild, Lazard, etc.), or insurance groups. Independent consulting firms, which were already present in the past, have recently experienced strong growth thanks to digital technologies, in particular thanks to the arrival on the market of "Robo -advisors". Italian individuals are increasingly oriented towards safe, transparent and efficient asset management, parameters to keep in mind in a context that is progressively more competitive on the supply side.