On this episode of WealthTech Unwrapped, Ned speaks with Bert-Jan van Essen, Founder and CEO of Fractionalmission.plus. They discuss building a Wealthtech start-up from the ground up, it’s similarities to Ski Mountaineering and the benefits of keeping WealthTech simple.
Bert-Jan, one of the pioneers in developing WealthTech solutions in Singapore, fondly recalls the journey of building his start-up, Dragon Wealth Asia Pte. Ltd. The driving force behind his company was to assist financial advisors in attracting new clients and empowering them to deliver superior advice, ultimately fostering longer-term client relationships and investments. At the time, this vision aligned perfectly with Singapore’s abundance of family offices, which often had independent financial advisors.
Drawing parallels from his entrepreneurial journey to his experiences in Ski Mountaineering, Bert Jan acknowledges the immense effort invested at the outset, with the true rewards and satisfaction reaped at the journey’s end.
Bert-Jan emphasizes the importance for banks to improve the usability of their digital offerings and expand their product range beyond their offerings. He criticizes the excessive spending on customization, arguing that the focus should be on delivering excellent products to clients rather than getting entangled in the buying and customization processes.
Furthermore, Bert Jan points out that banks tend to introduce unnecessary complexity by incorporating too many features into their digital products to meet the requirements of multiple departments. This approach becomes difficult to maintain and compromises the necessary technology to fulfill all these demands.
