The latest technology news in the wealth management sector from around the world.

SC Ventures
SC Ventures, the fintech, investment and ventures arm of Standard Chartered, this week invested in BetterTradeOff, a Singapore-headquartered fintech SaaS platform, to boost the digital wealth advisory landscape. 

BTO provides financial advice through an API-based architecture. Leveraging advanced statistical models, BTO enables financial institutions to configure and deploy solutions within three months in accordance with local rules, languages, and tax considerations, the firm said in a statement. 

The investment will provide the ballast for BTO’s next phase of technological enhancements and geographical expansion into key markets in Asia and beyond, the firm continued. BTO’s solution has already been deployed in seven markets – Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, the UAE, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. It is also gearing up to expand and localise offerings in the United States.

"We invested in BTO because the solution helps people to proactively plan their future, addressing scenarios such as inflation or recession,” said Alex Manson, who leads SC Ventures. “We are happy to welcome BTO to the SC Ventures’ ecosystem and look forward to helping BTO scale their offering,” he added.

The digital financial advice solutions available currently, are often too simple or too complex; and could fail to give consumers the control, clarity or the confidence to buy financial products, the firm said. Less than 20 per cent of consumers are confident of completing complex banking activities themselves online.

BTO was established to close this digital financial advice gap and enable everyone to secure and protect their financial future. BTO said its digital platform simplifies the task of building a financial plan. The tool also provides users with a complete picture of all their finances – from investments, insurance policies and property, right down to their monthly living expenses. BTO said its hybrid solution allows users to plan independently, or together with their advisors, on the same platform.