Focus Risparmio | July 2025
Finer CEO Nicola Ronchetti discusses the latest trends in financial advisory networks, starting with the potential impact of ongoing deals on the banking sector.
The Italian banking game will also change the game for financial professionals and networks, as well as for banks and asset management companies themselves. A recent survey by Finer Finance Explorer confirms that these are somewhat turbulent times (for both savers and professionals). “If we look at professionals, the level of concern is even higher (76%). This concerns, for example, the closure or merger of multiple branches, demotions or changes in roles, but also the loss of clients,” explains Nicola Ronchetti, CEO of the think tank, who has been conducting financial research for thirty years.
“These are understandable concerns, which arise from the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of all the ongoing transactions, some announced several months ago,” continues Ronchetti.
We don’t know what will happen at the end of this wave of deals. But for the expert, this is a time of great change, but also of great opportunity: it’s essential to shake up the banking inertia that has characterized the sector in recent years. “To have a strengthened Italian financial system, we must also navigate these times of turbulence,” he continues. “In the future, we could have stronger, European-level banking structures, comparable to the major American ones.”
Current Trends
Networks, however, must not only deal with the takeover bid game in this paradigm shift. Financial advisory has been evolving for some time now, as some current trends indicate. First, the number of private clients has increased. And a lot. Advisors have found themselves faced with much more complex needs and doubled average portfolio growth. “Today, 40% of the private banking world is under the control of the network of financial advisors,” says Ronchetti. However, there is still a segment of clients who are not yet adequately served. “Let’s remember that approximately half of the wealth is in the hands of so-called affluent customers (with financial assets between 200 and 500 thousand euros), or approximately 2,000 billion euros out of a total of 4,000, who continue to save 10% of their income,” explains the CEO of Finer.
“Traditional networks have realized this, but this customer segment is still not optimally served because it is more diverse than private or mass-market clients.” The real issue, in short, is finding an optimal model for this segment of savers.
Another important trend has to do with demographics. As Ronchetti emphasizes, with life expectancy increasingly extended, the provision of protection and supplemental pension solutions is becoming crucial and increasingly in demand. “Financial advisors and pension specialists should work more synergistically to offer clients a diversified approach that safeguards each individual’s wealth, especially in old age.”
There is another growing trend: financial advisory, understood as an activity to be performed off-site, no longer appears to be exclusive to financial advisor networks.
“Almost all banks are enabling their managers to operate off-site,” says Ronchetti. “This is confirmed by the growth in the number of bank members registered with the Organization, which also sees a greater presence of women and young people.” The OCF data presented just a few days ago confirms the increase: at the end of 2024, there were 52,779 financial advisors authorized to offer off-site services, a 1.7% increase over the previous year. Last April, the figure surpassed 53,000. Women make up 23% (12,202), and the overall average age has dropped below 52. “The country’s major banks are embracing this philosophy. Intesa Sanpaolo was the first to do so in 2017, when it launched the mixed employee-agent contract, now known as global advisor,” Ronchetti recalls.
A Trust Issue
In short, financial advice today is increasingly moving toward an advanced, hybrid model, but the age-old issue of large savings sitting in current accounts doesn’t seem to be going away. “There’s a financial education issue,” says Nicola Ronchetti, “but above all, there’s a trust issue. Generally, a good portion of Italians don’t trust banks when it comes to managing their investments, partly because they often associate it with excessive costs. That’s what we need to work on: building a relationship of trust that still has a lot of room for improvement,” he concludes.
Silvia Ragusa