Strategy is no longer enough. Supervisors want  evidence. Clients expect systems that simply work. And the $90.5 trillion in global HNWI wealth  sitting on the table makes the cost of inaction very real. 

Harvest and fincite today released the WealthTech Radar 2026, their fourth annual report on the  trends reshaping European wealth management. The message is direct: the industry has  moved past the era of pilots and proof-of-concepts. Five execution priorities now define who  wins and who falls behind. 

The five priorities: 

• Cloud resilience — measured by auditable recovery, exit readiness, and vendor control,  not by policy documents 

• Asset tokenization — where settlement speed and collateral mobility create real,  measurable value 

• Direct indexing — adopted selectively where economics and client preferences actually  align 

• Advisor-ready wealth aggregation — the prerequisite for share-of-wallet gains in the  wealth transfer era 

• AI at scale — but only on a clean, governed wealth data core with integrated workflows

Cloud Sovereignty Is Now a Proof Sport 

The report’s special topic chapter cuts through the sovereignty debate: what matters in 2026 is  not which jurisdiction your data sits in, but whether you can demonstrably restore critical  workloads within defined RTO/RPO windows. The ECB has been explicit. Boards need to treat  cloud resilience as a revenue topic — not an IT checklist. 

Tokenization: From Pilot Narratives to Live Rails 

The era of tokenization pilots is over. The Radar tracks institutional programs that have moved  into production: cash and settlement mechanics, tokenized bonds and funds, and collateral  mobility models. The short-term payoff is faster settlement and more flexible collateral — provided custody, interoperability, and governance are built in from day one. 

Direct Indexing: The Technology Is Ready. The Business Case Is Selective. 

Direct indexing is technically mature. But broad retail scale in Europe in 2026 is not realistic.  Fractional-share legalities, tax asymmetries, and best-execution economics set the limits. The  opportunity is real where mandates are large enough, client preferences justify the service wrap,  and total cost math works. 

Wealth Aggregation: The Bottleneck That Became a Growth Lever 

Next-gen clients expect a consolidated, actionable view of all their assets. Most relationship  managers still don’t have the tooling to deliver it. Banks that close this gap — and make  aggregation genuinely advisor-ready — defend and grow wallet share before, during, and after  the wealth transfer moment. 

AI in Wealth Management: Outcomes, Not “Pilotitis” 

AI is becoming a baseline expectation. But 71% of wealth management executives call digital first capability retention-critical, while only around half offer AI-supported client profiling. The  report maps the operating prerequisites that separate a proof-of-concept from frontline  outcomes: data layer quality, model governance, and workflow integration. In that order. 

Built With the People Who Actually Know 

The WealthTech Radar is not a single-company view. Each trend chapter is co-authored by an  independent domain expert — practitioners and leaders who work these problems every day.  The 2026 edition brings together: 

• Jerome Evans, CEO, firstcolo — Cloud & Geopolitical Tensions (Special Topic)

• Simon Seiter, Managing Director & CFO/CPO, AllUnity — Asset Tokenization 

• Alexander Sperlich, Managing Director DACH & Head of Strategic Business  Development EMEA, Morningstar — Direct Indexing 

• David Niedzielski, Managing Director, Sprengnetter Gruppe — Real Estate

• Dr. Til Rochow, CPO & Co-Founder, Upvest — Digital Wealth Backend

• Susanne Krehl, Chief Growth Officer, wealthAPI — Wealth Aggregation

• Leyla Kunimoto, Founder, Accredited Investor Insights — Private Equity / Venture  Capital 

• Delphine Asseraf, Deputy CEO, Harvest — AI in Wealth Management

• Dr. Alexander Bechtel, Global Head of Digital Products, DWS — Crypto Assets

• Pablo Nobre dos Reis, Digital Products Analyst, DWS — Crypto Assets

• Dr. Oliver Pfeil, CEO, ÖKOWORLD AG — ESG Restrictions 

• Nicola Alvaro, Head of Wealth Services & Distribution, Allianz Life Luxembourg S.A. —  Digital Estate Planning 

Quotes - What the Authors Say 

“Artificial intelligence does not replace people — it amplifies their decision-making  capability.” 

— Delphine Asseraf, Deputy CEO, Harvest 

“Clients move fast — Wealth Management solutions must connect even faster.” — Paul Kammerer, CCO, fincite