Insights from the Digital Wealth Summit in Chicago

Amit Aggarwal of JD Power delivers his keynote: "The Experience is the Brand."

I attended the Digital Wealth Summit at the Viceroy hotel in Chicago from May 24^th to 26^th where I exchanged ideas with fellow industry leaders and expanded my knowledge of the trends and developments in the online brokerage business while listening to several panel discussions and keynote speeches. Most of the participants agreed that personalization will play a key role for wealth management apps in the future.

Trading Central has been hosting the event since 2008, but this was the first time the event was done in-person in several years following the Covid-19 pandemic. Many of the attendees were excited to meet face-to-face despite having traveled from far afield.

The online brokers which attended the event focused on offering their users the best possible experience. That means offering investors a level of personalization that helps them better meet their financial goals. In the future, a user’s current portfolio, interests, financial education level and watchlists may be used to curate a unique bespoke trading interface that will anticipate what an investor may do next.

Conference participants discussed how new technology is disrupting the wealth management landscape. Those firms that fail to pivot to a digital first mentality risk being left behind. Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to play a large role in this transformation. Whether through a chatbot or in an innovation lab, AI will be used to expand the knowledge of the user.

View of the Chicago skyline from Millennium Park

Options trading was widely discussed at the conference and most participants agreed that the use of derivatives will continue to gain tractions. Due to their complexity and risk involved, options trading is currently not as accessible to the general investor as stocks but several online brokers are working to open the options experience to diverse groups by demystifying and simplifying the process around analyzing and trading options.

I started my career trading options on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and lived just a few short blocks from where the conference was held. It was great to be back in the city after a long absence. Many of the iconic spots like Wrigley Field still look great while many new fabulous looking skyscrapers have risen over the Chicago River since I left, making Chicago perhaps the most architecturally interesting city in the US.

Along a similar vein, the conference brought together newcomers and veterans for one of the most thought-provoking discussions this year about where the online brokerage industry stands and where it is headed in the future. I am looking forward to helping moomoo remain at the forefront of these trends in our quest to provide the most comprehensive trading experience possible.

By Justin Zacks, VP of Strategy, Moomoo Technologies Inc.