Europe has no shortage of money. Its households are among the world’s biggest savers, collectively holding around €10trn in cash deposits. Yet at the same time, governments struggle to finance infrastructure, companies complain about limited access to long-term capital, pension systems face mounting demographic pressure and Europe searches for ways to boost its competitiveness against the United States and Asia.
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“The transformation isn’t simply about technology,” he explains. “Several structural shifts are happening simultaneously. Pension reform, savings mobilisation, private market democratisation, generational wealth transfer and technological innovation are all converging at the same time.”
That convergence, rather than any single trend, is why PwC deliberately chose the word “revolution” instead of “evolution” for this year’s report.
Europe’s greatest untapped asset
For years, the European debate has centred on the lack of investment needed to support innovation, defence, infrastructure and the green transition. PwC argues that Europe’s problem is not the absence of capital. It is the fact that too much capital remains inactive.
European households continue to keep enormous amounts of wealth in low-yield bank accounts. In an inflationary environment, those deposits gradually lose purchasing power while contributing little to financing the productive economy.
“The objective isn’t to push people into risky investments,” Delano insists. “The challenge is helping investors understand that leaving money in a bank account earning virtually no interest also carries a cost.” In other words, financial education becomes as important as financial innovation.
This idea echoes a broader European policy agenda. Through the Savings and Investments Union initiative, policymakers hope to channel part of Europe’s vast household savings towards businesses, innovation and long-term economic growth. Asset managers increasingly find themselves at the centre of that ambition.
Pension reform is reshaping the industry
Demographics represent another structural force behind PwC’s outlook. Across Europe, ageing populations are putting increasing pressure on public pension systems. While first-pillar pensions will remain the foundation of retirement, Delano believes second- and third-pillar solutions will inevitably become more important over time.
That shift has profound implications for the asset management industry. Retirement savings typically represent long-term capital — exactly the type of funding Europe needs to support productive investment. Rather than relying solely on institutional investors, future capital formation may increasingly depend on millions of households building retirement portfolios over several decades.
Private markets move into the mainstream
One of the report’s strongest convictions concerns private markets. For years, private equity, private debt and infrastructure investing remained largely reserved for institutional investors and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. PwC believes this is beginning to change. Regulatory developments such as Eltif 2.0 in Europe and similar initiatives elsewhere are gradually opening access to a broader investor base.
Governments also have strong incentives to encourage that trend. Large-scale infrastructure projects, energy transition programmes and industrial investments require patient, long-term capital that public budgets alone cannot provide.
Private capital therefore becomes increasingly strategic. Yet Delano cautions against confusing democratisation with mass distribution. “Just because a product becomes accessible doesn’t mean it is appropriate for everyone,” he says. Suitability, transparency, liquidity profiles and investor understanding remain essential considerations before private assets can truly reach retail investors. For him, education remains the biggest challenge.
Technology is not the revolution
Artificial intelligence naturally occupies a prominent place in PwC’s report. Surprisingly, however, Delano argues that AI is simultaneously receiving more attention than it deserves — and may ultimately have the industry’s biggest impact.
The contradiction disappears once data enters the conversation. Many firms, he argues, focus on AI tools without first solving a more fundamental issue: data quality. Without clean, structured and accessible data, artificial intelligence cannot deliver meaningful business value. “If companies get their data right, AI will have a huge impact,” he says. “If they don’t, it won’t produce the results they expect.”
Beyond AI, he also highlights more conventional technologies — automation and data-driven personalisation — as equally transformative. These technologies could dramatically reduce the minimum investment required for highly personalised portfolio management, opening services that were once reserved for wealthy clients to a much broader segment of investors.
A generational shift
Changing investor behaviour is also accelerating the transformation. Delano illustrates the point with a personal anecdote. One of his teenage sons recently told him he was saving to buy Bitcoin.
Rather than dismissing the idea, Delano sees it as evidence of a broader generational shift. Younger investors are far more comfortable with digital assets, mobile investing and new financial technologies than previous generations ever were. That behavioural change could eventually support innovations such as tokenisation, which PwC views as another potential distribution channel for future investment products.
But once again, enthusiasm must be matched with education. “The next generation needs to understand not only the opportunities but also the risks,” Delano argues.
Growth alone is no longer enough
PwC forecasts that European assets under management could reach €48.5trn by 2030, supported by both market recovery and structural growth drivers. Yet Delano repeatedly returns to one warning throughout the interview. Simply gathering more assets is no longer a sufficient strategy. “The old model was about building products and gathering assets,” he says. “That may still generate growth, but it will not necessarily generate profitable growth.”
The industry’s future will depend less on product manufacturing than on its ability to create long-term value for investors while efficiently allocating Europe’s savings.
