Top Trends in Wealth Management – Miró Mitev, Founder and CEO of SmartWealth
This week’s Top Trends in Wealth Management is dedicated to Miró Mitev, Founder and CEO of SmartWealth.
What is your assessment of the current global political landscape and its impact on wealth management strategies?
Evolving trade and regulatory policies have made the investment environment increasingly volatile and unpredictable. One recent example is the market reaction to Liberation Day, which caused uncertainty and a lack of confidence in the market. This drove the data into uncharted territories.
Not only does this uncertainty create chaos, but it makes it incredibly hard for investment managers to consistently make good decisions. Market movements overnight move prices which impact their investment psychology. Casino conditions can create winners and losers, but the outcomes are unpredictable.
The first rule of wealth management is to protect the clients’ funds. So suddenly, natural human instincts can conflict with rational investment decision-making.
In contrast, AI doesn’t have emotions. Our model trades only on data, and what we have seen over multiple cycles in the last two decades is that this logical allocation and trading strategy delivers better returns for any target volatility over time.
Our proprietary AI is built to process, interpret, and act on political and market signals in real time. It draws on global data, historical patterns, and macroeconomic indicators to continually re-optimise client portfolios based on emerging risks and opportunities.
In your opinion, how have recent policy shifts in major economies like the US, EU, China affected the long-term stability of private wealth?
The recent policy shifts across the US, EU, and China go further than the cyclical change we are used to seeing. We are entering a post-globalisation phase where industrial policy, protectionism, and fiscal stimulus are replacing decades of market liberalism.
In this new environment, strategic adaptability becomes the cornerstone of wealth preservation. At Smart Wealth, our AI systems are designed for precisely this kind of volatility. Our models are constantly recalibrating based on data, and this allows us to safeguard our clients’ capital while uncovering new pockets of opportunity – even in a fragmented and uncertain market.
In short, the long-term stability of private wealth will depend not only on predicting the next cycle, but also on being prepared for a world that might not follow one. And that’s where technology and data-driven insights must work hand-in-hand.
As we continue to navigate uncertainty in global markets, how are wealth managers adjusting their strategies to preserve and grow clients’ wealth?
Due to the uncertainty in global markets, wealth managers are undergoing a fundamental shift in how they approach portfolio construction and risk management. We are seeing a decisive move towards more adaptive, real-time, and data-driven investment strategies.
Moreover, wealth managers are also placing a stronger emphasis on risk management and downside protection.
AI is at the centre of this transformation. It allows us to process vast datasets and adjust portfolio positioning dynamically, often before risks fully materialise. This is critical in a world where shocks can emerge overnight and ripple globally in seconds.
How important is diversification in a post-pandemic world, and which asset classes are your clients focusing on?
At Smart Wealth, we believe diversification delivers real protection and opportunity when paired with high-quality, long-term data. Unlike traditional managers who diversify based on broad themes or benchmarks, our AI models are trained on decades of granular market behaviour. That requires not just breadth of exposure, but depth of information.
This is why we deliberately invest in blue-chip equities that have been publicly traded for more than 20 years. These assets provide the rich historical data our algorithms need to identify the key factors influencing asset behaviour, uncover patterns, interpret market reactions, and adapt in real time. They allow our AI to make informed decisions based on hard data and how each asset has behaved through past macroeconomic cycles, interest rate regimes, and geopolitical events. As importantly, they are also highly liquid, so we can offer our clients greater flexibility and better risk-adjusted returns.
In terms of asset class focus, our clients continue to gravitate toward high-quality, blue-chip equities where long-term fundamentals remain robust. At the same time, our AI monitors macro signals and can dynamically adjust exposure across asset classes, including sovereign bonds, cash, and commodities, depending on the risk environment.
Sustainability investing has gained traction over the past few years. How are you seeing it affecting the portfolios of high-net-worth individuals, and is this trend sustainable?
Sustainability investing is no longer viewed as a niche or specialised strategy for high-net-worth individuals – it has become a standard part of portfolio construction. We have seen a very high demand for sustainable investing from our clients, and therefore each of our products incorporates ESG and CSR filters, ensuring that only assets with the highest sustainability rankings enter the investment universe.
Given how deeply embedded these practices have become in asset management, I feel the trend is not only enduring but foundational to how many portfolios are built today.
What are the emerging risks and opportunities that wealth managers should be most aware of?
Many firms still underestimate how quickly AI and automation are reshaping asset management. The danger is that you can fall behind and deliver solutions that no longer meet the expectations of modern clients. Firms that delay meaningful investment in next-generation infrastructure are exposing themselves – and their clients – to long-term relevance risk.
On the opportunity side, this environment is also incredibly fertile for those who are prepared. AI is unlocking the ability to move from reactive wealth management to proactive and predictive strategy. With the right technology, we can identify subtle shifts in market sentiment and macro data before they manifest in asset prices.
How have the needs and expectations of private clients evolved in recent months? Are there any new priorities or concerns they are expressing?
Clients today are increasingly focused on risk-adjusted performance rather than simply chasing headline returns. After several years of global shocks, there’s a renewed appreciation for capital preservation, downside protection, and long-term stability.
This evolving mindset aligns directly with our AI-driven technology, as it was designed with capital protection at its core. It’s trained to pursue growth and minimise drawdowns, manage volatility in real time, and preserve wealth through changing macro conditions. The system rebalances to cash based on dynamic risk signals, ensuring that clients remain exposed to opportunities, but not to avoidable shocks.
In essence, the modern private client is more discerning, more risk-aware, and more focused on sustainable, intelligent wealth building. That’s why AI is not just relevant – it’s essential to modern asset management.
In what ways are clients seeking more personalised wealth management services, and how are you meeting those needs?
Today’s clients, particularly in the ultra-high-net-worth and institutional segments, want strategies that are aligned with their personal risk appetite, time horizon, ethical considerations, and regional compliance standards.
This is precisely where our AI platform delivers a significant advantage. Unlike traditional models, which rely heavily on broad asset allocation templates or manual customisation, our funds can be configured easily when we see demand for certain investment parameters.
For example, as we expanded our presence across Europe and the Middle East, we saw an increase in demand for Sharia-compliant and UCITS-eligible funds. With conventional funds, delivering this level of specialisation would require creating entirely separate investment vehicles or labour-intensive manual oversight. But with our platform, we were able to adjust the allocations, screening criteria, and rebalancing logic to meet these specific needs, while maintaining the same level of sophistication and risk control our clients expect.
With the rise of digital, how are private clients responding to this?
Perhaps the most profound impact is cultural. Digital creates a 24/7 connection with the client, and it expands the ability of investment firms to offer this level of interaction to more clients. As people are using apps more and more, it is a natural channel of interaction.
The rise of digital has also empowered the new generation of investors to be far more informed and engaged than previous generations. With greater access to information and tools, they are less willing to compromise on performance and are more inclined to explore different funds and asset managers. Unlike older generations, who often relied on personal relationships and long-standing brand loyalty when making investment decisions, today’s investors prioritise transparency, results, and value. This shift opens the door for new players to enter the asset management space and also puts pressure on established fund managers to consistently perform and remain competitive.
Naturally, we have also had many people ask questions about using AI, but in recent years as the GenAIs have gained traction, those concerns are diminishing.
Are there any new technologies or platforms that are making a significant impact on how private wealth is managed or delivered?
Looking at this top-down, the falling cost of computing power and storage means that we are collecting unprecedented volumes of data. While investment managers have always claimed to be data-driven, the sheer scale of data is making it impossible for the human mind to analyse and find patterns.
We have entered a period where we need to master the use of advanced tools to deliver outperformance. As more asset managers adopt AI and see improvements in their results, what was once a competitive edge will become the market norm. The differentiator will no longer be simply who uses AI, but who uses it the most effectively to generate superior returns.
In this context, and I know that I would say it, AI is the technology that is most impacting every element of private wealth.
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