Towards Trust in Wealth Management

The use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) within wealth management (WM) is present in different contexts and has become an increasingly discussed research subject. Trust is an essential element in conducting the business of WM. Distributed ledger technology, among other technologies, can take on the role as a potential enabler to maintain, restore, or even enhance digital trust in WM. This study deals with existing scientific and practitioner literature pertaining to the key terms: WM, DLT and digital trust. After elaborating the business model of WM, the functionality of DLT and the positioning of digital trust, together with surrounding information security models, the author designed a framework prototype which allows a WM decision maker to qualitatively assess the impact of DLT use cases on trust. The three-step framework prototype consists of use-case identification, a DLTapplicability check and a qualitative trust assessment. After creation, it was evaluated by the author in an internal review cycle and afterwards commented on by WM experts through interviews. The prototype was then redesigned and amended by two additional steps – a sponsor board definition and DLT architecture design....