How Financial Advisor Platforms Are Adapting to Gen Z Investors

Gen Z in Europe is reshaping the investment landscape at remarkable speed. Nearly all of this generation are digital natives, with 97% of 16 to 29-year-olds being online daily.

In Belgium, the investor base is broadening too. 37% of people aged 16 to 80 now invest, and under-40s are particularly active, favouring entry-level portfolios of €20,000 or less and showing over 40% crypto participation.

For financial-advisor platforms, this evolution creates both opportunity and pressure. The new generation of investors expect digital-first convenience that feels as intuitive as a social app, yet they still value the trust and rigour of compliant financial institutions. 

Platforms that can balance these two priorities will lead the next phase of engagement in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Who Are Gen Z Investors in the EU?

Always-online, mobile-native habits

Gen Z investors have never known a world without mobile connectivity. Across Europe, over 90% of people used digital payments in 2024. This shows that this generation is comfortable with instant and on-the-go transactions.

In Belgium, under-40s demonstrate distinctive preferences like a strong crypto ownership, yet ETF adoption remains low at 16%, indicating substantial room for growth.

The power of social media and sentiment

Gen Z’s financial decisions are often shaped by social channels and digital communities. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has highlighted that online sentiment can influence equity prices, raising new investor-protection concerns.

What Gen Z Expects from Advisor Platforms?

1. Seamless and mobile-first onboarding

The shift toward mobile is already complete in day-to-day finance. Belgium counted 12.9 million mobile-banking subscriptions in 2023, for a population of 11.8 million.

That ratio says that Gen Z expects instant, mobile-led access to financial tools. Advisor platforms can no longer rely on desktop-first designs or manual KYC procedures; investors now judge usability by the same standards as their favourite apps.

2. Bite-sized education

Younger investors favour accessible, digestible insights. They rely on provider apps, Key Information Documents (KIDs), and even social-media explainers to understand investment concepts.

For institutions, this means embedding short and clear in-app education and contextual help.

3. Values-driven investing

Purpose matters. 80% of investors in their 20s are familiar with the EU’s ESG classifications, suggesting that awareness of sustainable-finance terminology is now mainstream.

Advisor platforms that display transparent ESG information will resonate strongly with this audience.

How Are Regulatory Guardrails Shaping Product Decisions?

While Gen Z’s expectations are reshaping product design, regulation defines its limits. The EU’s evolving frameworks are pushing institutions to embed compliance into every layer of their digital experiences.

1. MiCA (crypto regulation)

The Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, phasing in during 2024–25, requires platforms to standardise custody, disclosure, and complaint-handling around digital assets. 

For any platform offering crypto exposure, this means compliance architecture must evolve alongside front-end design.

2. DORA (digital resilience)

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), effective January 2025, makes strong ICT-risk management mandatory. 

Advisor platforms must therefore ensure that their mobile-first interfaces are backed by resilient and secure infrastructure capable of withstanding operational shocks.

3. Finfluencers and MAR compliance

ESMA’s guidance on social-media content highlights the regulatory scrutiny surrounding “finfluencers.” 

Advisor platforms must apply careful oversight, ensuring that any digital communications comply with the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) and that promotional content is clearly identified as such.

Together, these guardrails make it clear: digital engagement cannot come at the cost of regulatory precision. Platforms that embed compliance-by-design will find it easier to adapt to evolving expectations while maintaining institutional trust.

How Are Platforms Adapting?

1. Frictionless onboarding and payments

Advisor platforms are redesigning their onboarding processes around e-KYC, device biometrics, and progressive profiling.

Integrating familiar payment methods is key. Belgium’s mobile-payment surge, with 42% of people using QR-code payments in 2024, shows how comfort with simple, secure payment journeys can extend to investment interactions.

2. Education is built into the experience

Learning is most effective when contextual. Platforms are introducing KID/PRIIPs summaries, interactive “explainers,” and short risk quizzes directly into the user flow.

This approach aligns with how younger investors naturally research, across multiple apps and social feeds, while making sure that the firm retains oversight and compliance control.

3. ESG transparency

Platforms now emphasise clear Article 6/8/9 classifications to help institutional partners provide information consistent with EU SFDR requirements.

This transparency allows financial institutions to communicate ESG information credibly, aligning with Gen Z’s demand for clarity without overstepping into advisory territory.

4. Crypto access with safeguards

Some advisor platforms are preparing for crypto access modules that combine custody, execution, and education, which is supported by risk flags and passporting readiness.

The objective is not to promote speculative activity but to ensure that, where crypto exposure exists, it’s handled within compliant, well-supervised frameworks.

5. Social-native but compliant engagement

Social elements are becoming part of advisor-platform design, but always with regulatory discipline. Community features and content tagging aligned with MAR allow institutions to harness peer engagement while maintaining transparency.

Compliance oversight ensures every communication, post, or shared insight remains within the permitted boundaries of marketing communication rather than investment advice.

Bottom Line

Gen Z investors are already forming expectations shaped by the digital ecosystems they use every day.

They want advisor platforms that are:

• As simple as their favourite social apps, which are intuitive, mobile, and responsive.
• As values-driven as ESG investing is, it is transparent and purpose-aligned.
• As trustworthy as regulated finance, which is secure and compliant.

Financial-advisor platforms operating in Belgium and Luxembourg can thrive in this transition if they act now on modernising their digital experience, embedding compliance from the outset, and communicating in a way that meets younger investors on their own terms.

Institutions that adapt swiftly will earn the loyalty of the next generation. Those who hesitate risk seeing Gen Z turn to more agile fintech challengers or unregulated alternatives.

The future of wealth management in Europe is being rewritten by digital-first investors. For advisor platforms, the challenge is no longer whether to adapt but how fast.