Revolutionising Wealth Management Through Video
In this episode of FinTech Focus TV, recorded live at The Summit for Wealth Management, host Toby welcomes John Glover, Co-Founder of Money Alive, to discuss the innovative use of video content in the financial services industry. With over eight years of experience shaping client communications and compliance through media, John provides invaluable insight into how personalised and engaging digital content is redefining financial education, enhancing customer understanding, and improving regulatory outcomes in wealth management.
As a leading FinTech recruitment business with a presence in London, New York, and Belfast, Harrington Starr is always on the lookout for game-changing talent and technologies that are transforming the financial services industry. This conversation with John Glover exemplifies the calibre of thought leadership emerging in FinTech, particularly in areas like RegTech, customer experience, and compliance-led innovation.
Driving Client Education with Video Technology in Financial Services
John Glover opened the conversation by introducing Money Alive and explaining how the company has pioneered video-first solutions to simplify and enrich financial education. Launched in 2017 at York University, Money Alive started with a mission to create an engaging, digital education tool that financial advisers could use to prepare clients ahead of advice meetings. John described this as a “Netflix-style” box set model for financial topics, helping clients learn about complex subjects such as pensions, wills, long-term care, and protection through digestible video chapters.
The underlying idea is that video offers a far superior medium to text when it comes to client engagement and comprehension. As John put it, comparing a novel like Pride and Prejudice to its film adaptation clearly illustrates the power of visual storytelling. Millions engage with the video version, while far fewer choose to read the book. In financial services, this shift matters, clients are more likely to understand investment strategies, pension options, and other regulated subjects when these are presented in video formats that are intuitive, accessible, and available on multiple devices.
Aligning Digital Education with Regulatory Compliance and Consumer Duty
A major benefit of Money Alive’s solution is its alignment with the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s Consumer Duty framework, which places emphasis on ensuring that customers truly understand the products and services they use. John explained that while Money Alive does not provide advice, their content acts as critical preparation ahead of advice meetings. The system generates a viewing record that shows which content the client has watched, enabling advisers to evidence that clients are fully informed before offering advice.
This feature is particularly important in today’s regulatory environment. With an increased focus on evidencing customer understanding, financial advisers can use Money Alive not only to educate but also to create a data trail that supports their compliance with Consumer Duty requirements. Risk and governance teams love this approach, according to John, because it creates a consistent, scalable, and trackable method for client education.
This is where the convergence of RegTech and client engagement becomes essential, areas that Harrington Starr sees growing demand for in FinTech recruitment across both permanent and contract hiring. Professionals who can bridge regulatory requirements with innovative user experience design are more in demand than ever.
Enhancing the Adviser-Client Relationship in Wealth Management
Toby and John also explored how Money Alive's products improve efficiency for financial advisers. Rather than sending clients PDFs or dense brochures, advisers can now rely on engaging, tailored video content that clients can watch at their own pace. By arriving at meetings better informed, clients ask more meaningful questions, and advisers can focus on value-added conversations rather than basic education.
John pointed out that this improvement in efficiency is measurable. Referencing a report by Alpha Consulting, he highlighted that advisers spend up to 30 hours per client on non-advisory tasks. If this time can be reduced through digital education tools, it not only increases productivity but also reduces costs, something all firms are trying to do, particularly in wealth management. And while back-office automation has received much attention, John stressed that front-of-office innovation, such as what Money Alive provides, is often overlooked but critically important.
For firms looking to enhance client engagement and reduce the time-to-value in their client journeys, this kind of digital transformation is essential. As FinTech recruitment specialists, Harrington Starr has seen an increase in the number of clients looking for professionals who can design, implement, or scale these front-of-office technologies, a growing niche in customer experience-driven wealth management.
Scaling Personalised Communications with Video Canvas
One of the most exciting developments from Money Alive in recent years has been the launch of its “Video Canvas” solution. This product takes personalisation to the next level by converting benefit statements, investment summaries, or portfolio updates into individualised video content for each client. As John explained, a Video Canvas allows clients to receive information specific to their accounts, such as asset allocation, risk profiles, or annual statements, in a dynamic, easy-to-understand format.
This shift from static to dynamic communication does more than just make data visually appealing; it enhances comprehension and allows financial services firms to evidence that clients have understood the material. Importantly, these videos are secure, can be hosted on the client’s own digital infrastructure, and comply with the needs of a regulated environment.
The significance of this innovation becomes even clearer when scaled. John mentioned that clients like Hayward are now using Video Canvas to communicate with over 100 local government pension schemes. Another major adopter is Railpen, which manages pensions for the UK’s railway workers. Both firms have embraced Video Canvas to deliver personalised, compliant, and consistent messaging at scale, exactly the kind of RegTech-enabled solution the wealth management industry has long needed.
At Harrington Starr, we frequently work with clients looking for senior-level professionals who can deliver scalable digital engagement strategies. Platforms like Video Canvas demonstrate the competitive edge of hiring FinTech leaders who understand how to marry data, compliance, and user experience, a recruitment sweet spot for any financial institution looking to modernise.
Bringing FinTech Innovation to Wealth Management
Toby and John discussed how the traditional wealth management sector has been slower to adopt technology compared to other areas of financial services. But that’s beginning to change, especially with Consumer Duty pushing for more transparent and accessible client communications. John explained that part of his reason for attending The Summit for Wealth Management was to showcase how Money Alive’s innovations, especially the Video Canvas platform, could support wealth management firms in their digital transformation journeys.
The key value lies in helping wealth firms replace long, text-heavy reports with short, engaging, and accessible videos that clients are more likely to watch, understand, and appreciate. In doing so, firms not only increase customer satisfaction but also bolster their internal governance frameworks.
This area of FinTech, where engagement technology intersects with regulatory innovation, is poised for enormous growth. At Harrington Starr, we see this as a priority recruitment focus, from hiring compliance technologists to digital product managers in wealth management and RegTech.
Accessibility, Vulnerability, and Inclusive Financial Services
As the conversation wrapped up, John addressed another crucial area: the importance of accessibility and vulnerability in client engagement. Money Alive’s tools support temporary vulnerability scenarios, for example, in cases of equity release, by providing content that is easier to absorb than dense documents. This is especially important as the FCA is increasing its scrutiny on how advisers deal with vulnerable clients.
John emphasised that products like Video Canvas are fully accessible across devices and designed to meet the needs of all clients, including those who may need extra support to understand complex financial decisions. From captions to simplified interfaces, the technology is built with accessibility in mind, a standard that is becoming not just a regulatory expectation but also a competitive differentiator.
This emphasis on accessibility reflects a broader trend in FinTech and financial services towards inclusivity, one that aligns perfectly with Harrington Starr’s ongoing focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. We work with clients who are embedding inclusive design into their products, hiring diverse teams, and looking for leadership that reflects the communities they serve.
Strategic Partnerships and the Road Ahead for Money Alive
John concluded the episode by highlighting some of the major partnerships that are helping Money Alive scale its solutions. Most notably, a strategic partnership with Hayward has expanded their footprint in pension communication. The company is already being recognised across the industry, with award nominations for its work in personalised video content.
Another exciting development is their partnership with Intelliflo, a platform that serves over 50% of the UK’s financial adviser market. Through this collaboration, advisers can access Money Alive’s solutions more easily, integrating them directly into their existing workflows.
Looking ahead to 2025, John said the business is focused on expanding into the wealth management market, family offices, and asset management, sectors that have long relied on paper-based communication but are ripe for digital transformation. Whether replacing quarterly fact sheets with two-minute videos or making client education accessible across generations, Money Alive is building the future of front-office communication.
At Harrington Starr, we believe companies like Money Alive represent the forefront of FinTech innovation. As a FinTech recruitment business dedicated to connecting the industry’s top talent with transformational opportunities, we are proud to spotlight these conversations that shape the future of financial services.
FinTech Recruitment at the Forefront of Innovation
This episode of FinTech Focus TV not only shed light on how client communication is evolving but also highlighted the kind of talent and thinking needed to support this evolution. From RegTech strategists to UX designers and compliance data analysts, the opportunities in this space are immense, and Harrington Starr is here to help FinTech firms seize them.
Harrington Starr is a leading FinTech recruitment firm specialising in connecting top talent with innovative financial technology businesses across the UK, Europe, and North America. With offices in London, New York, and Belfast, we work across permanent and contract roles in areas including software engineering, quantitative finance, product management, sales and marketing, data, DevOps, cyber security, and infrastructure. Our deep market knowledge, industry partnerships, and commitment to excellence enable us to support both high-growth start-ups and established institutions in building the teams that power the future of financial services. Through specialist hiring solutions and thought leadership platforms like FinTech Focus TV, we are proud to champion the people driving progress in FinTech.
