- Deloitte says financial services will undergo structural change through 2030 as AI, tokenization, and shifting investor behavior reshape core business models.
- GenAI is already embedded in M&A workflows (86% adoption), boosting early-stage deal sourcing and diligence while raising data, reliability, and regulatory risks.
- By 2030, Deloitte expects 25% of large cross-border transfers to settle on tokenized platforms, cutting costs ~12.5% and saving corporates over US$50B.
- Insurance and real estate are pivoting toward “predict-and-prevent” models and alternative, increasingly tokenized property exposure.
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The Deloitte “2025 Financial Services Industry Predictions” report maps several defining trends set to reshape banking, insurance, real estate, and investment management through 2030. These are not incremental shifts but structural changes driven by emerging technologies, regulatory evolution, and changing investor behavior. Leaders need to think of this not as an optional innovation agenda, but as core to competitiveness and survival. ([www2.deloitte.com](https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/press-releases/deloitte-releases-2025-financial-services-industry-predictions-report.html?utm_source=openai))
Preeminently, the rise of generative AI (GenAI) is altering the mechanics of dealmaking. In the inaugural Deloitte “2025 GenAI in M&A Survey,” 86% of respondents—across private equity and corporations—say GenAI is now part of their M&A workflows, with two-thirds having adopted within the past year. Most declare plans to increase their investments in the short term. GenAI is finding greatest traction in early pipeline stages: market assessment, target screening, and due diligence. However, concerns around data security, model reliability, ethical risk, and regulatory compliance are widely cited as meaningful brakes. ([deloitte.com](https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/about/press-room/deloitte-survey-genai-in-mna.html?utm_source=openai))
Tokenization and digital assets are other major structural forces. Deloitte projects that one in four high-value international transfers will be settled on tokenized asset or currency platforms by 2030, delivering corporate clients cost savings of approximately 12.5%—over US$50 billion. Stablecoins emerge as near-term frontrunners, particularly in wholesale and cross-border payments, subject to legislative support and regulatory clarification. ([www2.deloitte.com](https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/financial-services/financial-services-industry-predictions/2025/bank-tokenization-global-payments.html?utm_source=openai))
Insights also indicate deep change across less headline-grabbing categories. Insurance is moving toward “predict and prevent” models that shift revenue toward fee-based risk management, using smart tech (e.g., home devices, IoT) and predictive analytics to reduce loss events. Concurrently, investment in real estate is expected to shift heavily toward alternative property types—data centers, life sciences, senior housing—and toward tokenization, with global tokenized real estate markets forecasted to reach US$4 trillion by 2035. ([www2.deloitte.com](https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/press-releases/deloitte-releases-2025-financial-services-industry-predictions-report.html?utm_source=openai))
These disruptive trends bring both opportunity and risk. For incumbent financial institutions and fund managers, there is upside in bold early adoption—but sensitivity to regulatory uncertainty, cybersecurity risk, and technology debt. Firms that delay may find themselves marginalised as nimble competitors or fintechs capitalize on digital infrastructure, AI-augmented decisionmaking, and tokenization.
Supporting Notes
- Deloitte predicts U.S. retail investor allocations to private capital will grow from US$80 billion today to US$2.4 trillion by 2030. ([www2.deloitte.com](https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/press-releases/deloitte-releases-2025-financial-services-industry-predictions-report.html?utm_source=openai))
- By 2030, Deloitte expects U.S. P&C insurers’ fee-based risk management revenues to increase from US$21.6 billion in 2023 to US$49.5 billion. ([www2.deloitte.com](https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/press-releases/deloitte-releases-2025-financial-services-industry-predictions-report.html?utm_source=openai))
- Forecasts show that nearly 70% of commercial real estate portfolio value will be in alternative property types—like data centers, life sciences, senior housing—by 2034, up from just over 40% currently. ([www2.deloitte.com](https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/press-releases/deloitte-releases-2025-financial-services-industry-predictions-report.html?utm_source=openai))
- Active ETFs in the U.S. are projected to grow from US$856 billion in assets in 2024 to US$11 trillion by 2035—a thirteen-fold increase. ([www2.deloitte.com](https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/press-releases/deloitte-releases-2025-financial-services-industry-predictions-report.html?utm_source=openai))
- In the 2025 M&A GenAI Survey of 1,000 leaders: 83% have invested at least US$1 million in GenAI tools for their M&A teams; 88% of PE firms and 77% of corporate firms fall in this group. ([deloitte.com](https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/about/press-room/deloitte-survey-genai-in-mna.html?utm_source=openai))
- Primary barriers for GenAI adoption are data security (67%), data quality and availability (65%), model reliability (~64%), ethical concerns (62%), and regulatory uncertainty (61%). ([deloitte.com](https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/what-we-do/capabilities/mergers-acquisitions-restructuring/articles/m-and-a-generative-ai-study.html?utm_source=openai))
- Prediction: by 2030, 25% of large-value international transfers will settle via tokenized platforms, cutting corporate transaction costs by ~12.5%, saving over US$50 billion. ([www2.deloitte.com](https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/financial-services/financial-services-industry-predictions/2025/bank-tokenization-global-payments.html?utm_source=openai))
}