XP's B2B platform focused on independent wealth management, XP Wealth Services , grew 80% in less than two years and reached R$ 180 billion under custody, among consultancies and asset managers, capturing almost a third of this market, valued at R$ 600 billion.

Much of XP's growth came from penetrating the market among large family offices, which used the banks where their clients had accounts to manage their clients' portfolios. But, gradually, they began to see advantages in a platform geared towards independent management, which, among other benefits, offers institutional rates and cashback on product rebates.

XP has also been riding the wave of growth in independent consulting firms. According to data compiled by Mont Capital and shared with NeoFeed , the total number of consulting firms registered as legal entities reached 593 last year – more than double the 261 that existed in 2020.

Currently, XP Wealth Services serves over 300 companies, including asset managers and consultancies, and approximately 2,000 independent consultants. This indirectly reaches around 75,000 clients. "We have managed to penetrate the main multi-family offices in the country and have been supporting new consultancies," says Diego Gonsalez, head of B2B investments and Wealth Services at XP.

Since consultants and wealth managers operate on a fee-based model , this division has helped XP grow the percentage of this remuneration model within the company, which already accounts for 21% of total assets under management. In business terms, this is a welcome recurring revenue stream in a market hampered by fixed-income securities.

Over the past two years, this model has been growing at a significant rate, driven both by regulation (CVM rule 179), which provides greater transparency regarding fees charged, and by the increased level of information available to professionals and investors.

Launched in 2021, Wealth Services was created to complement XP 's operations in the independent market through the B2B model, betting that, in addition to the investment advisory market, consultancies and asset managers would also grow, stealing market share from large banks, as happened in the US.

While XP was initially practically the only major B2B platform with a structured offering for this audience, the landscape has changed. BTG Pactual and other players have created institutional arms or specific solutions for consultancies and family offices.

The banks themselves have started to look at this market more closely, adjusting fees, waiving institutional rates, and revising the range of services offered to independent firms. But they still don't offer cashback on rebates. And as NeoFeed showed, they have plans to create their own B2B platforms for this market.

Safra launched its platform last year using SafraInvest technology. Itaú hired Renato Cunha from XP and has been developing the project for a year, expecting to launch it in the first half of this year. Bradesco and Santander are developing platforms to streamline the ticketing process for this service, which is still very personalized, and make the experience more fluid for those who wish to connect.

According to Bruno Ballista, partner and head of advisory and client relations at XP, the entry of new competitors validates the thesis. "We know that at any moment they can offer the same advantages and we need to be prepared," he says.

Competition for international investment

The battle for clients has increasingly taken on offshore dimensions. Therefore, this area is also gaining relevance within XP Wealth Services, operating with a broker-dealer and RIA ( registered investment advisor) structure available to partners, who can access different international custody platforms to build clients' portfolios.

According to XP executives, 17% of Wealth Services' custody is already in assets abroad – a percentage that is expected to grow as Brazilian families continue to dollarize part of their assets.

In Miami, XP has strengthened its team dedicated to independent partners, specifically to support the structuring of international portfolios and, more recently, credit solutions and other services for these clients.

This movement is happening in a context where the competition for offshore money is intensifying, with platforms like Avenue and other players targeting the same audience as consultancies and family offices, and Brazilian banks using their international arms to compete for these fortunes.

If open product architecture is no longer a differentiator, XP is now trying to shift the competition to infrastructure and services. In recent years, the firm has invested in the scale and efficiency of its asset management business, which provides fiduciary administration services for both funds and managed portfolios, and in its institutional brokerage, which serves Wealth Services partners in market operations.

According to XP, this combination simplifies the lives of consultancies and family offices that want to concentrate the management of investment vehicles, the execution of operations, and client allocation in a single ecosystem.

“Beyond the investment aspect, we are complementing the value proposition with these other services, which help professionals better serve clients and encourage them to choose the platform,” says Gonsalez.

Technological investment is also essential in this strategy to simplify collection processes, facilitate adherence to management or asset consolidation contracts, produce reports for clients, and design financial plans. And this occurs in a white-label structure, with the firms plugging into the platform.

With this strategy, XP hopes to maintain a similar growth rate and reach R$200 billion in assets under management in the first half of this year. “This industry will have an increasingly higher growth rate. Today, 80% of wealth is still in banks and should move to independent banks, as in the US. And more and more asset managers and consultancies will emerge to serve specific niches,” says Ballista.