Breakthrough 2025 recap

Key takeaways:

• Innovation and AI Innovation and artificial intelligence (AI) are important discussion topics in the due diligence community.
• Digital assets The next generation of financial products may leverage tokenization to expand access to the blockchain.
• Customization Technology is enabling deeper customization, though success depends on client outcomes.

Breakthrough 2025, Invesco’s flagship event for the due diligence community, brought together experts and key decisionmakers to network and share insights. The event spotlighted how innovation and artificial intelligence (AI) are helping to drive the industry’s evolution. Sessions engaged sophisticated investors across retail and institutional channels as they navigate the fast-changing landscape. From AI maven Zack Kass’s take on AI to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas’s exploration of ETFs, presenters and panelists dug deep into the issues. What answers did they find, and what questions did they raise?

The next renaissance

People are building machines that are their intellectual equivalents, perhaps even their superiors. Zack Kass, former Head of Go-To-Market at Open AI, considered the implications in his keynote address at Breakthrough 2025. As machine intelligence gets cheaper to use, AI may become a utility. Enhanced applications will likely give way to autonomous agents and then someday a natural language operating system. People may not be able to keep up; they may not want to. Will the world get better, faster, and cheaper? Will everyone live longer and work less? What comes next is an open question society must answer. The future is coming.

Building the next generation of financial products with digital assets

Cryptocurrency-based ETPs are still a small fraction of ETPs overall. But they could be a breakout success and, more importantly, the trend seems promising. Crypto ETPs are just one of the many financial products leveraging digital assets across today’s investing landscape. Kathleen Wrynn, Global Head of Digital Assets at Invesco, led the “Building the next generation of financial products with digital assets” panel at Breakthrough 2025. The panel included Steve Kurz, Global Head of Asset Management at Galaxy, Robert Leshner, CEO at Superstate, and Nick Ducoff, Head of Institutional Growth at the Solana Foundation. Big stories abounded. Tokenization is bringing off-chain assets to the blockchain. Stablecoins for currencies like the dollar are one example. Blockchain, with its possible uses, shows the growth potential that early-stage Magnificent Seven tech companies once did. The stories don’t end there. In fact, they’re just beginning.

The ETF ecosystem: Innovation, access, and what’s next

ETF assets have increased 16 times over in their three-plus decades.¹As Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, pointed out in “The ETF ecosystem: Innovation, access, and what’s next” discussion at Breakthrough 2025, a couple reasons may account for that growth. Some feel the federal government won’t take care of them as retired citizens. Fee-based financial professionals sometimes recommend ETFs to clients. More ETF money is held in passive funds, but more ETFs are actively managed. Despite a record 1,485 launches last year,²passive may continue to lead.³ But active fees have been flat or falling,⁴and issuers are getting creative, thinking about exploring investor psychology to serve their needs. Records may not break again in 2025, but the influx of new ideas suggests a bright future.

Unlocking private markets: The power of partnership

As global innovation helps drive growth in private markets, we believe another type of innovation becomes more important. Neil Blundell, Chief Investment Officer at CAIS Advisors, and Trevor Slaven, Head of Asset Allocation & Multi Asset Portfolio Solutions at Barings, talked about the innovation in partnering at the Breakthrough 2025 session “Unlocking private markets: The power of partnership.” Building partnerships involves a focus on investment capabilities, distribution strategies, and risk management considerations. Trust in those partners ties everything together. A company often can’t do it alone, be it due diligence, custodial recognition, or some other necessary task. The alternative market may continue to grow, with investors seeking out the next big opportunity. That could be tokenization or some investment no one’s thought of yet. Partnership will help bring it into being.

The next breakthroughs in customization

Technology is helping drive innovation in investment management, allowing a level of customization not seen before. But that customization may succeed if it leads to potentially better outcomes for clients. Patrick Mullins, Head of SMA Specialists at Invesco, chaired the “What are the next breakthroughs in customization?” panel at Breakthrough 2025. The panel included Chris Scott-Hansen, Head of Investment Advisory Solutions at Morgan Stanley, Stephen Patrickakos, Head of Managed Investments at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Rob Battista, Executive Vice President, Advisory Solutions at Vestmark. Technology is simplifying life for investors and their financial professionals. Agentic solutions may soon independently interact with other tools to invest on their behalf. But too much new technology at one time is sometimes intimidating. Financial professionals can be overwhelmed by all the data. And clients may prefer a certain level of self-control over their personal information and portfolios. Striking a balance can be difficult. Meanwhile, innovation continues its path forward

Breakthroughs from this year’s event may help investors back in the real world. But the exploration doesn’t end there. Invesco’s thought leadership team continues to highlight and explain the dynamic shifts happening across industry sectors, asset classes, and investment vehicles. Where will the industry be this time next year? Join us at Breakthrough 2026 to find out.