This piece was written in 2016, when robo-advisors like Wealthsimple were gaining popularity in Canada. The satire was timely, as every industry was adding the term “artisan” to its products. Now, in 2025, Fintech has gone mainstream, but the buzzwords have not disappeared. Today’s trends include “AI-powered investing” and “premium personalized portfolios.” It’s essentially the same wine, just served in a new bottle.
This is the only thing that has not been used. It aims to pique people’s interest in the alleged new FinTech world. This is through the Premium Artisan Automated Investing Profiles.
Image courtesy of worradmu at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
What do I mean by FinTech? Well you might ask, let’s go with Wikipedia’s view:
Financial technology, also known as FinTech, is an economic industry composed of companies that use technology to make financial services more efficient. Financial technology companies are generally startups founded with the purpose of disrupting incumbent financial systems and corporations that rely less on software.
Artisan Investing?
Artisan Investing would imply: Individual or customized (and naturally highly researched), investing plans and everyone likes to feel like they are not just one of the unwashed masses. Your investing would be taken care of in an Artisan way, using only the best techniques, methodologies and investing concepts. The ETFs used in your profile would only be of the highest quality, and only invest in companies that create the highest quality products.
However, if we view the term Artisan as meaning:
a worker in a skilled trade, especially one that involves making things by hand.
then the concept of Artisan Investing is completely ludicrous (of course), since FinTech implies automated or "... not made by hand". FinTech implies using technology to do things well, since Artisan implies using "tried and true old school methodologies".
Artisan is being added to all sorts of products and services; why not to "new" financial technologies as well? Soon to be available from your local trading house: Premium Artisan Automated Investing Profiles.
Further reflection
The danger with marketing buzzwords in finance is that they hide the simplicity of what you’re actually buying. Robo-advisors usually hold a mix of ETFs which you could buy yourself for a fraction of the cost. The “premium artisan” label is a joke, but it reflects a fundamental problem: financial companies sell feelings, not just investments.
For Canadians, the lesson is simple: don’t get dazzled by “exclusive” profiles or fancy names. Look under the hood. If the portfolio consists solely of 60/40 ETFs with a 0.7% management fee, you’re not engaging in artisanal investing. You’re buying expensive bread in a brown paper bag. Worse, you are buying an Edsel with a Mercedes badge.
