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Julien TARRISSE (who graduated the Grande École Program in 2021) and Thibault PASTOUR (graduating IÉSEG in 2022) are striving to make wealth management accessible to all. 

Far from targeting an elite group, they want to meet the needs of all French people: investing wisely to secure their financial future. With this focus on affordability and financial education, they launched Immocompare, followed by Optivest. We met with Julien, who told us about his experience and the development of these two platforms.

Julien, can you briefly tell us about your background and what made you want to become an entrepreneur?

I studied at IÉSEG (Grande École Program) with a major in marketing on the Paris campus. The school helped me develop my business acumen: understanding how a company works, how to manage people… it’s a whole mindset that you develop to prepare yourself for the business world. The Consulting Project and my experience at Junior Entreprise also helped me develop essential entrepreneurial skills.

After my studies, I worked in the French Tech ecosystem and mentored for Station F. Being so close to the entrepreneurial community made me want to start my own business.

You co-founded not one, but two companies…

Yes, I co-founded two companies with Thibault PASTOUR, whom I met at the School. He has a very finance-oriented background, so we complement each other.

First, we launched Immocompare, a comparison site for real estate service providers (turnkey investment platforms, training, brokers, online accountancy, etc.). Every month, around 35,000 users visit our platform.

Then we launched Optivest, with the idea of offering a comprehensive financial product: a complete wealth management strategy based on in-depth analysis of the sector and service providers, while offering real transparency to the customer. It is a wealth management diagnostic platform that allows users to create a tailor-made investment strategy.

Thanks to our artificial intelligence algorithm, combined with our expertise as financial investment advisors and insurance brokers, we help users define and implement their personalized wealth management strategy.

The majority of French people cannot afford the services of wealth management advisors, and we aim to address this issue by offering attractive rates and providing educational resources to ensure that they understand their investments.

How does Optivest work?

Essentially, users enter their financial and asset information, as well as their investment objectives, into the platform. We then use this data to analyze their situation and propose a strategy tailored to their profile and objectives. The platform then gives them access to a personalized action plan, along with various graphs and simulations to help them better understand the potential returns, as well as educational tools to help them understand their investment choices.

An initial payment then gives them access to the asset reallocation strategy. This involves analyzing the user’s current situation and identifying how best to allocate their capital across different investment vehicles. This could involve, for example, opening a PEA (French equity savings plan), taking out life insurance, reducing low-yield savings held in savings accounts, or increasing the purchase of shares in order to improve the portfolio’s potential return.

What sets you apart from the competition?

Our offering differs in two main ways: our fees are more competitive than most wealth management services available on the market, and we offer a highly advanced digital experience that makes it quick and easy to create a personalized investment strategy. What’s more, we offer a comprehensive assessment free of charge.

We have found that even when people have the information they need to take action, most of them do not implement their investment strategy on their own. That is why we also offer long-term support services.

Our wealth management advisory services are based on an adaptive model: the cost varies according to the size of the portfolio, as strategies differ between small and large portfolios. This service includes the option of scheduling individual appointments with your advisor. During these appointments, the advisor explains the recommended investments, answers questions, and provides support in implementing the strategy. The goal is to help users fully understand their investments and avoid procrastination in implementing them.

What is your role in all this?

I am mainly responsible for managing partnerships and marketing strategy. I also handle the legal side of things, recruitment, and relations with service providers. I also have a sales role: I handle calls with prospects if they need reassurance and support to subscribe to one of our offers.

Thibault then handles the asset management calls with our Optivest clients. At Immocompare, he is in charge of SEO content.

What stage are you at in the development of these two platforms and what are your goals for the future?

Immocompare is running at a good pace. Our goal is to keep up this momentum by closely monitoring key indicators: website traffic and revenue per partner. We also analyze current trends that could impact us so we can adapt our offers to customer needs.

For Optivest, there is strong potential for development and the market is constantly evolving. With AI, there is a lot going on, and the question is: how can we remain attractive in this market? We are looking to integrate AI in an intelligent way to optimize our costs while combining it with our business expertise. Our goal is to increase the number of customers with our version 2 of Optivest, which is even more enriched by AI, and to gather feedback from the market. Acquiring new customers remains an ongoing challenge.

We will continue to make technological improvements in line with current industry practices, so that the platform can automate as many steps as possible in the diagnosis and creation of wealth management strategies. The goal is to free up time for human support.

The time spent with advisors must focus on high value-added elements, in particular: education to explain investments, reassurance, and support in decision-making.

You are part of the IÉSEG incubator program. What does this bring you?

The incubator plays a strategic support role. We know that if we have a specific question or need, we can count on its team. It’s invaluable to get feedback from professionals to adapt our model or challenge our decisions. There’s also a networking and investment fund aspect that can be useful depending on the stage of development.

Any advice for students who want to start a business?

There is a real network of entrepreneurs at IÉSEG now. That wasn’t the case four or five years ago. More and more entrepreneurs are launching great companies in many different sectors. A real network is being created, so take advantage of it! Ask to meet them, have a coffee together, for example. People are usually very open.