The marvel of financial intermediation is that, although it cannot alter the underlying risk in holding direct claims on real assets, it can redistribute risks in a manner that alters behavior. The redistribution of risk induces more investment in real assets and hence engenders higher standards of living.
This occurs because financial intermediation facilitates diversification of risk and its redistribution among people with different attitudes toward risk. Any means that shifts risk from those who choose to withdraw from it to those more willing to take it on permits increased investment without significantly raising the perceived degree of discomfort from risk that the population overall experiences.