The less that is known about the current state of a market or a venture, the less the ability to project future outcomes and, hence, the more those potential outcomes will be discounted. Financial intermediation, although it cannot alter the underlying risk in holding direct claims on real assets, can redistribute risks in a manner that alters behavior.
This redistribution of risk induces more investment in real assets, presumably engendering a higher standard of living. This occurs because financial intermediation facilitates diversification of risk and its redistribution among people with different attitudes toward risk.