RIAs Lead Financial Advisers in AI Tool Use

Registered investment advisers are leading the advisory field in use of artificial intelligence: 56% of responding RIAs said they used AI tools, compared with 47% of regional, independent and bank advisers and 46% of wirehouse advisers, according to a recent report by ISS Market Intelligence, a research platform owned by ISS STOXX, which also owns PLANADVISER.

The most common reason cited by advisers surveyed for the “Windows into Wealth Management” report, given by 58% of advisers who used such tools, was to summarize information, followed by generating written content (55%), general research and brainstorming (55%), and investment research (42%).

Nearly two-thirds (63%) of surveyed advisers who used AI said their top three concerns about the tools included accuracy, including 40% who identified it as their leading concern.

Some RIAs expressed skepticism about AI, with one telling ISS MI, “It seems like a gimmick and … has not been implemented well in most circumstances.”

Most survey respondents avoided using AI for more analytical tasks. The tasks cited least frequently for AI use were investment recommendations and portfolio construction (19%). Fewer than one-quarter of respondents reported using AI for processing data, performance analysis and generating visual content.

Anecdotally, advisers told ISS MI that they expected investment management to be the last area in which AI would be utilized. One independent adviser said AI “has great value but could create complacency with advisers relying too much on [it].”

Nevertheless, numerous advisers shared that adopting AI felt unavoidable, with one wirehouse adviser saying, “Asset managers need to embrace it or risk falling behind.” Another wirehouse adviser shared that asset managers who used AI tools “would show that they were committed to improving the efficiency and profit of my practice.”

RIAs also led the field in their anticipated use of AI tools, with 93% saying they would use AI in the next year, compared with 87% of all responding advisers.

ISS MI surveyed 466 financial advisers in June.