Implementing artificial intelligence (AI) and integrating technology could allow advisers to onboard an extra 20 clients, new research has revealed.
The findings were revealed in a sneak preview of FE Fundinfo’s latest adviser survey, which is due to be published next month.
The firm’s head of UK IFA product Jodie Gallagher said using technology is a “fantastic opportunity” for advisers to increase their book size.
FE Fundinfo’s survey also found that 27% of advisers are already using AI to summarise meeting notes.
However, Gallagher said that, as it develops, it will allow them to do more.
“Currently advisers log in and do the work manually,” she added.
“The future, we think, would be having an agentic AI layer where you would interact with other elements and that would be your hub.
“There, you would be able to instruct an agent to do something and do a task for you and put it all together.
“Definitely keeping advisers and paraplanners at the heart of things and empowering them, not moving away from personalised support, but boosting their efficiency.”
Stephen Ford, adviser product strategy lead, said that AI is going to go “faster than people think”, and the only barrier will be the trust.
“I’ll have this debate: AI has read this pensions statement, and my paraplanner has read this pensions statement, and they are not the same, who do I trust?
“I think there will be a period of time they will trust the people, when sometimes the people aren’t that trustworthy, and they won’t trust the AI.”
However, he believes that “eventually the tide will turn”.
Ford reminded people that AI needs to be trained and that takes time and patience but as that builds, the trust will build.
“In our world [AI] will transform our work. People get nervous that they are going to get replaced as an adviser.
“There may be tools that help you make informed judgements and give you more information, but I don’t think anybody’s really that worried about it replacing people.
“It just means they aren’t going to do as much of the hack work.
“If AI is popping out accurate reports in eight minutes that’s very exciting from an efficiency point of view and it will transform our industry.”
