Avaloq’s research, conducted among over 300 wealth managers and 3,000 investors globally, reveals that 87% of UK wealth managers believe AI will be integral to their future work, with the same proportion believing that AI will bring benefits to the wealth management industry as a whole.

Avaloq’s research reveals the greatest potential for AI to support UK wealth managers with client onboarding, with 86% of those surveyed saying it would offer a major improvement. Other areas where UK wealth managers believe that AI offers a major improvement include automatic summaries of client meetings (65%), automated compliance monitoring (64%) and automated regulatory checks (61%).

However, enthusiasm for AI is tempered by a notable challenge, client trust, with Avaloq’s research revealing that a quarter of UK wealth managers (24%) believe their clients could never trust AI for investment, and a similar number (27%) saying their clients would never trust AI when it comes to financial planning.

This caution is echoed by UK investors, and only (7%) would feel comfortable fully relying on AI for investment advice, versus (38%) who would support a hybrid approach with AI tools supporting their wealth manager. More than half (55%) refuse to use any form of AI involvement for investment advice.

The caution may be explained by the traditional importance of human interaction in financial advice, which forms the foundation of trust between advisers and their clients. Supporting this argument, Avaloq’s survey found uptake of robo-advisers remains limited – just 6% of affluent to ultra-high net worth investors currently use them.

Gery Zollinger, Head of Data Science & Analytics at Avaloq, comments: “UK wealth managers recognise the enormous potential for AI to support them. The potential use cases are vast, from automated processes which free up more time for managers to focus on clients and strategic decision-making to streamlined analytics and cost-effective services that expand access to advice.

“That said, there is still clearly a way to go when it comes to bridging the AI trust gap between wealth managers and their clients. For AI to be successful from a client perspective, wealth managers need to work closely with their clients to demonstrate the value AI can bring to their portfolios, while ensuring that the use and impact of the technology remain transparent and well-understood.

“AI can augment the service advisers provide to their clients, but the human element will always be vital.”