Five “Do’s” and Don’ts of Using Artificial Intelligence for Financial Advisors

We all know that artificial intelligence (AI) will change the way we work, if it has not done so already. In fact, 99% of financial advisors surveyed by Accenture said AI will play a role in the future of financial advice.ⁱ This is not surprising considering that embracing technology has always been an important part of growing an advisory business. Not so long ago, advisors had to call their brokers to get a price for a certain stock or to place an order. Today, these actions are done by simply turning on your computer.

Adapting to new technology is not just about the ease of doing business either – it actually has an impact on the bottom line. For instance, according to Fidelity’s 2022 RIA Benchmarking study, RIAs that consider themselves tech embracers had a higher 3-year CAGR in assets, clients, and revenue compared to those that didn’t.ⁱⁱ While advisors agree that adopting AI is no longer an option but a requirement for their practices to grow, many do not know where to start.

We skip the sales pitch here on why AI is necessary and jump right to the how, with some introductory “do’s and don’ts” of using AI to enhance your practice. Stay tuned for more best practices on this topic in future pieces—with the help of the bots, of course.

AI By The Numbersⁱⁱⁱ

The “Do’s”: Five Ways Advisors Can Use AI

1. Automate Mundane Tasks

Data entry, candidate screening, expense tracking, and email box management can all be easily managed with AI, saving advisors a significant amount of time and resources. With AI handling the mundane tasks, advisors can focus on more strategic projects – like client relationships and portfolio positioning.

2. Client Service

AI-powered chatbots can be used to answer basic client queries, help clients navigate financial products, provide timely updates on portfolio performance, and schedule appointments. Chatbots can free up advisors to focus on high-value activities, including prospecting and personalized portfolio planning.

3. Marketing

Advisors can use AI to grow their book of business. It can help automate tasks like lead scoring so that advisors can focus more on the prospects that are most likely to become clients.

4. Content Brainstorming

AI can be a great place to start when creating ideas for content, so much so that it was used to help brainstorm for this blog. Start with an idea and try a few different prompts, and then use the ideas it generates to help write blogs, video scripts, social posts, and more. While AI can help generate ideas, it should not be used for content creation (yet).

5. Fraud Detection

AI can be used to monitor client transactions to identify suspicious activity in real-time. However, we don’t suggest advisors use AI with sensitive or confidential client data, and should consider all security concerns.

The Don’ts: Five Ways Advisors Should Not Use AI

1. Market Predictions

Advisors should avoid using AI for market predictions or decisions. AI is not error-proof and does not consider current market conditions. Relying solely on its recommendations is a huge risk, and could result in significant financial losses.

2. Single Source of Research

One of the main issues with current AI tools is that they often make things up. When using AI in the research process, it is important to look up other sources and verify results.

3. Creative Content Creation

While it sounds nice to be able to enter a prompt and use it for content on your website or social, at this point it is too good to be true. AI may plagiarize other content, use inaccurate sources, and may not match the tone or brand voice of your practice. It is best to use AI to help brainstorm while leaving content creation to the professionals.

4. Confidential Tasks

Advisors should not use AI with highly sensitive customer data. If using AI for any customer data, they must ensure that it is secure and complies with all data protection laws and that the data is inaccessible to unauthorized parties. AI systems that use personal data must follow strict security protocols to prevent potential data breaches. Some advisors may find that the risks associated with using AI with customer data are too high.

5. Highly Sensitive Decision-Making

AI technology lacks the emotional intelligence and ethical judgment necessary to make certain sensitive business decisions. Areas such as relationship building and managing staff require a human touch to ensure fairness, equity, and compliance with legal requirements.

Two Simple Ways to Get Started

There are a ton of AI-powered aps, but where should you start? While we will dig deeper into AI tools in the future, here are a few simple ones to help you and your practice now.

1. Never miss something in a meeting again:

Fireflies
This AI tool can help advisors record and transcribe their meetings or calls instantly. The tool can also transcribe existing auto files to help you get going right away. Start here.

2. Refresh your website copy, write blogs, or draft personalized email

COPY.AI
This AI tool can help advisors quickly write blogs, emails, or even birthday notes to their clients. Advisors looking to refresh their website can us copy.ai to get started as it offers a number of templates, including “An About Us” template that can help advisors describe their history and value proposition within minutes. Not only does the tool help you compose investor updates, copy.ai lets you choose the tone of your voice. Try it here.

Give It A Try, But Be Cautious

While AI can be a great tool to help financial advisors run their business it still has many shortcomings. Advisors need to take into account the specifics of their business and how it may impact their clients when considering AI adoption. Importantly, Advisors should check with their firm’s compliance and legal departments and review their firm’s guidelines and/or restrictions before using any AI tools. With 87% of advisors willing to learn how to incorporate AI into their business, it seems that those who do not may be left behind.^iv