What Is The Expiry Date on Humans in Wealth Management

Hello everyone. Thank you for being here. Um, this is the the pre-launch uh session. Um, we have 10 minutes. I'll cover five chapters and hopefully it's um it's a hell of a story.

So, chapter one, when AI knows you better than your advisor does, imagine logging into your wealth management platform and within seconds you receive advice that feels like it came from someone who's known you for 15 years. But this isn't your long-standing relationship manager. It's an AI agent that has analyzed your entire history, your goals, your risk tolerance, and scanned the market in nanconds to surface opportunities you'd never have spotted. Here you are on the receiving end of uh recommendations delivered in a style that feels deeply human but coming from something that is anything but. When that becomes normal, not if, but when will that be the moment we reach the expiry date on humans in wealth management?

And the answer really depends on whether we're honest with ourselves about what's about to come. Chapter two, accelerating change. We're already seeing investors and wealth management institutions increasingly embrace AI. That is not a that is no longer a revolutionary trend. Uh it's a it's a normal.

Um and we we are into the we are in the B2B space. Um we sell wealth software to banks, fintech, super apps. AI is of course um the first topic we cover with uh with every client. It's on everyone's mind. It's on everyone board's mind.

Um so the investments are rolling into it. At Alfa, our own research shows that nearly threearters of UAE investors are comfortable with AI recommendations. And remarkably, almost a third of UA investors are comfortable with the AI actually autonomously managing their portfolio. That is insane. Um the rate of change is also compounded by generational expectations.

Um that same that same survey shows that millennials and genzers um have entered the world of investing with a tech first mindset. More than 40% of genzers say they would trust an AI assistant to measure investments. nearly three times the baby boomers. Among these young investors, digital trust has already been much more normalized than with the rest of the population. And as wealth transfers to these young generations, this isn't a trend that's decades away.

It's imminent. By 2027, AI driven investment tools will become the primary source of advice for retail investors. today, right? Around 70% of individuals use AI for recommendations. Um, but it's not yet the first source of recommendations.

You have a little above it, people talking to their spouses and of course people talking to their RMSA. So everywhere we look, major institutions are betting billions on this transformation. Chapter three, the complacency of hybrid models. Right now, the conventional wisdom of in our industry is that the future isn't humans versus AI. It's humans with AI working together for optimal outcomes.

Investors seem to agree with over 80% open to AI supporting their adviserss in portfolio management. And this makes sense today. On one hand, AI can process unim unimaginable volumes of um of data, spot patterns long before we do, and deliver recommendations that are fast, consistent, and deeply analytical. On the other hand, human advisers bring something AI can't currently. It's empathy.

It's judgment. is the ability to understand context especially in moments of volatility when clients need reassurance as much as they need analysis. The dichotomy and its benefits are widely agreed upon and have been reinforced in studies from respected institutions like MIT Sloan. Now, I've spent more than 15 years in and around the industry, and so I get that. And and today, it's true that the nature of our conversations with clients is the famous hybrid piece, right?

And I've I've I think all of us have built our relationships, our careers on this idea that the relationship is what really drives a lot of the value. But here's the risk. We've grown comfortable with this idea that the equation of human plus AI equals best when it actually rests on one big assumption that human will always offer something in relationships that the machines simply never will be able to. And that assumption may not hold for much longer. Chapter three, the uncomfortable truth.

Actually, it's chapter four. Large language models are evolving rapidly. Progressing from chat bots to assistants to agents and AIdriven investment to adoption is only going one way. But here's what we should really what should really give us pause. Increasing AI adoption and more importantly increasing trust in AI are also happening in fields that we typically only associate with empathy and with human understanding.

40% of participants to um a JRE mental wealth study reported turning to AI as a personal therapist for emotional support, meaning making and human connection. And the same article and and many articles across the U from studies that are UAE specific warn about the dangers of this phenomenon. And if this is anything to go by, this is happening closer to home as well. But the point isn't whether this is wise. The point is that it's already happening.

You might say, well, people will still use the investment services I provide, whether that's a hybrid model or otherwise. But another study found that amongst participants who used AI applications like Chad GPT, 29% 29% accessed financial or investment related information, advice or recommendations through these tools. If people are using chat GPT for therapy and financial advice simultaneously, it's not a huge leap to say they're already getting the twoin-one solution. It's just happening outside of the regulated world. Investment advice with a side of emotional resonance, albeit with all the risks that come with a general LLM.

When we par the formula, humans bring relationships, AI brings analysis, we invariably imply that division of labor is permanent. What happens when AI develops genuine emotional intelligence, not simulated empathy, but a deep pattern recognition of human needs, fears, and motivations? Research already shows that AI can detect emotional states, predict behavior, and personalize communication with remarkable sophistication. So, so this brings us to the critical question. Has the human monopoly on empathy expired?

Chapter five, redefining human value. Well, no. The good news for us at least is that we still need humans for oversight, even without empathy. Whilst more than 80% of Gen Z are turning to AI for financial advice, more than half say they've made a poor decision or mistake because of it. The truth is, humans will probably always be needed, but we need to account for the fact that the why may change.

Today it's empathy alongside oversight and ethical governance. Tomorrow it might be just oversight and governance. The answer will depend entirely on whether we're honest. Oh, I'm going back to the beginning of the text. Which by the way is why we need to offer proper AI solutions.

More than 30% of investors surveyed reported being com being comfortable with AI financial advice into practice without ve verifying it first reinforcing just why we need to give people an alternative with a trained human oversight that won't get from using chpt by themselves that they won't get by uh using chipt by themselves and in the future who knows what our value proposition becomes this is why staying a ahead of the curve matters so much we need to actively identify and secure the human role whatever that is based on the technology available. The question shouldn't be how long do humans still have or what can humans still do but what must humans do and in the future and so what does it mean in practice in the near future human advisers will increasingly focus just on ethical oversight ensuring AIdriven recommendations align with a client's values not just their financial optimization we'll bring life context integration understanding that wealth decisions sit within complex family, cultural, and personal context that no AI for now fully captures. And crucially, we'll act as skeptics and verifiers, the critical filter between AI capability and human judgment. And beyond that, we'll keep asking ourselves, where do we truly add irreplaceable value? And are we creating the environments that allow us to deliver that value consistently?

I realize this may not be the direction you expected us to to go through uh uh today. But this isn't a cautionary tale. It's a change of direction we should embrace, not fear. So, let me close on an optimistic note. Every task AI takes get us closer and closer to providing optimal service for our clients with humans as that crucial final step that ensures that it really is optimal.

The humans remain enduring even if the role does not. Thank you.