Three times as many Canadian advisors are concerned that AI poses a threat to their business, according to a Natixis Center for Investor Insights international survey.
More than a third (36%) of Canadian advisors believe AI will put them out of business. Only 12% of U.S. advisors and 18% of advisors overall share this belief.
The study involved 2,950 financial professionals from 23 countries, including 400 financial advisors from North America, 100 of whom were from Canada. This was conducted by CoreData Research between March and May of this year.
While not all advisors see AI as a current threat, the survey shows that will change over the next five years, with 43% saying AI-powered autonomous tools will be their biggest competitor, up from just 7% today. Just over half (54%) believe other advisors are their biggest threat today, and 11% expect that to remain the case five years from now.
More than a quarter (26%) of Canadian advisors surveyed consider automated advice platforms to be their biggest competition, compared to just 5% of U.S. advisors.
Canadians were also the most likely to express concern about the social impact of technology (61% compared to 56% overall).
While advisors see AI as a growing rival, they are also keen to leverage the operational efficiencies that can be gained from implementing AI in their own practices, with 71% already doing so. Advisors are using AI to compose emails and notes (61%), practice management (48%), and summarize market commentary and economic data as part of the investment decision-making process (56%) or portfolio and risk analysis (40%).
Still, AI integration hasn’t been smooth, with 61% saying it was harder than expected to integrate the technology into their workflows. Additionally, 69% said investors who use AI for advice are taking unnecessary risks.
They also feel that AI investment trading has a long road ahead (76%) and will drive market growth for the next 20 years (69%). Only 21% of people predicted that the so-called AI bubble would burst this year.
Wealth transfers: an existential threat
The report notes that the modern financial advice industry targets affluent baby boomers, with 30% of customers aged 62 and over.
However, an aging population means there is a “lack of young customers to feed the pipeline of new business” and potential gaps in the customer book.
While reliance on older clients offers new revenue potential through tax benefits such as estate planning services and direct indexing, it also means assets under management (AUM) decline over time as assets are unloaded.
The report notes that with the oldest baby boomers now over 80 years old, the industry is now “focused on wealth transfer, an issue so big that 53% of advisors worldwide call it an existential threat to their practice.”
More than four in 10 North American advisors say they are increasingly worried about not being able to retain their assets due to intergenerational wealth transfers, according to the survey. That concern is particularly high among Canadian advisors (63%) compared to U.S. advisors (39%).
At the same time, young investors are increasingly accepting automated advice. According to Natixis’ 2025 Investor Survey, 57% of Millennials and 49% of Gen Xers say they are likely to use automated advice. Both said they believe AI-driven advice offers the potential for higher investment returns (56% of Millennials vs. 48% of Gen X).
According to the survey, advisors believe adding professional planning services for younger investors (44%), expanding digital tools (43%), and adding AI capabilities (42%) are essential to attracting younger clients.
Specialized services include investor education, home buying strategies, pension gap planning, student loan management, income management for entrepreneurs, and education in areas of interest such as personal finance.
The survey also found that clients are holding more cash due to increased geopolitical uncertainty and market volatility, and advisors are concerned about the need for succession planning as the average age of advisors increases.
North American respondents to the Natixis survey reported median assets under management of $200 million and average assets under management of $4.8 billion.
