Karen Joy Bakud
financial editor
Around 62% of UK financial advisors are satisfied with the use of agent AI on their investment platforms, according to a GBST study based on a survey of 178 advisors conducted by lang cat.
The findings demonstrate the growing acceptance of AI in asset management technology. However, actual adoption will depend on how well the tools fit into regulatory and oversight frameworks and existing platform controls.
GBST argued that the debate around AI in financial services has become too broad, with the focus often focused on disruption rather than the constraints faced by companies managing large customer bases or large amounts of invested assets. The broader use of AI in asset management will need to fit within the systems already built to address compliance, risk, and operational complexity.
This distinction is important because many of the industry’s remaining management processes still rely on manual intervention. Although companies have increasingly automated routine tasks over the past 15 years, tasks still require human intervention to complete, resulting in delays, costs, and operational risks.
regulated use
Regulations will likely determine the pace of adoption over the next two years. Wealth managers are expected to favor AI models and tools that can produce explainable, repeatable, and auditable results, especially when client funds and long-term financial results are involved.
GBST has identified five areas where AI is likely to impact asset management platforms. The impact of regulation on implementation, the use of AI for complex manual management, increasing restrictions on autonomous decision-making, increasing demands for transparency, and a shift towards embedding AI within core platform technologies rather than using separate external tools.
Control is a common theme in these fields. Highly regulated companies are unlikely to adopt unrestricted autonomous systems that can act without defined boundaries or human oversight. Instead, GBST expects to see interest in agent AIs designed to perform specific tasks within defined limits.
Emphasis on back office
Some of the clearest uses for AI are likely to appear in back-office functions rather than in investor-facing tools. These involve a large amount of administrative work that is difficult to standardize across firms, as operating models and processes vary widely from wealth manager to wealth manager.
This change often limited the effectiveness of traditional rules-based automation. If AI can be deployed and closely monitored within existing governance structures, AI has the potential to give companies more control over their complexity.
Another issue is where the technology will be located. Many of today’s AI applications operate outside of core systems, creating challenges for integration and monitoring. Wealth managers increasingly want to embed AI into their main platform environments, and the same safeguards used elsewhere in the business will apply to AI-driven processes.
The findings suggest that the debate in this field is moving from experimentation to operational deployment. But it also shows that enthusiasm alone does not determine adoption, especially when companies must demonstrate to regulators and customers how decisions are reached and processes are managed.
Rob DeDominisis, CEO of GBST, said: “Currently, there is too much focus on the disruption AI can cause and not enough on how it can be used safely to transform complex manual processes. UK platforms and wealth managers have made great strides in automating routine processes over the past 15 years, but there are still too many situations where human intervention is required, increasing risk, cost and delay.”
“AI can deliver next-level efficiencies, but only if it works within existing controls and runs processes consistently and transparently. Businesses are starting to move away from experimentation with AI and are looking for real operational impact. But for AI to have real value, it must meet required industry standards. We are responsible for the long-term financial security of millions of people, so there are no shortcuts.”
