Artificial intelligence and machine learning are already impacting financial services firms and make the process of giving advice smoother, according to the delegates from a recent round table event, hosted by Bravura Solutions.
A summary paper of the discussion, “Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Financial Services – Where might we go next?”, forecasts that technology will continue to drive structural changes in the advice industry.
Simon Clare (pictured), Head of Technology and Innovation, Bravura Solutions says: “Data and AI are intrinsically linked – it is hard to consider one without the other.
“Organisations should position themselves to take advantage of emerging AI capabilities by considering their wider data strategy. While this may sound intimidating to some firms, fundamentally it simply involves taking stock of what data you have, where that data comes from and where it ends up inside your organisation.
“This ‘data stock take’ is good practice for firms assessing the quantity and – more importantly – the quality of data available to them, which is the first step to unlocking the wider value of that data.”
The roundtable found that small firms will be particularly advantaged by this.
Clare says: “Larger firms intrinsically have more data and more resources to interrogate it, seemingly putting them at an advantage. However, smaller firms have their own, unique opportunities. Those with a clear vision and objectives can potentially recognise and implement emerging capability more quickly than larger organisations, and benefit from greater data clarity.
“Secondly, we believe that a powerful future application of artificial intelligence is the augmentation of an adviser’s capabilities. This augmentation may well take the form of automation around the more mechanical or administrative elements of an adviser’s day. Smaller firms with less manual support and administrative staff in place could benefit by having the back-office aspects of their business, automated by technology.
“This would free up advisers to focus their time and energy on those personalised activities which can really make a difference to clients.”
The findings revealed a number of key points. The new developments will dramatically improve risk-profiling by using large data sets to identify patterns and characteristics to determine the best asset allocation for clients; free up time by automating many back-office tasks such as report building, fact finds and suitability letters; scale-up cost effectively by achieving technology-driven efficiencies and offer a more personalised service for customers.
