There's a lot of talk about how artificial intelligence will transform the financial advisory business along with many others, but according to the 2019 Elite Advisor Poll, adoption of AI and other new "cool" technologies by advisory firms is not a priority.
Less than 10% of respondents to the poll of top executives at the nation's largest advisory firms, conducted by BNY Mellon Pershing, are investing in such new technologies.
AI will be like robo-advisors, providing "transformative" technological abilities but not replacing traditional advisors, says Christina Townsend, director of advisor platform strategy at Pershing.
But firms are investing heavily in technology. A supermajority of executives (80%) polled said they plan to increase investments in technology this year, with more than half (45%) identifying the creation of a better client experience as a top goal for those investments.
Implementing such new technologies or solutions, however, is a major challenge for advisory firms, according to the Pershing poll. Thirty-seven percent of firm executives identified technology implementation as their No. 1 challenge, trailing only hiring and developing talent, cited by 41% of respondents. Respondents represented some of the largest RIA firms, with a median AUM of $1.8 billion and average AUM of $9 billion.
