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This article explores how AI influences the wealth sector and in ways that aren’t confined to productivity and efficiency.
The following article explores the changes wrought by AI and
argues that they go far beyond making advisors more efficient,
although that’s an important effect. As the wealth management
industry grapples with AI, this article is an important
contribution to debate. The author is Claire Verdirame, chief
marketing officer, AlTi Global
The editors are pleased to share this content. The usual
editorial disclaimers apply to views of guest writers. To
comment, email tom.burroughes@wealthbriefing.com
and amanda.cheesley@clearviewpublishing.com
Most wealth management firms are asking the wrong question about
AI.
The industry is focused on productivity: how AI can automate
workflows, reduce costs and make advisors more efficient. Those
benefits matter. But they are not where the greatest competitive
shift is happening.
The real disruption begins before a prospective client ever
speaks to an advisor.
Historically, prospective clients decided which wealth management
firms to consider from referrals, intermediaries and personal
networks.
Now, AI is increasingly shaping how firms are discovered,
compared and shortlisted, often in place of the people the
ultra-high net worth individuals and families would normally turn
to for a recommendation. It is not changing what matters to
clients; trust, expertise and relationships remain important, but
AI is increasingly influencing which relationships will have the
chance to form.
The firms that lead in the AI era will therefore not simply be
those that deploy the technology for productivity gains; they
will be those that understand how AI is reshaping the
way they compete and how trust and reputation are
increasingly being built.
AI will increasingly become the gatekeeper in wealth management
and, subsequently, firms should consider four key strategic
implications for growth:
1. Reputation as operating
infrastructure
Firms need to move away from considering reputation as
predominantly a by-product of delivering brilliantly for
clients.
Reputation has always had to be managed carefully and
strategically, but what AI changes is the scale, speed and range
of signals that now shape it.
AI draws on an expanding body of public information to form its
narrative on a firm: media coverage, regulatory filings, thought
leadership, executive interviews, strategic announcements and
social media.
Every signal, from a media headline to a footnote in a
public filing, becomes data. AI connects those signals to
assemble a composite view of the firm, what it stands for and
whether it merits consideration.
We are no longer managing stand-alone communication moments, for
exampole, a press release or a stand-alone marketing campaign,
rather an ever-expanding reputation data set.
That reputation data set will need to be managed intentionally
rather than left to chance, considered akin to operating
infrastructure.
Reputation has always been a strategic, board-level priority. In
an AI-mediated world, it also becomes part of the infrastructure
through which firms are discovered and evaluated.
The firms who will enjoy the best growth in the future will not
necessarily be the firms with the best relationships. They will
be the firms whose reputation earns them the right to build those
relationships in the first place.
2. AI is an audience in its own right
We cannot just ask ourselves, “What do clients, prospects and the
market think of us?” We must also ask, “What does AI understand
us to be?”
That is not a technical question. It is a strategic question.
Communications must now work for two audiences: the humans
evaluating a firm and the AI systems helping them to do it.
Those audiences consume information differently. Humans look for
insight. AI looks for answers. That means content can no longer
rely only on elegant perspective or implied expertise. It must
also answer the specific questions AI systems are likely to ask
on behalf of prospects: who does this firm serve, what does it do
especially well, what is its point of difference and why should
it be considered?
That means that important messages cannot be implied, fragmented
or confined to formats that machines struggle to interpret. They
must be explicit, structured and consistently reinforced across
channels.
Video illustrates the challenge. It remains an exceptionally
powerful tool for storytelling. But an important insight locked
inside a video may contribute far less to AI’s understanding than
the same idea clearly expressed in an article, transcript or
research paper.
Every significant piece of content must therefore pass two tests:
does it resonate with people, and can AI interpret it accurately?
3. Differentiation matters more than
ever
AI can be a very effective comparison tool, but it struggles to
distinguish between firms that sound alike. The firms that stand
out in an AI-mediated world will not necessarily be those with
the strongest set of capabilities. They will have the clearest
and most distinctive expression of those capabilities. The
challenge is no longer having a story. The challenge is having a
story that survives the process of AI extracting, comparing and
summarizing it.
The winners will be the firms with a clear identity, a point of
view that is distinctive, relevant and consistently expressed.
Whether that identity is built around serving international
families, access to private markets, next-generation engagement,
specialist sector expertise or another defining strength, firms
need to ensure those differentiators are clear and consistently
reinforced across their communications. Competitive advantage
shifts from what firms do to how clearly, they articulate why
they are different.
4. Human interaction becomes more valuable, not
less
AI may influence which firms are considered, but humans still
close business. It cannot replace what happens when a prospective
client meets an advisor; however, AI may already have shaped the
client’s expectations and provided guidance on what to probe in
the first meeting. The first human interaction therefore carries
more weight, not less, and differentiated marketing experiences
become critical in shaping how a prospect feels about the
firm.
The human skills of exceptional advisors i.e empathy,
judgement and the ability to build connections with
others become even more important. The digital narrative
must be validated by the human reality.
This creates a clear division of tasks. AI can help a prospective
client identify and assess a firm. But only people can understand
the complexity behind a family’s wealth, earn confidence and
build an enduring relationship.
AI may open the door. Human trust determines what happens next.
This changes (almost) everything
The AI revolution in wealth management will not be won by firms
that simply help their advisors become more efficient. It will be
won by firms that understand AI is changing how consideration is
earned in the first place.
Reputation, clarity and differentiation are no longer soft
measures of market perception. They are commercial imperatives
that shape whether a firm is found, understood and shortlisted.
Human relationships remain at the heart of wealth management, but
firms now need to earn the right to build those relationships in
a very different environment.
Firms will still need to deliver exceptional advice, service and
judgment. But in an AI-mediated market, those strengths will only
translate into growth if they are visible enough to be found,
distinctive enough to be shortlisted and credible enough to earn
the first conversation.