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The advisor advantage in an AI world · UBS Trending

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  Artificial intelligence is changing
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  the way people access information.
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  Investors can ask about markets, economic forecasts,
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  investment ideas and financial planning concepts.
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  But as accessibility increases,
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  it does raise an important question
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  if everybody has access to the answers, what's considered true
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  value and importantly,
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  what does it mean for the role of a financial advisor?
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  Well, we're going to get those answers
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  and more right now on UBS Trending.
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  Hi, everybody, and welcome to UBS Trending.
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  I'm Anthony Pastore.
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  Thank you for joining us.
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  My guest in the studio today is Tim Ackerman.
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  He's from Transamerica.
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  And he is here to talk about all things AI
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  but from a slightly different lens. Tim. Anyway, good to see you.
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  Good to see you too.
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  Thanks for having us. Of course. Any time.
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  You know, we talk a lot about artificial intelligence in our day
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  to day jobs where we're using it effectively, I hope.
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  We know that our clients and our prospects are using it,
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  investors are using it, and our financial advisors are using it.
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  So as I kind of posed in the beginning and you've done
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  some research on this and you've even talked to a lot of phase,
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  what is the role of the financial advisor
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  as artificial intelligence involves?
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  What are they providing?
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  Because if they're
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  if we can all get access to quick information
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  on markets at any time, what does the advisor
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  then need to do to adjust how they work with their clients?
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  Andy, that's a great question.
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  We have some actual some cool stats actually, that,
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  we can share with you, which was the adoption of AI
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  and how quickly it's become part of everyone's life.
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  It's interesting that Netflix took three
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  and a half years to get a million users.
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  Customers, Facebook, Instagram,
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  ten months to get the same million users ChatGPT
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  less than five days to get the same million users.
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  Wow.
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  And now it's 800 million users
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  a week in terms of searches, etc..
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  So it's it's unprecedented.
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  You're absolutely correct.
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  What we also think
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  is that it's not just an,
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  an AI story, but it's a people story,
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  and it's about how people are using it,
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  how people are feeling about it, because how people feel about it
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  and how people use it,
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  we're finding, are very two different things.
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  There's a cute little story
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  also about Burger King, and they just got a new CEO
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  and Burger King came in and and the guy said, you know what?
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  In the ads that you probably seeing and the playoffs right now
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  and the ads are saying, hey, we fired the king
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  and you're the customer, you're the king.
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  And what?
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  And that's getting people in the door.
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  But what they've realized is ever go to Burger King and
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  probably not. But some maybe
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  don't look.
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  Like a burger.
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  No, I never eat fast food ever.
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  But the people with the headsets on, they now have the T
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  I've brought in Patty the AI bot.
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  My god.
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  So as you're talking to the person, the AI bot is saying,
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  hey, there's a back up in the in, you know, the drive thru, etc.
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  but it's not replacing the customer experience, right?
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  So hospitality aligned with the AI
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  component
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  is exactly what we're seeing
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  in the financial services industry, where the financial advisor
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  and the customer are aligning on this great information from AI,
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  but it still doesn't replace the values.
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  The long history of, experience,
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  the worry that financial advisor can bring to the relationship
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  at this point.
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  Right.
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  And look,
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  and as you and I of course, I use artificial intelligence
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  in my in my daily work to help make things more efficient,
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  and sort of use my time in other places, building
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  relationships, talking to my colleagues,
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  shaking hands with individuals that,
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  you know, your I, of course, cannot do,
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  although there will be robots one day,
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  but it'll still be a metal hand and for as long as we know.
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  But I think that's kind of exactly what you're talking about.
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  There's the idea of instant and quick and efficient information,
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  but you still kind of I think me personally,
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  and I know people that I speak with
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  still want that human component, a human touch.
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  And that's really important for our financial advisors
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  when they're working with their clients,
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  because I think trust is really paramount.
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  And I think trust is built human to human AI anyway.
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  I think that's
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  where a lot of this really is important to talk about.
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  When you're looking at investors saying,
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  why would I work with a financial advisor?
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  I can do all this on my own.
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  They don't have that personal human touch.
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  They don't know them
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  the way, you know, like the computer is not going to know them
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  the way a human knows them.
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  The advisor community has spent 20 years
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  with a customer or a client.
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  Building the trust, knowing the family, understanding the estate.
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  And people are not spreadsheets.
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  So when people interact, you get a better outcome with AI,
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  but you're not getting the same confidence, stability
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  and security
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  that a financial advisor provides in the relationship.
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  We think that it's only going to bring the relationship stronger.
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  It's not a replacement at this point. Right.
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  And, you know, my dad used to say,
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  just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.
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  He would tell my my two knucklehead brothers all the time, right?
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  As we're beating each other up.
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  Right.
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  And and it's just that. Right?
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  I mean, there are rules of engagement here
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  that the financial services industry is looking at.
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  I just spent some time in DC a couple weeks ago,
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  listening to some lobbyists about how they're thinking
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  about the engagement with the financial services industry.
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  And it's it's absolutely wonderful and inspiring and not scary
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  that we're putting in rules of engagement
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  to enhance the relationship and bring more thoughtful outcomes
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  and more efficient use of the client's time with the advisor.
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  I think it's just I think it's great.
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  Yeah, I do too, you know,
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  and you and I talk to advisors all the time,
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  and so many of them have shared stories about how they've known
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  their clients from their, you know, 20s and 30, some of them.
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  And they were there when they got married.
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  They were there when they had children.
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  They were there when the kids got married.
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  They were there when they had grandkids.
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  They know their whole stories.
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  And by the way, that advisor,
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  he or she was invited to the weddings or the bar mitzvahs or
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  the baptisms,
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  you know, that's that's the human side of these relationships.
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  You can't recreate that inside of ones and zeros in the matrix.
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  I think that's a really important message to bring,
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  is that this is a human. It's a relationship business.
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  And that's where a lot of the importance comes from
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  when you are working with and for who gets to help you
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  with the goals that you have.
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  Like you said, humans are not a spreadsheet.
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  I couldn't agree anymore.
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  And we think of it with the three A's.
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  We think of it as automate,
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  augment and achieve.
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  And I think when you're in that relationship
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  with the financial advisor
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  and the client is thinking about
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  how this is going to affect their portfolios,
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  if they're augmenting a strategy,
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  what does that mean that those are the rules of engagement.
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  Augmenting is right.
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  Having a more efficient way
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  to look at all of their estate planning,
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  taking a look at their holdings.
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  Right, making sure that everything is a second
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  set of eyes on their portfolios
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  in case they case they miss something.
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  And then, automate is making sure
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  that any of those things
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  that is required that the client needs for their estate,
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  they're planning their conversations,
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  their meetings, is taken care of, and then finally achieve
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  right together with the AI, they can achieve a better outcome.
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  Right.
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  So it's the three A's is what we're talking about. Right.
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  And it's kind of balancing innovation and responsibility.
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  And obviously those are very important when you are.
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  And we look we also know we've done a lot of research on AI.
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  There are still hallucinations.
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  There's always a disclaimer
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  that says this is artificial intelligence.
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  Please check to make sure that everything is fact
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  checked and all that, which is fine.
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  I think we've all gotten used to the fact
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  that you still have to kind of check things.
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  So if you were speaking directly to investors today,
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  because we know that the tools are out there, I love to use them.
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  I think other people do too.
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  What would you want them to remember, though,
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  as they're using those AI tools,
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  especially when it comes to working with an FAA
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  and having that human experience.
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  So there are
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  there's I told you that we went to that meeting in DC
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  and they're using this new acronym, and I think maybe
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  a public service announcement,
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  it's called Jar, right, which is judgment,
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  accountability and responsibility.
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  Right. So those are the three rules of engagement.
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  They're right.
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  Use your best judgment
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  when you're engaging with this accountability.
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  Hold hold the numbers the information accountable.
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  And then responsibility.
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  You're both the financial advisor
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  and the financial services industry along with
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  the client are responsible for the outcome and the effective use.
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  So I would say embrace it.
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  It's amazing. Yeah, it's not going away.
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  No, that's for sure.
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  It's just getting
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  and according to that stat
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  that you mentioned right at the top of the show, clearly user
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  ship is in the hundreds of millions we just had a week.
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  Yeah a week. Yeah.
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  It's it's insane to know how many people are
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  utilizing it every single day.
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  Here's here's how it's affecting people's lives. Right.
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  So I do work for an insurance company.
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  Let's talk about the experience that clients
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  had getting life insurance for their states, etc..
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  Right?
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  I mean, we would send somebody to your house,
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  we would, you know, take your blood pressure and the whole thing.
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  Right. And it was like disturbing.
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  Well, with I now we have what's called instant decision.
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  I goes out to the universe, takes a look at your online
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  profiles and everything, your health records
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  and everything, and then can make a pretty good assessment.
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  Right. So it's innovating.
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  We're partnering with AI
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  to make sure that there's a better outcome for the customer.
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  So I think it's exciting. It's a we're not going away from it.
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  Yeah it is it is exciting.
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  And it's again, as long as people are using it
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  responsibly again, that word to use that Jar acronym,
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  it's really important to remember the are in there.
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  So if you want to leave investors, you're our audience here.
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  You want to leave them
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  with one final thought, Tim,
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  based on what your research is showing,
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  what we talked about, what would that final thought be?
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  Embrace it, live it, use it, use it in your life
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  daily and bring it into your conversations
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  with the financial services industry.
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  It's just not going anywhere and it's going to be helpful.
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  Excellent excellent.
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  Thank you Tim. Always good to see you.
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  Always great to see.
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  Please come back again soon.
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  Great and thank you to all of our partners
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  at Transamerica as well.
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  Thank you all for joining us.
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  There's a lot more information
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  on our website coming out of our own chief investment office.
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  And of course, a lot of it is artificial intelligence based.
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  Make sure to check out our website at ubs.com/views.
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  Plus you can follow us on social media.
• 10:33
  We're on LinkedIn and Facebook.
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  Plus we have a dedicated Instagram channel for the studio.
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  Follow us at @UBSTrending.
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  Lots of content there for you.
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  And as always, if you have any questions about your portfolio.
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  And this is really key based on what we talked about today,
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  we encourage you
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  to continue this conversation with your human financial advisor.
• 10:51
  Until next time, I'm Anthony Pastore.
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  You have a great rest of your day and remember to keep your eyes
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  on what's trending. We'll see you soon. Everybody.