65% of investors would use robo-advice up to £1,000 before opting for a professional adviser. Fewer than 10% would invest more than £5,000, and only 22% of investors would trust robo-advice as a full replacement to a professional financial adviser.
True Potential added that UK investors have yet to see technology that can truly be classified as ‘robo-advice’, and believes that consumers will opt for a hybrid model, comprising both technology and face-to-face advice.
At True Potential’s financial adviser conference in January, 80% of advisers said they saw robo-advice as an opportunity for their business, not a threat.
David Harrison, Managing Partner at True Potential, said:
“Technology certainly has a big role in the future of personal financial management and advice, but we are not there yet. None of the technology on the market can truly be described as ‘robo-advice’, which would require very sophisticated artificial intelligence to work properly.
“Technology enables consumers to make small investments where it would not make sense to go through an adviser. Since we launched impulseSave, more than £30m has been saved by consumers in small amounts without the need for advice.
“Robo-advice is not going to replace financial advisers any time soon. For larger investments, I think people will still want to talk to another human being and our research supports this.”
