Any conversation or article addressing the future of financial advice over the past three years – including this one – is likely to have mentioned AI in the first two sentences. As with everything unfamiliar and significant, there have been extremely strong opinions voiced, most often either predicting the abject failure of AI in our sector or adding it to the litany of threats heralding the end of advice as we know it.

However, as was the case with the RDR, and robo advice, and pension freedom, and so many other predicted death knells survived by financial advice during the past two decades, I think the reality is likely to be much more balanced, and much less dramatic.

Too often, I’ ve heard it implied that technology will somehow replace advisers or fundamentally change the role they play, but I’ ve seen no real evidence that this is a feasible direction of travel. The bigger picture is that regulatory change, technology innovation and shifting consumer demand are creating a broader range of advice models than ever before.

At the moment, the market is relatively polarised. On one side, consumers can access execution-only platforms and largely manage their own financial affairs. On the other, they can receive what I would describe as " full-fat " financial advice: a comprehensive service involving regular reviews, ongoing adviser relationships, and a highly personalised level of support.

The challenge is that only around 4.1 million people currently receive ongoing financial advice- roughly 9 % of the adult population. Meanwhile, millions more sit within what has traditionally been described as‘ the advice gap’.

If we are serious about elevating the value of financial advice, we need to find ways of helping more people access services that can improve their financial outcomes. The reality is that the models which support today ' s 4.1 million advised clients are unlikely to be the models that serve the

Tom Hegarty, CEO, Simplybiz

6 | The Adviser Online