The technology is making clients braver, but conviction still comes from a human
At the moment of decision, the human adviser still wins.
When affluent investors made their last investment decision, 37 percent named financial professionals and institutions as the most influential factor, three times the 12 percent who pointed to AI.
A survey HSBC commissioned from Ipsos found that clients increasingly use AI to explore ideas but turn to advisers when it is time to act.
That split runs through the data.
The survey found 62 percent cited financial professionals and institutions as the source of their last investment idea, against 32 percent who cited AI, and HSBC reported the gap widens at the point of commitment.
As they approach a final decision, 80 percent of investors cite reassurance and 72 percent cite strategic expertise as what they want from advisers.
The adviser contributions they value most include applying judgement and validation at 32 percent, spotting mistakes in AI-generated data at 29 percent, and providing a personalised interpretation of complex data at 28 percent.
Half of respondents favoured a hybrid future in which AI and advisers work together.
Some would use AI to surface options then ask an adviser to confirm them, while others simply want their adviser backed by AI tools.
Clients increasingly turn to AI to weigh options but want judgement and accountability from a trusted adviser before investing, said Barry O'Byrne, CEO of international wealth and premier banking at HSBC.
That is why HSBC is investing in adviser-enabled AI tools so its relationship managers "can have richer client conversations," he said.
Still, AI has become a mainstream investor tool, with respondents ranking finance and investment as the top area where they use it at 73 percent, ahead of work and career at 62 percent.
Investors primarily use AI for analysis and research at 66 percent, strategy support at 50 percent, and a second opinion on their ideas at 31 percent.
The technology is also making investors bolder.
Nearly half, at 49 percent, said AI makes them more willing to take calculated risks, more than double the 20 percent who said it makes them more cautious, while 51 percent said it makes them feel more in control.
HSBC reported the risk effect is stronger in parts of Asia and the Middle East, led by India at 64 percent and the UAE at 63 percent, while the US at 44 percent and the UK at 39 percent took a more measured approach.
Younger cohorts lead both adoption and appetite.
Gen Z at 86 percent and Millennials at 82 percent rank as the heaviest users of AI for financial decisions, and they are also the boldest, with 59 percent of Gen Z and 58 percent of Millennials more willing to take calculated risks than Gen X at 41 percent and Baby Boomers at 40 percent.
Even so, 30 percent of Gen Z and 26 percent of Millennials said AI makes them feel less in control.
Investors are linking the technology to their returns, the survey showed.
Over the past 12 months, 90 percent estimated AI tools influenced a portion of their portfolio returns, attributing an average 33 percent to AI’s influence, rising to 39 percent among high-net-worth investors with US$2m or more in assets.
For that wealthiest group, professional advice remains central, with 70 percent citing financial professionals and institutions as the leading source of an investment idea.
