Financial advisers saw artificial intelligence (AI) as the biggest challenge for the industry, ahead of rising business costs and client acquisition, research from Unbiased found.
Nearly a third (29%) picked AI and automation as their top future challenge, with 16% choosing business costs and 13% client acquisition and retention.
More than half (56%) of advisers said AI could help their business in future, showing most were aware of both the risks and opportunities of the technology.
Only 39% said they were currently using AI in their business, so nearly two-thirds were not using it at all.
For those using it, most said it was for admin and back-office tasks (36%), with fewer using it for client communication (14%) or financial planning and reporting (12%).
Lead generation was the least common use at 5%.
Looking ahead, advisers said they still saw admin as the main use for AI (19%), but more also mentioned marketing (15%), financial planning (12%), lead generation (12%) and sales or prospect nurturing (11%).
Matt Cockayne, chief revenue officer at Unbiased, said: “AI is moving fast — and financial advice firms that don’t engage with it risk falling behind.
“Right now, most use cases are focused on back-office efficiency, but the real opportunity lies in how AI can improve client engagement and drive business growth as a multiplying factor.
“There’s clearly an appetite for innovation, but also hesitation — especially in a profession built on trust and human relationships.”
Cockayne added: “That’s why adoption depends on building tools that advisers find intuitive, compliant, and genuinely useful in practice.”
