The tipping point: How technology is democratising financial advice

My opening speech at EV’s conference, WealthTech 2025: The Leaders Meet, centred on how we’re at an industry tipping point. 

While other industries have been revolutionised by digital-first approaches, leveraging consumer data and AI, financial planning has remained relatively stagnant. Pre-RDR, up to 35% of individuals had access to advice, while today that figure is 9% (*based on the FCA's latest Financial Lives survey published in May). This regression is especially troubling when we consider the effect of pension freedoms and now people need more help than ever with complex financial decisions. 

Why now?  

As I talked about at WealthTech 2025, this can be a moment of optimism, with three factors creating a significant opportunity: 

1. Commercial recognition: The market recognises the immense commercial benefits of supporting a broader range of individuals. 
2. Regulatory focus: Initiatives like Consumer Duty and the Advice Guidance Boundary Review are helping to shift the focus to better consumer outcomes and greater value. 
3. Technology and AI: This is the game-changer. While AI has been making waves in other sectors (think Amazon's hyper-personalised recommendations or 24/7 human-like customer support), its potential for financial planning is only just beginning. 

The power of exponential growth: AI's role in accessibility 

AI's capabilities have been doubling every seven months since 2019 (based on a study by METR earlier this year). It’s a triple whammy of greater speed, greater power in terms of dealing with complexity and declining costs (over a 99% drop per query cost in 18 months). So AI is becoming quicker, smarter and cheaper.  

This isn't just about simple automation. Imagine a 2035 where: 

• Consumers actively engage with their financial plans through intuitive, accessible solutions. 

• Individuals can seamlessly transition between guidance, targeted support, hybrid digital advice and traditional advice, with consistent data and forecasts across all channels. 

• Hyper-personalised journeys adapt on the fly, offering nudges and prompts at crucial life moments and as financial plans evolve. 

• Individualised investment strategies, currently exclusive to the ultra-wealthy, become accessible to the mass market, better aligning financial plans and their investments. 

• 24/7 human-like support is available through Natural Language Processing (NLP) chatbots and avatars, driving customer understanding and satisfaction while freeing up human advisers for high-value tasks. 

This is all completely achievable – and needed. Innovations are already aiding transformation: 

• Advanced automated advice driven be sophisticated algorithms and forecasting, capable of complex retirement planning and compliance checks. 

• Consumer-led journeys offering flexible self-service across from guidance to full advice options. 

• AI driven journeys including sophisticated chatbots and avatars for consumer engagement, understanding and enhanced support. 

• Accessible cashflow forecasting for retirement planning. 

• Proactive engagement through nudges and personalised prompts. 

• Pensions dashboards for a holistic view of retirement provisions. 

• Personalised investment strategies through technologies like direct indexing. 

• AI-driven processes supporting compliance checking, identifying high-risk cases and supporting pre-population of suitability reports 

• Personalised apps to keep consumers engaged with long-term savings. 

The key to unlocking the full potential lies in a multichannel approach, seamlessly connecting various engagement options. This isn't just about choice – it's about ensuring consistency and a holistic view of a customer's finances, regardless of how they interact. 

Ultimately, the firms that embrace modular, scalable technology to build integrated, flexible solutions will be the ones that succeed. AI will be central, providing efficiency while freeing up human advisers to focus on strategic planning and client relationships.  

We’re particularly excited about the place where stochastic modelling meets AI. 

Interested in exploring this further? 

Download our short paper, The Tipping Point: Technology is revolutionising customer experience and access to financial advice, to understand the strategic shifts required and learn how you can contribute to our upcoming Autumn white paper.