Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Pulse Survey Reveals Investors Bullish on Artificial Intelligence as Financial Advisor Tool

The Wealth Advisor Contributor

May 28, 2023

(Business Wire) - Wide majority believe AI will be an investing and trading game changer and will help Financial Advisors better serve clients
Most also believe AI will never take the place of human advice

NEW YORK, May 10, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Morgan Stanley Wealth Management today announced results from its quarterly individual investor pulse survey. The results reveal insights into how investors view Artificial Intelligence (AI) and possible investing use cases:

Most believe AI will be revolutionary for financial services. The wide majority (72%) of investors believe that AI is a game changer for investors and traders and nearly three out of four (74%) believe the technology will help Financial Advisors (FA) better serve their clients. In fact, over three out of five (63%) would be interested in working with a Financial Advisor that leverages it.
But AI will not take the place of human guidance. Over four out of five investors (82%) believe that artificial intelligence will never replace human guidance. And nearly nine out of ten (88%) agree that the human-to-human FA relationship is extremely important.
Enthusiasm is most pronounced among younger investors. In particular, 35-44 year old investors over index from the general population in their views that AI will be a game changer (87% v. 72%), that it will help FAs better serve clients (89% v. 74%), their interest in working with an FA who leverages it (85% v. 63%), and their belief that AI will not replace the FA/Client relationship (84% v. 82%).

"While AI is clearly groundbreaking, and we are just scratching the surface of its potential impact within financial services, this data aligns with an insight we’ve known for some time: The clients who are most engaged with their Financial Advisors are also the most satisfied," said Jeff McMillan, Head of Analytics, Data and Innovation for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. "Within this context, AI should be viewed not as a replacement of human guidance, but as a powerful tool to help turbocharge a Financial Advisor’s practice management and client interaction capabilities."

"Our goal is to arm our Financial Advisors with innovative technology that can help them be more efficient in their practices, giving them more time to do what they do best—serve their clients," said Vince Lumia, Head of Field Management for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. "It’s encouraging to see excitement for artificial intelligence tools not just within the Financial Advisor ranks, but among investors as well."

The research comes on the heels of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s recent announcement in which it is developing an internal-facing service that leverages OpenAI technology and Morgan Stanley’s vast intellectual capital to deliver relevant content and insights into the hands of Financial Advisors in seconds, helping drive efficiency and scale.

About the Survey
This wave of the survey was conducted from April 3 to April 20 of 2023 among an online US sample of 924 self-directed investors, investors who fully delegate investment account management to financial professionals, and investors who utilize both. The survey has a margin of error of ±3.20 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. It was fielded and administered by Dynata. The panel is broken into thirds investable assets: less than $500k, between $500k to $1 million, and over $1 million. The panel is 60% male and 40% female and self-select as having moderate+ investing experience, with an even distribution across geographic regions, and age bands.

About Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, a global leader, provides access to a wide range of products and services to individuals, businesses and institutions, including brokerage and investment advisory services, financial and wealth planning, cash management and lending products and services, annuities and insurance, retirement and trust services.

About Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in 42 countries, the Firm’s employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.

This has been prepared for informational purposes only and is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument, or to participate in any trading strategy. This material does not provide individually tailored investment advice. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it. Morgan Stanley recommends that investors independently evaluate particular investments and strategies and encourages investors to seek the advice of a Financial Advisor.

Morgan Stanley Portfolio Solutions are portfolios available in our Select UMA platform under either Firm Discretionary UMA or Managed Advisory Portfolio Solutions. Please see the Select UMA ADV at www.morganstanley.com/ADV.

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is the trade name of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, a registered broker-dealer in the United States.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC and Dynata are not affiliates.

Referenced Data

*To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement?* *Artificial intelligence could be a game changer for investors and traders.*
	TOTAL	AGE
	Q2’23	<34	35-44	45-54	55-64	65+
Top 2 Box	72%	81%	87%	71%	61%	52%
Strongly agree	27%	35%	45%	28%	11%	10%
Somewhat agree	45%	46%	52%	43%	50%	42%
Somewhat disagree	21%	15%	12%	24%	25%	35%
Strongly disagree	7%	4%	1%	5%	14%	13%
Bottom 2 Box	28%	19%	13%	29%	39%	48%

*To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement?* *Financial Advisors will be able to better serve their clients with the assistance of artificial intelligence.*
	TOTAL	AGE
	Q2’23	<34	35-44	45-54	55-64	65+
Top 2 Box	74%	80%	89%	71%	66%	60%
Strongly agree	26%	34%	41%	23%	18%	11%
Somewhat agree	48%	46%	48%	48%	48%	49%
Somewhat disagree	19%	17%	8%	23%	23%	27%
Strongly disagree	7%	3%	3%	6%	11%	13%
Bottom 2 Box	26%	20%	11%	29%	34%	40%

*To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement?* *I'd be more interested in using a brokerage or Financial Advisor that leverages artificial intelligence over one that doesn't.*
	TOTAL	AGE
	Q2’23	<34	35-44	45-54	55-64	65+
Top 2 Box	63%	76%	85%	62%	48%	38%
Strongly agree	25%	37%	37%	23%	11%	12%
Somewhat agree	38%	39%	48%	39%	37%	26%
Somewhat disagree	25%	20%	12%	25%	31%	39%
Strongly disagree	12%	4%	3%	13%	21%	23%
Bottom 2 Box	37%	24%	15%	38%	52%	62%

*To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement?* *Artificial intelligence will never fully take the place of human advice and guidance.*
	TOTAL	AGE
	Q2’23	<34	35-44	45-54	55-64	65+
Top 2 Box	82%	79%	84%	80%	84%	82%
Strongly agree	42%	41%	45%	40%	40%	43%
Somewhat agree	40%	38%	39%	40%	44%	39%
Somewhat disagree	15%	16%	13%	17%	13%	15%
Strongly disagree	3%	5%	3%	3%	3%	3%
Bottom 2 Box	18%	21%	16%	20%	16%	18%

*To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement?* *Having a trusted, human-to-human relationship with my Financial Advisor is very important to me.*
	TOTAL	AGE
	Q2’23	<34	35-44	45-54	55-64	65+
Top 2 Box	88%	87%	93%	88%	84%	88%
Strongly agree	51%	43%	57%	49%	51%	61%
Somewhat agree	37%	44%	36%	39%	33%	27%
Somewhat disagree	8%	10%	6%	9%	9%	4%
Strongly disagree	4%	3%	1%	3%	7%	8%
Bottom 2 Box	12%	13%	7%	12%	16%	12%