\n \u201cThe true unlock is not just using AI,\u201d said Eve Cout of Vanguard.\n <\/p>\n
For the around 5,700 attendees that hit Huntington Beach, Calif. for the Future Proof festival last week, AI was a hot topic as the wealth management<\/a> industry weighed the impact of the increasingly pervasive technology.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s a revolution in many respects,\u201d Ralph Haberli<\/a>, CEO of Edelman Financial Engines<\/a>, told InvestmentNews. Haberli pointed to \u201ca ton of excitement\u201d and \u201ca ton of new capabilities\u201d thanks to AI, but acknowledged that this can also be confusing and disconcerting for advisors.<\/p>\n The Edelman Financial Engines chief explained that, increasingly, clients come in having done AI research. \u201cThey’ve gotten the view on asset allocation<\/a>, tax planning from Claude or ChatGPT or others, and it feels a lot like the WebMD search that we all used to do,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then we go to the doctor and we’d say, \u2018well, I clearly have XYZ illness\u2019 and then she or he would say, \u2018well, actually, let me look at you. No\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n But the industry is shifting gears in its use of AI. The big news at Future Proof was undoubtedly AI heavyweight Anthropic\u2019s launch of Claude for Financial Advisors<\/a> in partnership with a host of major wealth management players, including Dynasty Financial and Charles Schwab.<\/p>\n While Edelman Financial Engines was not one of the Claude for Financial Advisors partners announced at Future Proof, Haberli explained that the wealth planning firm has been working pretty closely with Anthropic for about the last six months. Edelman Financial Engines, he explained, has \u201cabsolutely\u201d leant in to AI. \u201cWe’ve taken the approach of, it’s not AI just to AI, but it’s AI to have a tangible impact,\u201d he said, pointing to AI recording client meetings, helping prepare for meetings, and improving workflow.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’ve heard from multiple of our best planners that describe just in the last 6 months how their practice and how they work is radically different and radically better,\u201d Haberli said. \u201cSo, we’re very much excited about the impacts of it – but we’re trying to keep it tangible and real, and we can point to the before and after, and that’s been a good guide for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Vanguard was one of the Claude for Financial Advisors announced at Future Proof. \u00a0\u201cWe are working with [Anthropic] to serve up our asset allocation, our portfolio construction through our model portfolios,\u201d said Eve Cout, head of advisor solutions, financial advisor services at Vanguard. \u201cOur models are used by advisors as they think about a starting point, as you know, as they start to build portfolios.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cAnd if they’re going to do it in Anthropic, in Claude, we want to make sure that information’s there and they can just easily access it,\u201d she added. \u201cSo, we love the idea of working with Anthropic and Claude to just kind of serve up this information where advisors are looking for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Research released by Vanguard<\/a> at Future Proof found that while AI adoption is widespread, advisors are mainly using the technology to support administrative tasks, such as drafting emails. Essentially, the study found that advisors are still \u201cscratching the surface\u201d of AI\u2019s potential.<\/p>\n \u201cThe true unlock is not just using AI and using the tool, it’s how that enables them to spend more time with clients doing the things that clients actually value, which is behavioral coaching, financial planning<\/a>, building that trust<\/a>, that empathy in the moments that matter,\u201d said Cout.<\/p>\n Fintechs were also out in force at Future Proof. WealthStream, which provides advice intelligence for the wealth management industry, used the event to add OpenAI\u2019s GPT-Live-1 to its Practice product. GPT-Live-1 is a conversational voice model and Practice is designed to help financial advisors prepare for client conversations. With the addition of GPT-Live-1, WealthStream wants to bring natural voice conversation into those preparations. \u201cWe really apply AI to improve the quality of advice,\u201d Wealthstream co-founder and CEO Dan Daum told InvestmentNews.<\/p>\n