At a glance
- Devon Klumb, citing the 75% figure, tells advisors to expect AI questions before meetings.
- For advisors, the pairing carries more weight than either number alone: clients arrive having used the tools, and nearly none say they would swap the advisor for one.
- The generational read is starker.
75% of advised investors use AI for financial tasks, and 3% would consider replacing their advisor with an AI-powered alternative, according to a Betterment Advisor Solutions survey of 1,001 U.S. advised investors.
Devon Klumb, citing the 75% figure, tells advisors to expect AI questions before meetings.
For advisors, the pairing carries more weight than either number alone: clients arrive having used the tools, and nearly none say they would swap the advisor for one. A WealthManagement.com column on the Vanguard-Altruist deal argues the fee question now turns on how an advisor interprets, contextualizes and applies what a client brings to the meeting, which increasingly includes an answer the client already generated elsewhere.
The generational read is starker. In a SIFMA-KPMG survey of 2,123 investors, Gen Z trust in AI as a primary advice source halved to 10%. In the same survey, 43% said better digital tools would not prompt a switch, up from 35% in 2025. The two surveys cover different populations, 1,001 advised investors at Betterment and 2,123 investors at SIFMA-KPMG, so the percentages do not net against each other.
Vendors are repricing the plumbing underneath that advice. Orion will charge for API access and Salesforce will meter AI calls; a Practifi executive argues that every pass-through path ends with the advisory firm paying more for the same integration.
Rollout arithmetic from one firm is less flattering than the adoption numbers. An unnamed $2.8 billion RIA, in an Oct. 22 letter to Wealth Solutions Report's Dear Ryan column, said it spent 18 months evaluating 11 vendors and selected three. Work got faster, the client-service model did not get reimagined, and the firm's assessment of whether the effort delivered value was "probably."
Three recent tool launches leave a person in the chain. SEI's portal screens partners anonymously, FinTurk requires advisor approval before AI-drafted email goes out, and Powerlytics maps clients' relatives.
What that chain costs is becoming an invoice line. Orion's API charge and Salesforce's metered AI calls attach a price to integrations that advisory firms had treated as part of the platform stack. Whether an 18-month, 11-vendor rollout earns that back is the question the $2.8 billion RIA answered with "probably."
Two surveys, two populations
Reported by The Advisor's Note desk from Wealth Solutions Report, Dear Ryan column letter dated Oct. 22, WealthManagement.com column on the Vanguard-Altruist deal, SIFMA-KPMG survey of 2,123 investors and Betterment Advisor Solutions survey of 1,001 U.S. advised investors. Published . Corrections