Wealth managers in the UK have been encouraged to think about how best to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) following the government’s recently announced AI Opportunities Action Plan.

The government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan was presented to parliament by the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle, and aims to increase AI adoption to boost economic growth.

Recent research from software and services provider Avaloq found that 87 per cent of UK-based wealth managers believed AI would be integral to their future work and the industry as a whole.

Avaloq managing director for the UK and Ireland, Suman Rao, described the government’s AI plan as a “significant boost” for the outlook of AI in the UK.

The government’s plan seeks to “make Britain the world leader” in AI and came alongside an investment commitment of £14bn from private lending technology firms.

Rao stated that the plan was just the latest signal that it was time for wealth managers in the UK to consider how best to adopt AI.

“AI has moved from an exciting yet nascent technology to something that all wealth managers must have a plan for,” Rao continued.

“Today’s news is the latest statement of intent from the UK that it foresees playing a leading role in the development and deployment of AI, and while the government’s plan is focused on the UK public sector, it is critical that financial services firms take this opportunity to get on board too and help spearhead future innovation.

“With our 2024 research revealing that the majority of UK wealth managers (87 per cent) believe AI will be integral to their future work and the UK wealth management industry as a whole, bringing benefits across client onboarding, meeting summaries and regulatory checks, today’s announcement will no doubt be further impetus for them to embrace the technology.

“For wealth managers that have yet to consider AI, their priority should be understanding the risks and opportunities involved, and how these best fit with their business model. Our research shows that UK investors are most comfortable with using AI in conjunction with humans for a range of investments tasks.

“They are far less comfortable with delegating full responsibility to AI, indicating a clear continued need for the human touch. With the pace of AI change only accelerating, wealth managers need to determine exactly what split of human versus machine is right for their business in the future.”

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