AI Assistants Are Taking Over Wall Street
New AI assistants from Wall Street firms, like JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, are projected to create billions of dollars in value.
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The largest financial services firms are launching generative AI applications that could save advisors hundreds of hours of time, create billions of dollars in value for firms, and yes, maybe even take over the role of the team’s favorite junior analyst. JPMorgan Chase is the latest Wall Street bank to unveil artificial intelligence tools aimed at making advisors’ lives easier. Executives of the firm told employees the chatbot, called LLM Suite, can help with writing and summarizing documents, and can be used in place of analysts, according to an internal memo reviewed by the Financial Times.
Head of asset and wealth management Mary Erdoes said in May that every new hire will have extensive AI training, and that the tools are already saving analysts two to four hours of their workdays. CEO Jamie Dimon told investors that AI will reshape every single job on the planet, while president and COO Daniel Pinto said the technology has already produced some $1 billion to $1.5 billion in value for the firm. Now, if it could just pick up the dry cleaning.
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AI tools are quickly hitting the mainstream in wealth management. They’re onboarding clients, helping choose investments, and automating back-office tasks, with the potential to do much more. Last week, Morgan Stanley finished its rollout of Debrief, a software program that sits on an advisor’s desktop, records Zoom calls with clients, and drafts follow-up emails. One financial advisor, cited in a company press release, said the AI assistant freed up a half hour per client meeting.
“The low-hanging fruit is meeting preparation, note-taking, and documenting the meeting afterward,” said John O’Connell, founder of the wealth management consultancy The Oasis Group. “AI will fundamentally reshape the financial advice industry.”
While tech adoption is a well-documented problem for wealth managers, Morgan Stanley estimates 98% of financial advisory teams are already using the assistant. The combined brokerage house has 17,646 financial advisors and manages $2 trillion in client assets.
Who Cares About Compliance? It’s an impressive start for a technology that could become a prototype for new wealthtech tools and a centerpiece to any advisor’s tech build. According to a survey last year from SmartAsset, almost 6 in 10 advisors are already using AI or are planning to experiment with the technology, specifically ChatGPT. Of the roughly 40% of advisors that aren’t, many aren’t familiar enough with the tools:
- 38% of survey respondents said they are not comfortable using artificial intelligence technologies.
- Compliance issues were also a concern: Another 26% of respondents said AI isn’t permitted by management.
- In addition, 23% said they have privacy concerns with AI or ChatGPT.