LPL Wants AI to Read Financial Plans so Clients Don’t Have To
While meeting transcribers and email drafters paved the way, artificial intelligence is moving out of the back office and into the core advice process.
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A financial plan can easily span dozens of pages of dense material that, let’s just say, isn’t exactly a beach read.
LPL announced last week it’s developing Cyan, an AI agent that, among other jobs, can take in client data and financial planning documents to produce digestible summaries and insights for clients. CEO Rich Steinmeier said in an earnings call that AI is quickly becoming a key differentiator and he’s not alone. Fintechs and wealth platforms like FP Alpha, Zocks and RightCapital have deployed similar AI agents. It marks a fundamental shift for financial advisors: AI is moving out of the back office, beyond meeting transcribers and email drafters, and into the core tools that are shaping client relationships.
“Nobody got into this business to assemble documents,” said Jordan Hutchison, VP of technology and operations at RFG Advisory. “We’re not trying to take the advisor out of the work. We’re trying to take out the parts of the work they never wanted.”
TLDR
Even though a financial plan is the foundation of the advisor-client relationship, esoteric materials often intimidate clients. If clients are executives, they don’t have the time to decipher complex documents. In fact, they’re paying their advisors to do it for them, said Toby Wade, CEO of AI-powered investment platform DeepVest. Advisors should aim to distill information into visuals and clear language. “Once you start going into jargon-land, you tend to lose people,” he said.
Kevin Feig, founder of Walk You To Wealth, uses Altruist’s AI agent, Hazel, for his solo RIA practice to analyze client accounts and draft simplified client-facing documents. “It’s quickly becoming indispensable,” he told Advisor Upside, noting that he feels comfortable with the tool since Altruist is also his custodian. “AI started out as a notetaker … it’s quickly evolving into something much broader and more beneficial for clients.”
Not in My House. Still, some advisors remain skeptical about delegating core planning or even office jobs to AI. Communicating plans and working through dense documents should be a training ground for junior advisors, argues Trey Prescott, head of business development at Advisory Services Network. “Let the younger generations do the dirty work to develop and hone in their skills, rather than rely on a piece of AI that may or may not work,” he told Advisor Upside.
