[00:00:00] Chris Vizzi: AI has been able to come in and really take over some of that kind of grind, some of that hard work that allows us to get more time in front of our clients.
[00:00:09] Jeffrey DeHaan: It’s a tool in our tool belt that, if used properly, can really accelerate the client experience. If not used properly, can really lead to some bad outcomes.
[00:00:19] Tori Samuel: AI isn’t a passing trend. It’s materially disrupting and transforming the financial industry.
[00:00:28] Chris Davis: Hello and welcome to Investment News TV. Today we’re addressing how artificial intelligence is transforming the advisor-client relationship. Joining me, Chris Vizzi, co-founding partner, South Coast Investment Advisors. Jeffrey Tahan, managing partner, Clearwater Capital Partners. And Tori Samuel, founder and president, Cognitive Wealth Management. Welcome.
[00:00:55] Chris Vizzi: Thanks.
[00:00:56] Jeffrey DeHaan: Hey Chris, thanks for having us.
[00:00:57] Tori Samuel: Thank you.
[00:00:58] Chris Davis: So, Chris, the first question to you, how is AI being used to analyze client data and identify evolving financial needs or opportunities for personalized advice?
[00:01:10] Chris Vizzi: Yeah, I mean, I think the whole AI phenomenon that’s taking place right now has really given advisors the ability to take on more. It’s compressing kind of the friction that we see in our businesses where we’re spending time on things that aren’t client facing. And AI has been able to come in and really take over some of that kind of the grind, some of that hard work that allows us to get more time in front of our clients. So as we’re looking and analyzing data, I mean, one of one of the best things that I’ve seen take place is note taking, which we all had our notes, you know, on this Zoom to start off with. But the amount of detail that we’re now able to capture and then stacking that detail. on top of each other. So I can go back now, I have some clients that have been with me for 10, 15, 20 years in some cases. I can have AI go analyze every single one of those nodes and put together a comprehensive analysis of that client to make sure that what we’re talking about is aligned with their goals and objectives, that I’m really focusing on the things that matter to them and I’m not missing anything. So those are things that we were trying to do already, and I think we’re doing a good job of that. It’s just AI makes it now so much faster and easier, where I don’t have to prep as long for meetings. We can handle more meetings, we can have more capacity, we can help more people. And so just as a tool, it’s really become incredible. It’s sped things up in a way where the last year, I just can’t even imagine what the next five years are going to look like. if things keep on this same track.
[00:02:56] Chris Davis: I’ll move over to Jeffrey. I wonder if we can talk about some of the common concerns that clients have about AI-driven advice.
[00:03:04] Jeffrey DeHaan: Yeah, I mean, I think there’s kind of two camps there. There’s the group of clients that think AI can do a lot more than it can and are, frankly, just too reliant on it. We’ll go to their favorite AI platform of choice. do their own research, which gets them 75% of the answer. But the key is the other 25 that, that, is, is, is the difference between information knowledge and, and then where we can come in is, is on the wisdom side to note, not only what are the rules, how do they apply, but do they apply in your case? Is that how we get to, you know, achieving your goals as, as they’ve been kind of laid out for us. So, so there’s the group that, that is really over-reliant already on a system that is. really good, but not perfect. And then there’s the other camp of people who don’t trust it at all and don’t want anything to do with, with AI, don’t understand, you know, how, how it works, why it works, when it works, et cetera. Um, I think across all of those, what they should be worrying about or thinking about as it relates to our industry is what are the security policies in place for usage, um, you know, for their advisory team, are there. strong, robust policies to ensure that their data isn’t being put into a system, you know, that, that potentially could then populate that out into the language model for answering other people’s questions inadvertently. Um, so, so privacy is a really big deal that, and I think a lot of people are thinking about, but, but not everybody. And that’s an important, important aspect. Um, I think the other… key there is people understanding that this isn’t a replacement for their advisor. It’s an accentuation for their advisor, kind of like what Chris was saying, right? It makes us so much more efficient that it gives us the capacity to do our jobs even better for them. It’s a tool in our tool belt that… if used properly, can really accelerate the client experience. If not used properly, can really lead to some bad outcomes.
[00:05:17] Chris Davis: And Tori, let’s move over to how firms are using AI and how that is enhancing their organization rather than replacing humans who have a sense of trust, empathy, and understanding their client needs.
[00:05:32] Tori Samuel: Sure, yeah. I mean… And looking at the landscape of AI tools for financial services, I mean, there’s numerous tools that are designed to streamline research and insights, enhance client interactions, you know, automate repetitive tasks, create high quality content, you know, from blogs to client emails, social media. You know, when you think about becoming more productive so that we can spend more time working with our clients, that’s where if you really think about it. AI really can’t and shouldn’t replace human judgment when it comes to, you know, look, AI can analyze data, but financial advising is about clients’ goals, relationships, trust, and emotional intelligence that AI just really lacks. So that’s where I think AI really can’t replace the human interactions when it comes to trust, empathy, and understanding of the relationship that we’ve built with our clients. You know, AI can’t make final investment decisions. AI can assist in data-driven insights, but it’s really up to us and our firm to interpret them and apply our expertise. And then when it comes to building deep connections with our clients, clients don’t just want facts. They want to feel understood. AI is a great assistant, but real relationships come from authentic human interactions.
[00:06:57] Chris Davis: Thank you. And Chris, I wondered if we can move over to training. cultural shifts that are necessary for advisors and teams to effectively integrate AI?
[00:07:08] Chris Vizzi: Yeah, I mean, I think we’ve got an opportunity here to speed up the timeline of learning how to do things, right? So, you know, one of the hard parts of our job is bringing up new advisors up to speed, new staff up to speed. How do you create the experience that clients are used to getting when you have brand new people coming in the door. What AI has done is that it’s allowed us to speed up those timelines, train people faster, have them more efficient at their job at a quicker pace. And so I think the whole thing here, and I agree with the other guys here, is AI is a great tool. It’s accelerating our business. It is making us better advisors if it’s used the right way. But again, nothing’s going to replace kind of the human interaction. where there’s a lot of judgment calls that we need to make. And that’s with training and with people and making sure that the relationships match. People like working with people that they like. AI is a computer program, right, at the end of the day. And so the human interaction stuff is really what matters. So again, it’s this acceleration tool. that if you can get behind it, learn how to use it, it can really supercharge your business as an advisor, both in training and how you’re working with your clients and your processes. It’s a fantastic tool. I think it’s gonna keep getting better and better and better.
[00:08:44] Chris Davis: Thank you. And Jeffrey, I’ll move over to the measurement, benchmarking of AI within client satisfaction, retention outcomes within your organization.
[00:08:55] Jeffrey DeHaan: So the AI tools themselves in certain instances do give us really cool metrics around how, you know, how did conversations with clients go? How many positive things were talked about? Negative things were talked about, right? What was the overall tone of each of our client meetings? That’s completely new, right? That never used to exist. We just kind of had to take it on faith that each of our advisors was doing a great job with each of their clients. kind of tell at the end of the year, did they gain clients? Did they lose clients? If so, you know, we were kind of in a little bit of a, the dark around how that all happened. Now, these tools are not just doing a better job of everything we’ve already talked about from giving us extra time in our day, helping us prepare more efficiently, all of those kinds of things, but it also gives us from a management perspective, an insight into how or different advisors interacting with their clients. how are those clients responding? And that’s really an amazing, kind of back to what Chris was saying, a really amazing training tool also, because we completely agree on the fact that the future of this industry is the client relationship. It always really should have been. always probably will be. Um, and, and so that it also is helping us learn how to get deeper and to, to train, to track all those kinds of things. Um, I think the other, aspect that, that we’re able to use these tools for is also monitoring how much, you know, just the frequency of, of communications with our clients. Um, you know, how often are we talking to them? Not just how are we talking about how often, you know, that’s a really a key thing. And as your success kind of works against you in that case, where you keep gaining more and more clients, you have less and less time for each of those clients. So these tools coming in that are making us more efficient, giving us time back force to be spent on each of these clients, but also helping us understand, you know, who do we need to be talking to at any given point in time beyond just, it’s been a month, I better call this person or whatever that old mindset was or process was. I think is also really, really helpful. Hard to measure other than regular plain vanilla client surveys otherwise, right? And the proof is kind of in the pudding of how is the firm growing? If that growth is accelerating, AI is absolutely going to be a component of that if you’re doing it correctly. And if it’s not, then maybe you’re leaning too far in a certain direction that needs to be corrected. But for the first time, we’ve got a lot of new tools that can help us understand why is it good or bad?
[00:11:36] Chris Davis: Thank you. Over to Tory. I was wondering if we can talk about the future of how you’re seeing AI and certainly within your organization.
[00:11:44] Tori Samuel: Absolutely. I think that at the end of the day, AI isn’t a passing trend. It’s materially disrupting and transforming the financial industry. While technology is rapidly evolving, I think the one thing is pretty clear at this point is that the individuals and teams who embrace AI early could gain a competitive advantage. as we’ve been talking about, using it as a productivity tool, using it and able to measure interests and from client events to political views of clients. I think that our recommendation, at least from our firm, is that if the financial industry, if there are financial advisors out there that are part of a team or individuals, they should start becoming a better student of AI. because it’s only going to grow from here. But again, it’s not going to take away the personal aspect of the relationship building that you have with your clients, but it gives you more time to focus on that.
[00:12:48] Chris Davis: Thank you. Gentlemen, thank you for joining me and thank you for watching Investment News TV.