Will AI Replace Every Financial Adviser in Financial Planning

Today, Saturday 25 August 2025, The Australian published an article Meet the start-up CEO who thinks AI will replace every financial adviser written by David Wignell.

 

Synopsis

The opening paragraph reads:

 

More than 300,000 people are currently employed in the US as personal financial advisers. By 2035, Fahad Hassan believes that number will be closer to zero. “I don’t think wealth advisers will have a job in five to 10 years unless they’re serving boomers,” he says.

 

Fahad Hassan is very big on predictions and is building software that he hopes will replace financial advisers.  But so far, his company Range has 18 human advisers who use AI tools to help speed up the work flow process.  The company has not built software that will replace financial advisers.

 

Opinion

I think the statements by Hassan are for self-promotion.  As you follow the article, author David Wignell, points out that other attempts to automate the financial advice process have been attempted and failed.  I agree with that view.

The fees charged are like what is currently charged in America for low-level advice.

In regard to AI, research shows that even in the best AI generated work, there is a 10% inaccuracy and that AI does not handle well making mathematical calculations.  I see great danger in relying on these results in relation to personal finance.

Previous research has shown that the consumer who wants financial advice prefer a face-to-face meeting.

Previous research has also shown that while 75% of the population would like to use a financial adviser, only 25% proceed to financial advice.  25% of the population will never use a financial adviser.

 

25% of consumers will never use a financial adviser

Some of this 25% are skilled in the use of Excel and prefer to create their own models.  As an expert in financial modelling using Excel, I wonder how many errors are contained in those workbooks and to what extent they have been rigorously tested.

 

Another option is to use cashflow modelling software such as Financial Mappers.  For the cost of $347 for the initial year and $29.95 thereafter, this is a cost effective option for consumers who want to create a financial plan and be confident of the accuracy of the calculations. The software is also far more adaptable to different situations.

 

New week Financial Mappers will be releasing its new software called Financial Mappers Free, where financial plans are limited to 5 years and some of the features of the full version are restricted.

 

As a sneak preview, this is the planner page of Financial Mappers Free.

 

Glenis Phillips SF Fin – Developer of Financial Mappers and Advice Online