As we hit summer a whole new set of graduates take their plunge into the ‘real world’ and all that entails. At the top of many of their minds will be what career they want to pursue. A difficult choice based on so many factors: what you are interested in, where you would like to work, how much you want to earn and many other questions.
However, this generation have another concern: what risk is there that robots will make any career choice obsolete?
Decades ago this would have been an irrational fear, something from science fiction, with a limited basis in reality. However, a report from PwC has predicted that robots could affect almost a third of UK jobs by 2030s. It further said that 32 per cent of financial and insurance jobs in the UK are at high risk.
With a growing army of ‘robo-advisers’, it is easy to see why some people would caution that face-to-face financial advice may soon become obsolete.
However, those who believe this forget that financial advice is ultimately a relationship-dependent vocation that draws on soft skills, and appreciation of behavioural finance and knowing how to build trust with clients.
Digging deeper into the PwC report it becomes clear the conclusion reached is based on the fact jobs in these sectors focus heavily on computation and are made up of routine tasks. Both of these factors are strong reasons to make something automated. In fact, the PwC analysis argues that just 17 per cent of jobs in finance and insurance require social skills.
Other sectors, including human health, social work and education are at far lower risk of losing their jobs to robots at 17 per cent and 9 per cent respectively. These sectors are defined by their focus on social skills and management.
Financial advisers seem to fall squarely between these two camps: the one focused on the analysis of products and investments and how they meet the needs of clients and the other focused on social skills and engendering trust. The latter is hugely important and is often poorly understood yet continues to be identified as the main reason clients seek guidance from their adviser.
Let’s take an example. Amelia is a new financial adviser in her first year of work. A client – a construction worker in his late 40s – wants to know when he can afford to retire, but he's like to leave something for his three children. The client, Charlie, says he could probably work for 20 more years in his industry if it meant his children were well taken care of.
At their second meeting, but before getting the chance to present Charlie with his options, Amelia learns that the doctor has advised Charlie that trouble with his knee means he needs to ease up at work.
Amelia is immediately conscious that Charlie might not be able to work for 20 more years and so discusses this with him. The conversation includes considering changing careers, leaving less to his kids, how much he needs to retire and using alternative assets to allow him to ease up for a while.
Now if Charlie had opted for a robot, the information would have been input online and Charlie may not have revealed he had knee pain as he may have considered this as unnecessary detail – the relationship with Amelia was strengthened as she naturally considered what was best for Charlie. Could a robo-adviser have been able to come up with the best plan for him and his children without this vital information?
When looking at a day-to-day life of a financial adviser it is easy to conclude that soft skills are just as important as the technical information, particularly in this age where information and correct computation are easily accessible.
Given the increasing importance of soft skills, the financial adviser school includes special soft skills training for new advisers that want more than just a qualification.
Humans are complicated and money is emotive. This means financial advisers need to know the proper language and tone to use with clients, how to be a good listener and how to prioritise their workload. It is this that makes face-to-face advice indispensable.
Darren Smith is head of the Financial Adviser School
