He says: “Robo-advice helps bring down the age. There will be pinch points where people want to speak to an adviser.”
Anthony Ward, financial planner at Barclays Wealth, says the banking giant has put together a smart investor platform that allows savers to manage their own investments and this has increased demand for his services.
Mr Ward says while robo-advice has a place, most clients value human interaction.
Mr Ward says: “Robo can only take you so far. When you have a medical issue you Google it but then you go to the doctor.
“I have never seen demand for advice as high as it has been last year. People have questions about how much should they drawdown from portfolios and where should they be drawing down from.
“We have seen a huge demand for advice and hired six new planners this year and have plans to hire four more (in 2019).”
Mr Painter agrees that technology is never going to replace advisers.
Instead, he says technology will just help drive down the cost of financial advice at a time when all the intermediaries gathered at BWD’s event felt there was growing regulatory pressure on charges.
Rules impacting advisers
One of the key goals of the Mifid II rules, which came into force in 2018, was to make it clearer how much investors were paying for financial services.
Mifid II requires all costs and charges related to an investment to be disclosed.
While the financial advisers gathered at BWD’s event agreed greater transparency on charges was needed they questioned whether Mifid II has so far been successful in giving investors a clearer view of how much they are paying for advice and research services.
Elliott Silk, head of commercial at Sanlam Wealth, says some investment firms clearly were struggling to obey the rules.
He says: “Until they raise some fines or put some names out there for who isn’t compliant with it, then consumers aren’t going to be aware of it.”
On top of still getting to grips with Mifid II, this year financial advisers will finally become subject to the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, which will come into effect on December 9 2019.
Under the regime, anyone who holds a senior management function at an advice firm will need to be approved by the Financial Conduct Authority and every senior manager will need to fill out a statement of responsibilities explaining what they are responsible for.
The regulator told advisers last year they should start to get ready for the regime and consider clearing out bosses who are no longer fit for a 21st century business.
