Artificial intelligence is already drafting emails, analysing markets and offering portfolio suggestions with unnerving speed. For a generation raised on algorithms, it raises an inevitable question. If AI can rebalance a portfolio in seconds, do you still really need a human adviser to manage a nine figure fortune?
Here, some of the top wealth advisers from Tatler Address Book argue the human element remains essential.
Data versus judgement
‘You absolutely have to embrace AI and use it wherever it genuinely improves efficiency and enhances analytical capability. There’s no doubt that AI will make family offices more data-driven, but I don’t believe it can ever replace the emotional intelligence required to truly support families,’ says Jacqui Cheshire, Head of Family Office (Switzerland) at Stonehage Fleming.
That distinction between analytical capability and human judgement runs through much of the debate. AI might be able to process vast amounts of information, but wealth advice rarely centres on investments alone. It often involves family structures, succession planning and deeply personal decisions that stretch across generations.
Sophie Kilvert, Director and Client Adviser at Rothschild & Co Wealth Management, believes the core of the adviser relationship lies in understanding clients far beyond their portfolio.
‘Our approach is to take a holistic view of clients and their family’s wealth, helping to define their long-term financial and lifestyle objectives and developing a plan to achieve this. AI simply doesn’t have the ability to replace the personal relationships and trust that is needed between a client and their adviser to achieve this effectively.’
Jer O’Mahony, Partner and Head of The Family Office at Killik & Co, makes a similar point from the perspective of clients whose affairs are especially complex.
‘The role of an adviser is not simply to construct portfolios, but to understand family dynamics, long-term legacy goals, governance structures and the emotional aspects of wealth. These are areas where human judgement and trust remain essential, and I cannot see a time where AI is able to offer the moral and emotional support that a human can.’
The human side of wealth
For many clients, wealth management conversations are never purely financial and often involve personal ambitions, family responsibilities and difficult decisions about legacy.
‘From my perspective, technology can support great advice, but it simply cannot replace the depth of understanding that comes from a trusted human relationship,’ says Rachael Marsden, Senior Investment Director at Brooks MacDonald. ‘When clients open up about their wealth, their family, and what truly matters to them, there is often raw emotion behind those conversations. A trusted adviser does more than interpret numbers; they interpret people.’
Kilvert says those relationships are intentionally built over time.
‘Although all clients are different, even in this increasingly digital age, in my experience there is no substitute for personal contact. Our client to adviser ratio is intentionally low to ensure very high levels of client service. We build teams around our clients and their families, across multiple generations, where we know them intricately and seek to anticipate their needs. A key aspect of my role is to act as a sounding board for ideas, as well as preparing future generations for the legacy they are set to inherit, again only a human with the right knowledge, experience and context, can provide this.’
