By Moriah Costa on Wednesday 23 August 2017
Just 12 per cent of active investors would trust an automated wealth management service to make an investment decision for them.
Robo-advisers have a long way to go to gain the confidence of investors.
Only 12 per cent of active high net worth investors in the UK would trust a robo-adviser to make an investment decision for them, a survey by fixed rate bond provider, Minerva Lending PLC, found.
Instead many investors trust Independent Financial Advisers to make decisions for them, the survey found.
The findings are similar to other studies. A recent survey from Legg Mason Asset Management found that 60 per cent of consumers would rather have a live person in charge of their finances instead of relying on automated technology.
While automated wealth management is a popular concept, with hundreds of robo-advisers around the world, the digital platforms are far from being the norm. Some platforms have even started to offer access to human advice, such as Betterment in the US.
“IFAs should be genuinely encouraged that nearly three quarters of active investors would trust them to make investment decisions on their behalf,” said Ross Andrews, director of Minerva Lending. “For robo-advisers and software-based investment management tools, the survey results are less uplifting. It seems that far more people with bigger sums to invest trust manual decision-making processes, whether by themselves or an IFA.”
The firm polled 1,000 people in the UK who had £50,000 or more to invest. Around 77 per cent said they would trust their own judgement to make an investment decision, with 72 per cent of respondents saying they would trust an IFA. Around 35 per cent said they would trust a stockbroker to make investment decisions.
This article first appeared on www.roboadvicenews.com