As artificial intelligence becomes more capable, a new question is emerging: How do we ensure technology strengthens people rather than quietly taking their place? At the Academy of Life Planning, our answer has always begun with one idea: Restore human agency. Agency is a person's ability to think clearly, question confidently, make informed decisions and … Continue reading Human Agency, Personal Sovereignty, Governance and Stewardship: Four Ideas That Belong Together
Tag: chatgpt
When Clients Arrive Having Already Asked ChatGPT, the Advice Model Has Already Changed
Advisers Are Talking About Cutting Fees. The Bigger Story Is Why. A recent Citywire interview with Ian Else carried a headline that should make every financial planner stop and think: "I'm looking at cutting my advice fees because of AI." It's a rational response. If AI reduces the time it takes to research, analyse, write … Continue reading When Clients Arrive Having Already Asked ChatGPT, the Advice Model Has Already Changed
UBS Sees AI Disrupting Financial Advice. We See Something Even Bigger.
For years, discussions about artificial intelligence in financial planning have centred on one question: How will AI affect financial advisers? A new analyst note from UBS, reported by Citywire, suggests that question is no longer theoretical. UBS has accelerated its assumptions about AI disruption, bringing forward the point at which it expects AI to affect … Continue reading UBS Sees AI Disrupting Financial Advice. We See Something Even Bigger.
The Missing Piece in the Mills Review: What Does a Public-Interest AI Financial Capability Service Actually Look Like?
"The question is no longer whether to allow AI, it is who is AI going to serve?... the answer must be citizens."— Sheldon Mills, AI and the Future of Retail Financial Services (2026) The publication of the Mills Review marks an important moment in the evolution of financial services. For the first time, a major … Continue reading The Missing Piece in the Mills Review: What Does a Public-Interest AI Financial Capability Service Actually Look Like?
From the Advice Gap to the Agency Gap
Why the FCA's AI Review could transform financial planning—if we put citizens first For more than two decades, policymakers have talked about the advice gap. Millions of people cannot afford regulated financial advice, do not qualify for it, or simply choose not to use it. The result has been a familiar debate. Should advice become … Continue reading From the Advice Gap to the Agency Gap
Opinion: The AI Debate Is Missing the Most Important Participant
Why the future of financial planning won't be decided by firms adopting AI—but by citizens doing the same. Every week there seems to be another discussion about artificial intelligence in financial services. Should advisers build their own AI? Should firms rely on specialist providers? Will AI replace paraplanners? Are the productivity gains worth the investment? … Continue reading Opinion: The AI Debate Is Missing the Most Important Participant
Proportional Planning™: Support when it adds value. Agency remains yours.
The right support at the right time. For decades, we have framed financial planning as a choice between two extremes. Do it yourself. Or hand responsibility to an adviser. Neither reflects how most people actually make decisions. Most of us are capable of managing much of our own lives. We seek help when life becomes … Continue reading Proportional Planning™: Support when it adds value. Agency remains yours.
AI Is Reshaping Financial Planning. But Is It Reshaping the Whole Picture?
AI and the Two-Sided Transition of Financial Planning The Financial Planning Standards Board (FPSB) has released an important new Practice Guidance Note on the use of artificial intelligence in financial planning. It is a timely and well-considered document that addresses one of the profession's most significant emerging challenges. Its central message is clear. Artificial intelligence … Continue reading AI Is Reshaping Financial Planning. But Is It Reshaping the Whole Picture?
When Clients Have AI Too
The profession is asking how advisers should use AI. But the more urgent question may be what advisers should do when clients have AI too. For the past two years, almost every conversation about artificial intelligence in financial planning has centred on the adviser. How can firms become more efficient? How can advisers automate administrative … Continue reading When Clients Have AI Too
The Great Unbundling of Financial Planning
What Happens When AI Can Do Most of the Regulated Work? For thirty years, financial planning and financial advice have largely travelled together. In practice, most consumers have experienced financial planning through the lens of regulated financial advice. The planner gathered information, analysed circumstances, made recommendations, arranged products, implemented transactions, reviewed outcomes, and managed ongoing … Continue reading The Great Unbundling of Financial Planning
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