What Financial Advisers Must Learn Now
My first job, way back in 1983, was as a Counter Assistant in a building society. I enjoyed my entry-level job and took to night school to further my training. In the meantime, I was just a counter clerk whose primary role was to serve customers at the branch.
During quieter periods, I was asked to type letters. I was given this heavy, bulky monster of a manual typewriter, and my main challenge was to type correctly the first time; otherwise, I would have to discard the paper and start again. In the branch, we had Maureen. She was a splendid addition to our team. Her job was to cover the counter during lunchtime at busy periods.
Maureen, like many of her generation, was an excellent manual typist and could bang out a letter faster than I with zero errors. She was a godsend, so we did a deal. I’d work the counter, which I was particularly good at and enjoyed, and Maureen would knock out the entire day’s typing in less than two hours.
Until tech changed things.
Let me explain further.
We took delivery of innovative counter equipment that automated the processing of transactions and printing of passbooks. You see it all the time nowadays, but back then it was revolutionary. We were also given a back-office terminal with an interface attached.
With a bit of tinkering, I fabricated this back office monster into the world’s first word processor. Well, not the world, but Egham, Surrey, anyway. I learnt to type with the word processor before Maureen came in at 11am, because mistakes could be rectified immediately by pressing the backspace key and retyping. I was slowly but surely completing my typing tasks on two fingers.
AI is replacing the need for advisers. It will
Maureen tut-tutted when she saw the machine and walked over to her manual typewriter. Hers was soon upgraded to an electric typewriter, and the following year to a word processor. Suddenly, Maureen’s skill of getting her letters typed correctly the first time became a redundant skill. The rest of us could type, albeit slower, but we could correct ourselves as we went.
Soon, everyone was typing their emails, letters, and correspondence, and nowadays typing is ubiquitous, even among the untrained.
The parallel here, which you’ve already guessed? AI and financial advisers. The current skill of advisers is to possess a broad knowledge of technical aspects, to effectively elicit the client’s needs, and to provide complex financial advice. They take exams and continually update their technical knowledge.
AI can do this. AI is replacing the need for advisers. It will. As soon as advisers realise this and start focusing on communication as their prime skill, they will move forward, just like Maureen. I forgot to tell you the end of my true story.
What happened to Maureen? She sat back on the counter and became the best counter assistant we’ve ever had. Like everyone else, she had plenty of dormant talent that came to the fore.
