A new survey finds that affluent investors really like their financial advisor, and the notion of that advisor aided by technology — but a “robo” advisor? Well, that depends.
Six in 10 (61%) of the affluent currently work with a financial advisor (FA), and the FA relationship is seen as a valued partnership, according to the Wells Fargo survey. Seven in 10 say their financial advisor is as important to them as their doctor — and three-quarters say that a robo-advisor could never take the place of a financial advisor.
That said, nearly two-thirds (65%) of those with a financial advisor say they would be interested in using technology to manage their investments, but only with the help of a financial advisor. In fact, affluent investors with a financial advisor are more likely to see technology complementing the services of their financial advisor rather than replacing it.
More than half (52%) say that they will never be comfortable working with a robo-advisor, and while half say they are likely to try using one in the next five years, there is a big age difference. Most of those in their 30s (71%) and 40s (61%) say they would try one in the next five years, compared with 46% of those in their 50s and 27% for those aged 60-75.
When affluent investors were asked about their familiarity of automated investment advisory services, such as robo-advisors, just over one in five (22%) say they are very or somewhat familiar.
On behalf of Wells Fargo, Harris Poll conducted 1,993 online interviews of affluent investors age 30-75 from May 5 to May 26, 2015. To target the affluent investors, the survey data includes only respondents who had $250,000 or more in investable assets (excluding the values of retirement savings and property).
