While Soper sees expanding scope of practice and service as the necessary future for financial advisors, he admits that it takes a great deal more effort than simply focusing on investments. Working with estate plans, tax plans, and advanced financial plans takes a huge amount of personal education — including possibly working towards a CFP certification — and firm investments in resources that can support these services. This is where AI tools may be able to help.
While he discussed more sophisticated tools, Soper’s first area of focus was on the use of AI to help with meetings, note taking, and synthesis. He noted that most of the finance industry runs on Microsoft, and that most client meetings are now held via virtual calls. An AI co-pilot can help advisors quickly transcribe and synthesize those calls, generating more immediate insights and action items from the most important part of their jobs: talking with clients.
Beyond the simple transcription support, though, Soper notes that his firm has recently given him access to a tool called Clear Estate. Chief among its capabilities for advisors is the ability to create basic wills. According to a 2023 study by Angus Reid, only about 40 per cent of Canadians have an up-to-date will. With a tool like this an advisor can quickly and affordably aid in creating or updating a will, though Soper notes that for clients with greater financial complexity, he’ll continue to refer to estate lawyers and his firm’s in-house estate planning specialists.
While these tools can add efficiencies and free up capacity for advisors, Soper isn’t of the view that they will result in a shift that wins back the mass market from DIY channels. Even if advisors have more time to serve their clients, there’s a basic limit to one human being’s capacity for relationships, and the incentives in the industry still point towards serving higher net worth clients.
For those ideal clients, who expect advisors to function as the hub of their financial lives, Soper says that these tools have become essential. Beyond background notes and estate planning, he highlights connections to medical clinics, or tools to help business owners with their own financials. As the scope of advisors’ work widens, technology is a key part of what they will offer clients. Soper believes that advisors need to now embrace these tools.
