Rebecca Hill, head of wealth management at Morgan Stanley in Australia, revealed that the bank plans to integrate artificial intelligence in the management of high-net-worth individuals’ portfolios. Its goal is to exploit the sophisticated software and methods employed in other regions to further Australian clients’ investment strategies.
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“Other regions are a little bit more established; it’s a real opportunity for us to bring some of the leading ideas we have and we’ve learned from overseas markets to Australia.”
Rebecca Hill
Stanley aims to leverage global AI expertise for Australian clients
Morgan Stanley is set to use AI to manage the portfolios of high-net-worth clients in Australia. This is in line with its plans to incorporate advanced technological investment solutions into its wealth management services.
The AI tools will be used to support financial advisers in automating some of the processes and giving them information to help them design better investment plans for their clients. The introduction of AI into the Australian market comes at a time when the number of high-net-worth individuals in the country has also risen.
In a recent report by Capgemini, wealthy individuals’ wealth increased at a rate of about 8% in the last one year and crossed the $1 trillion mark for the first time. This growth offers Morgan Stanley a unique chance to improve the quality of its wealth management services using artificial intelligence.
Rebecca Hill noted that while Australia is evolving in how it deploys capital, it is still relatively nascent in terms of technology in wealth management. The firm sees this as an opportunity to bring in best practices and products that have been effective in other markets to Australian clients and thus redefine the standard in the country.
Expanding wealth operations in Australia
Besides the implementation of AI, Morgan Stanley is also looking into the growth of its wealth management business in Australia. The firm currently oversees over A$41 billion ($27 billion) in client assets, and employs more than 100 financial advisers across five locations.
The wealth management division of Morgan Stanley has been one of the best divisions globally, with the business generating better revenue in the first quarter of this year. It has also recently named Jed Finn as the new head of the $4.8 trillion global wealth management division in November, highlighting the firm’s commitment to boosting its leadership and expertise in this area.
AI boosts efficiency for Morgan Stanley financial advisers
Speaking at an investor conference, Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick said that the use of AI technologies would free up time for the firm’s financial advisers. Pick also noted that by leveraging the new AI assistants, advisers could potentially free up 10-15 hours per week, thus increasing their efficiency and being able to spend more time on the clients.
“That’s an enormous productivity quantum, and that’s not even getting to anticipating what might be the right conversation to have.”
Ted Pick
Pick spoke about the possibilities of AI in the financial services industry and called it a “game-changer. ” Morgan Stanley has created an AI system that helps in note-taking and organizing client meetings and thus relieves some work off the financial advisers.
Cryptopolitan reporting by Brenda Kanana
