Transforming the Financial Advice Market - The Roles of Robo-advice, Financial Regulation and Public Governance in the UK

Banking and Finance Law Review, Forthcoming

Posted: 6 Nov 2019

See all articles by Iris H-Y Chiu

Iris H-Y Chiu

University College London - Faculty of Laws; ECGI

Date Written: July 11, 2019

Abstract

Access to financial advice has been a matter of concern for financial regulators and policy-makers. In this age of financialisation, individuals have greater responsibility to seek private sector financial products and services in order to meet their financial needs in life. However, individuals’ needs for financial advice are often not met optimally. Advice that is compliant with regulatory requirements need not be tailor-made to individuals’ needs, and inhibiting factors such as inertia, distrust and cost all play a part in individuals’ disengagement from the financial advice industry. The article discusses a series of regulatory reforms in the UK to address issues such as distrust but such reforms entail trade-offs, such as increased cost in return for improved perceived credibility in the financial advice industry. The advent of robo-advice shows some promise in encouraging access to financial advice as it is often low-cost and easy to access at one’s convenience. However, robo-advice is at the moment a standardised and limited service that is yet far from meeting individual needs for personal financial planning. The article considers a futuristic vision of artificial intelligence that is enabled with both data and investment strategy know-how in order to deliver personalised financial advice to the mass market. The article argues that such a vision attracts changes in regulatory governance, and above all, governments should consider if personalised financial advice ought to be a public good. If so, a new scheme of public and private provision of financial advice could be fostered, with the help of technological transformations.

Keywords: robo-advice, personalised financial planning, algorithmic finance, artificial intelligence, behavioural finance, public good

Suggested Citation

Chiu, Iris H-Y, Transforming the Financial Advice Market - The Roles of Robo-advice, Financial Regulation and Public Governance in the UK (July 11, 2019). Banking and Finance Law Review, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3418404

Iris H-Y Chiu (Contact Author)

University College London - Faculty of Laws ( email )

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