What can AI do in a small financial advice firm?
AI in a small advice firm handles the paperwork around each client meeting, such as file notes, report first drafts, review reminders and routine emails. The judgement stays with the adviser, which means the recommendation, the reasons for it and the check that every fact is right.
The regulator has not carved advisers out or written a separate rulebook. The FCA’s approach to AI says it does not plan to introduce extra regulation for AI and relies on existing frameworks, including the Consumer Duty and senior manager accountability.
How many hours do file notes and reports cost a firm?
Work it out with your own numbers before buying anything. Here is the sum for a firm of four advisers, using example figures you should replace with yours.
- Client meetings per adviser per week: 12
- Minutes writing the file note after each meeting: 20
- Minutes drafting the report or follow-up letter for the half of meetings that need one: 45
That is 12 × 20 = 240 minutes of notes plus 6 × 45 = 270 minutes of drafting, or 8.5 hours per adviser each week. Across four advisers and 46 working weeks that is about 1,560 hours a year. At a loaded cost of £60 an hour, the writing costs £93,600 a year.
AI drafts the note from the recording and the first pass of the report from the fact-find. If drafting and checking take half the time, the same year costs about £46,800. The adviser spends the saving in front of clients, which is where the fees are earned.
What does the FCA keep with the adviser?
The adviser keeps the recommendation and the sign-off, because accountability does not transfer to a tool. The FCA names the Consumer Duty and the Senior Managers and Certification Regime as the rules that apply to AI use. A report that treats the client badly is the firm’s problem, whichever tool wrote the first draft.
For a mortgage broker the split is the same. AI handles the fact-find chasing and case updates. The broker decides whether the product fits.
Can an AI meeting summary stand as the client record?
An AI summary is a draft until the adviser has checked it against what was said. The Handbook’s COBS 9.5.2R sets the minimum time a firm keeps suitability records: indefinitely for pension transfers, conversions and opt-outs, five years for most pension and life policy advice, and three years in any other case.
Records that old get read when something has gone wrong. A summary that dropped a client’s stated worry about risk is the one that fails that test. Bedrock AI’s view is that the adviser’s read-through takes two minutes and is the step that makes the time saving safe.
What is the decision rule for a small advice firm?
Fix the job with the most hours first, and check your existing software before you buy a new tool. Most planning and back-office platforms have added AI features in the last year, often switched off by default.
Our workflow scoring method ranks the jobs for you. Before any client data goes near a chatbot, check the settings that keep it out of model training, and talk to your compliance contact before you record a client call with a new tool.