Artificial eyes on advisory prize

Now, thanks to an existential threat posed by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), it is our own sector facing a battle for survival.

Any lingering doubts over this non-virtual reality vanished last month with the news that Altruist Corp has launched an AI service that creates personalised tax strategies by reading clients’ pay slips, account statements and other financial documents.

Almost immediately, shares in well-known wealth managers and price comparison sites tumbled as another casualty of the AI revolution came into focus.

Everyone in the sector knows people who are already losing their jobs, and many more will follow. It is clear this is no longer a conceptual threat – it is very tangible.

As a partner at Edinburgh-based law firm Murray Beith Murray, I am certain we will not be immune to the impact of AI and we are already investing significantly in the future. Indeed, tax returns are part of the service we offer our clients.

We are already being approached by prospective clients who believe they know the answer to their situation because they have asked AI. All they want us to do is to double-check the answer.Before long, I suspect that some people may be tempted to produce their own wills using the software.

At Murray Beith Murray, this is not the first challenge we have faced in our 176-year history, of course.

We survived our partners and staff being called up for service during both World War I and World War II. Then there were the dramatic changes to contend with during computerisation in the 1980s, as well as the forerunner of machine-based accounting a decade or two before then.

It would be impossible for any business to thrive for the best part of two centuries without the ability to respond to economic and social change.

And in 2026 we must do so again with the rise of AI.

In our line of work, my prediction is that two types of firms will be able to adapt to this new era. First, large organisations that can take advantage of economies of scale and efficiencies.

For example, they may be able to produce in-house software that allows people to input their data and come up with a DIY will, for a restricted fee.

At the other end of the spectrum, there will be specialist providers that will continue to be trusted by those who are wary of DIY services because their affairs are complicated or involve large sums of money, and because of valued relationships built up over generations.

Murray Beith Murray falls into this latter category. However, those in the middle – which perhaps do not have the scale of the largest operators, or the reputation of more niche specialists – may be fearing for their futures.

There are two different models and firms are going to have to pick which one they are going to follow, because doing nothing is not an option.

It is somewhat ironic that this existential threat has reared its head now, at a point in time when many private client teams have been busier than ever.

In the tax and wealth advisory world, phones were ringing off their hooks during the tail end of last year as fears grew over the UK Government’s Budget, amid an unprecedented level of speculation and leaking.

We are living through what has been described as the “Great Wealth Transfer” as the generation of the Baby Boom prepares to pass an estimated £63 trillion in assets to their children.

For example, the couples who bought their homes for about £25,000 in 1970s will leave these same properties –now worth £500,000 – to their offspring, in the coming years.It is a perfect storm. All this wealth is being unlocked at a time when AI may leave countless wealth managers out of work.

At the same time, we have a government at Westminster that sees this wealth as a source of revenue for the Treasury, creating ever-more demand from clients for help with the management of their financial affairs.

People will still need the advice, but where will they go to get it?

AI can work through scenarios, and it can summarise financial rules. It will undoubtedly make mundane tasks, such as filing tax returns, more straightforward and less time consuming in the future for many.

But advice issued via AI tools is not covered by insurance policies.

And our clients need much more than AI can offer.

They are asking our experts, ‘what would you do?’

They say: ‘What do you think is going to happen? What should I do? What would you do if you were in my shoes?’

That is the difference between AI and firms like Murray Beith Murray – we provide advice a client can trust. Because that trust has been built up over the course of 176 years.

https://www.murraybeith.co.uk/