A quarter of banking's "front line" professionals are worried about losing their jobs to robots and artificial intelligence-boosted mobile apps, according to a LinkedIn survey.
In the poll of 1,012 pros from financial technology, investment banking, retail and corporate banking, financial and hedge fund management, accounting, insurance, and private equity, 25 percent said they are concerned automation will impact their job security – with 34 percent of retail bankers saying it is a significant concern for them.
The survey also found 42 percent of financial services pros think financial technology is a "direct threat" to traditional financial services, compared with 13 percent of professionals who work in traditional financial services, and 18 percent of all the financial professionals.
"Whether you like it or not, your firm is strategizing or actively exploring ways to automate components (or the entirety) of your job," Ash Egan of venture capital firm Converge wrote.
"The machine intelligence and blockchain technology trends are two of the primary forces, and these technologies will drive major shifts in banking, trading, wealth management, and risk analysis."
In other survey findings:
- 29 precent of financial advisors / wealth managers said the largest threat to financial technology is "reduced interaction / feedback from human-client relationships," compared with 16 percent overall.
- 19 percent of financial advisors / wealth managers said the largest threat to financial technology is "human discomfort with automated financial services," compared with 14 percent overall.
According to Business Insider, Betterment, which the outlet described as a firm considered the poster child of robo-advice, offered a case study of the industry-wide shift to hybrid financial advice.
The firm earlier this year responded to the desire for human help by introducing new hybrid services that pair human help with its computerized financial advice, BI reported.