Consumers are not enamored with the idea of relying only on an automated “robo” advisor, according to a new survey.
Even younger people want some access to a human advisor for help, according to the survey by GfK, the global research firm.
Just 9 percent of U.S. consumers surveyed said they would use a robo-platform that offered live help only via e-mail or online chat.
The millennial generation (ages 25 to 34) was most open to this digital-only solution (15 percent), while less than 5 percent of those age 50 and above said they would embrace an all-digital investment platform.
The GfK survey could be one of the first studies to look into the perception of robo-advisors.
"That’s why we did it,” said Tom Neri, managing director of GfK’s financial services team in North America.
“People have been able to embrace banking online, so we wondered how well will they be able to address [online] investments,” Neri said.
Probably not as well as with banking, at least based on the results.
Just 10 percent of those surveyed said they would be likely to trust a computer algorithm more than a human for financial advice, while fully half disagreed with this statement.
The level of trust in robo-advisors was highest among the 25-to-34 group (17 percent) and lowest among those age 65 and above (6 percent).