Fidelity bought EMoney in 2015. It sells software to investment advisers that’s designed to make it easier to interact with their customers on budgeting for weddings, college, or retirement. It employs 600 people in an office that looks more like a Silicon Valley startup than a unit of a fund company, with the standard-issue beanbag chairs, huddle rooms, and Segway scooter. “All of us in this industry need to be sort of eyes wide open around disruption,” says EMoney CEO Ed O’Brien.
For now, Alexa, as an adviser, isn’t quite ready to disrupt. For one thing, she still has trouble recognizing you—and that’s a big flaw, because you aren’t just asking her to turn on the lights or the radio. What if a guest in your house accidentally triggers the intimate details of your net worth and retirement plans? Fidelity Labs is working on voice authentication, but it remains a work in progress. So it may be a while before the financial world updates the old 1970s ad slogan: “When Alexa talks, people listen.”