AI pushes wealth managers away from clients with under $1 million
Why it matters: firms including Citi are using AI to automate portfolio reviews and shift human advisers toward richer clients and complex family decisions.
Artificial intelligence is starting to redraw who gets human attention in wealth management. McKinsey senior partner Debasish Patnaik said clients with $100,000 to $1 million in liquid assets can now receive advice close to private-banking quality from AI, eroding the value of standardized human guidance. That could leave human advisers focused more on ultra-wealthy clients, where family dynamics, inheritance disputes and market stress still require judgment and emotional skill. Citigroup is moving on both tracks: it plans to add 400 wealth advisers in its US retail bank and 100 private-bank staff while building AI tools that can generate near-instant portfolio reviews and draft client emails from the chief investment officer’s analysis.