How is the AI revolution hitting financial advice?

Most advisers already use AI for some form of note-taking or call transcripts. Some are already integrating it into their website and communications. Speaking at the SIFA Conference 2025, Kernel Wealth chief executive Dean Anderson described this as “a surface-level layer of very easy adoption,” but said there is the potential to go a lot deeper.

AI for branding and client experience

On the marketing side, Anderson said advisers need to think about how (or whether) their businesses appear in LLM searches. People are increasingly moving towards AI recommendations instead of the classic Google search, so when a potential client types in “best investment advisers NZ” into ChatGPT, you want your business to be up there.

LLMs prioritise in-depth information from authoritative sources, so strong content should be the priority.

“You now need to think about what kind of information you’re putting on your website,” Anderson explained.