BOSTON — Artificial intelligence will soon take over the heavy lifting of investment research and portfolio construction, but it will not supplant the human advisor, according to Shannon Reid, head of advisor growth and engagement at Osaic. Speaking at the firm’s 2026 NXT Conference here, Reid outlined a future in which AI handles the labor-intensive tasks of vetting ETFs and mutual funds, documenting suitability under Regulation Best Interest, and even making initial security selections.
“AI is going to make that so much easier and help advisors meet their obligations under Reg BI,” Reid said. She described the current manual process: an advisor must research a range of products for a moderate-risk client, document each choice, and justify the rationale. “AI is going to do all of that for me and then, eventually, AI may actually be making the investment selections,” she added. Reid, who joined Osaic in January after nearly 19 years at Raymond James, said the timeline is uncertain but predicted it “may be faster than any of us think.”
Despite the automation potential, Reid emphasized that final decision-making must remain with a human advisor. “You don’t want to leave the AI to just operate on its own, you have to have a human in the loop that knows the client that they are serving,” she explained. “This concept that AI can replace human advice, I really, fundamentally, don’t agree with.” Her comments align with broader industry sentiment. Last month, Raymond James CEO Paul Shoukry acknowledged AI’s ability to enhance advisor-client relationships but also noted its limitations.
The technology’s adoption is accelerating. A recent EY survey found that 48% of global consumers now use AI to guide savings and investment decisions. Osaic CEO Price told InvestmentNews that advisors on the platform are adopting AI tools at a record pace. The trend is also reshaping how firms approach compliance and portfolio management, as highlighted in the EY Report: AI, Wealth Transfer, and Self-Direction Reshape Wealth Management by 2030.
Beyond AI, the conference underscored the value of in-person community building. Osaic’s EVPs of advisor engagement, John DiMonda and Erinn Ford, described a series of local meetups that have connected advisors who often live near one another without knowing it. “We’re finding situations where these people literally live three houses away from somebody they literally didn’t even know that they were in the business and didn’t know they were with Osaic,” DiMonda said.
Last year, Osaic hosted 30 such events, including a New York City gathering that drew 70 advisors. The firm plans 50 events in 2026. Ford noted that peer-to-peer sharing “is an intangible exercise that leads to tangible results.” The combination of AI-driven efficiency and human connection reflects Osaic’s strategy to equip advisors with cutting-edge tools while preserving the relationship-based core of wealth management. As Reid put it, the evolution of AI in investing is coming “faster than any of us think,” but the advisor’s role as trusted intermediary remains non-negotiable.
