Inside Money: The robot takeover of money management

The main losers in the techno-future are likely to be financial advisers, according to a new report. Photo / Thinkstock

The robots are coming into money.

And financial services humans are worrying about their lucrative careers.

But there is some debate about which financial jobs are likely to be robotomised.

According to a new report published by UK firm Create Research, fund managers - the artful ones, at least - will survive the singularity more or less intact.

"Investing is a bet on an unknown future. Its success requires a deep understanding of risk and its dynamic nature," the Create report says. "On the other hand, digital tools are simple algorithms that follow pre-set rules. They have their uses, but they also have their limits."

While the humans might retain the upper hand in funds management, the business will still be auto-disrupted, according to Create, as robots churn out cheap, passive investment options, for example.

But the "main losers" in the techno-future, the report says, are likely to be financial advisers, especially those playing in the shallower end of the wealth pool.

"Digitisation will demystify [financial advisers'] craft and erode their competitive edge," Create says.

Registered human being, Bill Bachrach, however, says advisers will retain their mysterious powers in spite of the robotic revolution.

Bachrach told Australian industry rag (my old rag, in fact) IFA: "Advisers are there to stop people [from making] poor decisions, and a robo-adviser doesn't have capacity to do that.

"But it can compete on the investment side - in fact, the machine is probably better at it."

I will ask my robot who's right as soon as it gets home from its new consultancy job at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.