Automated financial advice (a.k.a. robo-advice) is continuing to proliferate, but its market share remains limited. As a result, there is no need for immediate regulatory action to address emerging risks, say three European supervisory authorities (ESAa) in a report published Wednesday.
The report from the European Banking Authority, European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority details the results of the latest review of automation in financial advice in the securities, banking and insurance sectors by the ESAs. Overall, the review finds that the phenomenon is growing slowly, and the overall number of firms and customers involved is still relatively limited.
These automated advice services are being offered primarily through partnerships between traditional financial firms and upstart fintechs firms, rather than by pure fintechs, the review found.
The services are evolving in certain ways, such as making greater use of big data, deploying chatbots and expanding the range of products offered, the report found, but the risks posed by increased automation have not substantially changed, it said.
As a result, the regulators conclude that there’s no need for immediate action to address the risks posed by automated advice.
“However, considering the overall importance of the topic, and the emergence of some ongoing changes to business models, a new monitoring exercise will be done if and when the development of the market and market risks warrant this work,” the ESAs said in the report.