Studies from AssetMark, Vanguard and The Oasis Group examine how technology and better-designed workflows can create more capacity for client service, business development and growth. The findings point to opportunities for advisors to reclaim significant amounts of time, but also show that administrative work and incomplete use of available technology continue to leave capacity untapped.
They approach that issue from different directions. AssetMark looks at the time advisors say they are already saving with AI. Vanguard examines where technology is helping and where advisors still want more capacity. The Oasis Group focuses on the work surrounding client meetings and how firms can redesign those processes rather than simply adding more people or technology.
AssetMark Finds AI Creating Hours Of New Advisor Capacity
AssetMark found that more than half of advisors using AI reported saving at least four hours each week, potentially giving practices substantial new capacity for client service, prospecting and other higher-value work. Among AI adopters, 39% said they saved four to under eight hours a week and another 15% saved eight hours or more.
AI adopters reported using AI for meeting notes and summaries, performance reporting, research summaries, risk analysis, workflow automation and scheduling. Half of respondents identified improved work quality as a benefit, while 43% cited business growth, 41% improved client experience or satisfaction and 40% increased firm revenue. AssetMark also found that 69% of advisors would consider switching firms if their current firm’s AI capabilities fell behind competitors, rising to 78% among advisors managing $500 million or more.
“The AI conversation in wealth management is moving past adoption,” said Alex Pape, Chief Product & Technology Officer at AssetMark. Pape said the larger opportunity is using the capacity created by AI for clients, more complex problems and work requiring human judgment.
AssetMark’s survey also found differences in adoption by affiliation model. Among RIAs, 91% reported adopting AI-integrated solutions, compared with 81% of independent advisors affiliated with broker-dealers. RIAs also reported greater use of AI for client communications, workflow automation and portfolio stress testing. The survey included 400 U.S. advisors who were not existing AssetMark clients.
Vanguard Finds Advisors Still Want More Time With Clients
Vanguard found that 72% of advisors wanted more time for prospecting and deepening existing client relationships, even as firms expanded their use of AI and portfolio-management technology. Highlighting that gap, the same survey identified referrals from existing clients as advisors’ most productive source of new business.
AI use remains concentrated in tasks that can reduce administrative work, according to the survey. Advisors reported using AI to draft emails, conduct research and take meeting notes, but barriers are slowing broader automation: 37% cited compliance and home office hesitance, 34% said they lacked time to learn new capabilities and 31% cited limited proficiency.
“Many financial advisors have only begun to scratch the surface of AI’s potential,” said Lauren Wilkinson, Chief Information Officer, Financial Advisor Services at Vanguard. Wilkinson said firms can create more time for higher-value work by moving beyond using AI to assist with tasks and increasingly using it to automate them.
Portfolio management represents another opportunity to reclaim advisor capacity, according to Vanguard. Nearly a third of advisors surveyed still managed portfolios entirely on their own, despite the availability of model portfolios and other tools intended to streamline investment implementation. Vanguard cited Cerulli research suggesting model portfolios can save advisors more than 400 hours annually.
The survey covered 549 U.S. advisors and examined practice growth, client acquisition, technology, AI adoption and portfolio construction.
Oasis Targets The Hidden Cost Of Client Meetings
The Oasis Group examined meeting management as a profitability and scalability issue in a white paper sponsored by GReminders. The paper argues that firms often look at scheduling, meeting preparation, note capture and follow-up as separate administrative jobs when they are parts of one process that can consume advisor and staff capacity.
The paper cited Cerulli data showing advisors spend nine hours of a 40-hour workweek on administrative work, with ineffective delegation cited as a major productivity challenge by 60% of advisors. Oasis argues that the cost extends beyond the hours themselves: inconsistent processes can create dependence on individual employees, weigh on M&A valuations as buyers assess whether practices can operate consistently without any one person holding them together, and make it harder for firms to add clients without adding staff.
“Meetings are the heartbeat of the advisor-client engagement experience,” said John O’Connell, Founder and CEO of The Oasis Group. O’Connell said firms that design meeting management as an end-to-end process are better positioned to grow without adding staff simply to compensate for workflow gaps.
Oasis recommends that firms first measure how much staff time is consumed across booking, rescheduling, preparation, note capture and follow-up, then clarify who owns each part of the process before deciding where to automate. When assessing AI tools, the paper suggests firms consider whether information flows into their system of record, where human review occurs and whether data and workflows remain portable.
The paper’s broader implication is that increasing advisor capacity may require redesigning the workflow around client interactions, not simply buying another technology product. For RIAs, multi-advisor firms and larger enterprises, a more standardized process also can reduce dependence on individual employees and make growth less reliant on continually expanding headcount.
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