Despite facing significant business challenges, financial advisers are still optimistic about growth prospects, says Natixis Investment Managers survey

• Advisers believe AI-enhanced DIY investing tools will be their biggest competitor over the next five years (43%) while only 11% think they will be competing with other advisers
• Advisers say reacting emotionally to headlines (58%) is the number one mistake investors are making
• 77% of those surveyed suggest that the upcoming wave of adviser retirements is an opportunity to grow their assets

LONDON and BOSTON, June 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite conflict in the Middle East, a global energy shock, geopolitical realignment and interest rate uncertainty, financial advisers remain optimistic about what can be achieved in the years ahead. According to Natixis Investment Managers' 2026 Finance Adviser's survey, investment professionals still expect to grow assets under management by 11.9% over the next year and are projecting an average annual asset growth of 12.8% over the next three.

However, it won't be easy. In order to meet these growth targets advisers will need to contend with a range of structural challenges facing the industry from new technologies, to new competition, to ageing demographics, and it can be hard to tell which hurdles need to be cleared first if advisers are going to succeed.

Natixis IM surveyed 2,950 investment professionals across 23 countries, providing insight into adviser's growth strategies, their challenges, and how they are adapting their business to market fluctuations. 

Keeping clients invested in uncertain times

As advisers look to respond to the current volume and velocity of change, one of the first things they will need to address is retaining assets they've already earned, as 74% of advisers report that clients feel unnerved by current market uncertainty and want to hold more cash as a result.

This will not be an easy job, as investor concern has been growing for some time and market narratives can lead clients to make rash decisions. A result, advisers say reacting emotionally to headlines is the number one mistake investors are making (58%). Advisers also recognise emotions can run high on good news as well as bad. With markets hitting record highs and Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) from SpaceX and OpenAI, advisers caution that chasing returns and market timing (49%) can be a costly mistake, as are unrealistic return expectations (50%).

Finding opportunities and efficiencies in Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Of all the potential disruptions facing advisers, artificial intelligence may have the greatest impact on client portfolios and advisory practices. When it comes to the market, few advisers see AI-fuelled growth slowing anytime soon. In fact, three in four advisers (76%) believe the AI trade still has a long way to run and 69% think AI has the potential to drive markets for the next 20 years.

In terms of their own practices, AI usage is also ramping up. 80% think those who adopt AI will have a competitive advantage and even at this early juncture, 71% of advisers say they are already implementing this new technology in their practice. Overall, 74% say AI can free them up to spend more time with clients, with 61% saying they are using AI to write emails, take meeting notes and send out educational materials. Many are also finding that AI can help streamline the investment decision-making process, with 56% using it to summarise market commentary and economic data and 40% deploying AI for portfolio and risk analysis.

There is clear potential for AI to drive efficiency and a firm appetite to match, as 48% report feeling pressured by their firm to use AI. However, a majority (68%) say implementing AI into their existing workstreams has been more challenging than expected.

Digitalisation is changing advisers' competition base

Even if it may enhance adviser capabilities, the increasing sophistication of AI models are also posing a significant competitive threat. Roughly half of Millennials (49%) and 40% of Gen Xers¹ say they prefer digital advice to traditional in-person models. 47% of Millennials and 41% of Gen Xers are also most likely trust algorithms when getting financial advice. 

As a result, advisers predict that in five years' time, improved tools for self-directed investors will be their biggest competition (43%) compared to only 11% who think they will be competing with other advisers.

Biggest competition

However, only 30% believe it will put them out of business. While it may be tempting to turn to an AI agent for advice, 73% of advisers say investors are taking unnecessary risks in doing so. One probable concern may be the quality of the prompts that individuals enter into AI systems, and the propensity for AI to hallucinate. As such, advisers are quick to differentiate the service they provide. Overall, 82% say they are focusing on personal relationships and their fiduciary responsibility when they position their value for clients compared to AI.

Adapting to a changing client base

Advisers have good reason for concern about the digital threat, especially when they look to add younger investors to their client rosters. As with many populations around the world, an ageing client base presents a longer-term challenge to firms as the interest of older investors alter and wealth changes hands.

Yet, younger clients are still under-represented in adviser practices, with those under 45 making up just over one-third of the base. Advisers know they need new strategies to win younger investors: 43% are integrating digital tools into their offering and 44% are adding specialised services that appeal to this new client base, such as strategies for getting on the property ladder and student debt management.

When it comes to prospecting, advisers are also starting to explore new avenues, with one-third (33%) now using social media as a way to reach a younger client base.

Younger clients. Younger advisers

It's not just clients who are getting older. Advisers are also ageing out of the industry, forcing many to consider how key issues like business valuation and succession planning will impact their exit strategies.

Nearly eight in ten (77%) of advisers globally say this wave of adviser retirements is a significant opportunity to grow business. Yet this transition requires specialised business planning. When asked what the best model is for transitioning a practice, the overwhelming preference is for naming an internal successor (62%). However, 51% say that they are struggling to hire younger advisers to replace those retiring.

Darren Pilbeam, Head of UK Sales Natixis IM, said: "Advisers are facing a number of disruptors as the industry contends with short term challenges presented by an uncertain market as well as larger structural shifts as a result of AI, digital competition, ageing clients and a wave of industry retirements. In the near term they will need to focus efforts on reassuring investors facing uncertainty, but to succeed in the long run the number one factor for advisers will be demonstrating the value they bring that goes beyond asset allocations." 

Natixis Investment Manager's global report on the findings of its 2026 survey of Financial Advisers can be found here.

Methodology
Natixis Investment Managers surveyed 2,950 investment professionals across 23 countries. Data was gathered in March-May 2026 by the research firm CoreData with additional analysis conducted by the Natixis Center for Investor Insights.

About the Natixis Center for Investor Insight

The Natixis Center for Investor Insight is a global research initiative focused on the critical issues shaping today's investment landscape. The Center examines sentiment and behavior, market outlooks and trends, and risk perceptions of institutional investors, financial professionals and individuals around the world. Our goal is to fuel a more substantive discussion of issues with a 360° view of markets and insightful analysis of investment trends.

About Natixis Investment Managers

Natixis Investment Managers' multi-affiliate approach connects clients to the independent thinking and focused expertise of more than 15 active managers. Ranked among the world's largest asset managers² with more than $1.4 trillion assets under management³ (€1.2 trillion), Natixis Investment Managers specializes in high-conviction active investment strategies, insurance and pension solutions, and private assets, and delivers a diverse offering across asset classes, styles, and vehicles. The firm partners with clients in order to understand their unique needs and provide insights and investment solutions tailored to their long-term goals. Headquartered in Paris and Boston, Natixis Investment Managers is part of Groupe BPCE, the second-largest banking group in France through the Banque Populaire and Caisse d'Epargne retail networks. For additional information, please visit Natixis Investment Managers' website at im.natixis.com | LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/natixis-investment-managers.

Natixis Investment Managers' distribution and service groups include Natixis Distribution, LLC, a limited  purpose broker-dealer and the distributor of various US registered investment companies for which advisory  services are provided by affiliated firms of Natixis Investment Managers, Natixis Investment Managers International (France), and their affiliated distribution and service entities in Europe and Asia.

Footnotes

^1. Natixis Investment Managers Individual Investor Survey conducted by CoreData Research in February and March 2025. Survey included 7,050 individual investors in 21 countries throughout North America, Latin America, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe and Asia.
^2. Survey respondents and publicly available data ranked by Investment & Pensions Europe/Top 500 Asset Managers 2025 ranked Natixis Investment Managers as the 20th largest asset manager in the world based on assets under management as of December 31, 2024.
^3. Assets under management (AUM) of affiliated entities measured as of March 31, 2026, are $1,452.8 billion (€1,261.0 billion). AUM, as reported, may include notional assets, assets serviced, gross assets, assets of minority owned affiliated entities and other types of nonregulatory AUM managed or serviced by firms affiliated with Natixis Investment Managers.

Contact: Billie Clarricoats, [email protected] 

SOURCE Natixis Investment Managers