Robo says investors want a human touch in retirement accounts

It turns out, people just want to talk to other people when it comes to their 401(k) accounts.

A Financial Engines survey released on Tuesday found that of the 1,000 401(k) participants, 54% said they do not work with a financial adviser — but they’d like to in the future.

There were three reasons investors weren’t already working with an adviser: 46% said it had to do with affordability, 36% said they didn’t have enough assets to get an adviser interested and 26% said they weren’t sure advisers could help them.

“You see all of this innovation but one constant remained throughout all of those: the financial adviser,” said Kelly O’Donnell, executive vice president of Financial Engines.

Financial Engines, one of the original robo-advisers and one geared toward retirement accounts, had noted that already. Last month, the digital advice platform, which has $104 billion in assets under management, announced it was adding more human advisers to its services, free of charge to all 401(k) participants.

The offering is similar to the hybrid model used by Vanguard Personal Advisor Services or Personal Capital. The relationship between advisers and technology highlights the benefits of both sides of the partnership. Other firms, like Capital One, for example, see the perks of this model, too.

Fred Barstein, founder and chief executive of the Retirement Advisor University, said these models will prove successful — especially if advisers can make it feel for investors as though there isn’t any additional involvement with technology.

“I don’t think that droves and droves of people are going to want to get investment advice from computers, but I think there is a place for it,” Mr. Barstein said.

Survey respondents also said they value fiduciary standards. When asked about desirable qualities of an adviser, 69% said it was very important that their advisers be legally required to act in their best interests, while another 18% said it was somewhat important. Less than 2% said it was not very or at all important.

Jamie Hopkins, associate professor of taxation and associate director of the New York Life Center for Retirement Income at the American College, said investors want advisers because they add value by talking clients through difficult situations, while the software adds value in the behind-the-scenes asset allocation.

“People are going to continue to want the human adviser because a lot of the planning here is personal and relates to your specific situation,” Mr. Hopkins said. Technology platforms are great, but “what it lacks is personalization.”

“That’s what people want, especially during financial planning,” he added.