Financial advice is entering its fifth structural era, according to Shauna Mace, head of practice management at SEI. Prior phases moved the industry from stockbrokers to portfolio builders, holistic planners, and wealth managers. Now, artificial intelligence is separating advisors who compete on tasks from those who compete on judgment. Independent broker-dealer and RIA growth has stalled below five percent annually, while larger enterprise firms continue to gain ground. The firms that understand what this shift demands stand to gain the most.
The fifth act of advice describes a structural inflection point in which the advisor's role is being fundamentally redefined, not just updated. Shauna Mace, head of practice management at SEI, traces four prior phases the industry moved through: stockbrokers delivering access, advisors focused on portfolio construction, planners expanding into holistic guidance, and wealth managers integrating complex client needs. This fifth phase changes the nature of advisor value itself. The pressure comes partly from the pace of technological change. Mace cites Sneha Shah, chief AI strategist and head of SEI Next: "The state of the world is the fastest it's ever been and the slowest it will ever be." Firms that miss this shift risk being overtaken by their own inertia, not by any competitor.
Independent broker-dealer and RIA advisors are growing at below five percent annually on average. With annual distributions running between four and six percent, many firms are effectively stagnant or contracting, even as demand for holistic, fee-based advice keeps rising. The problem is not a lack of client interest but a lack of capacity. Heavy investment in wealth technology has not meaningfully increased how many clients most advisors can serve. "Advisors are exhausted," Mace says. "There's this feeling of being at capacity, of struggling to keep up." That exhaustion, she argues, signals that the current operating model has reached its limits, not that the advisors themselves are failing.
Mace does not offer easy reassurance. Her answer is specific: AI will replace the tasks that currently occupy a large share of the advisor's day, including analysis, research, portfolio mechanics, and a growing portion of planning work. "AI will enhance the advisor's ability to deliver value," she says. "But it will absolutely change the work." Advisors who have built their identity around producing those outputs face erosion. Those whose value has always been in the interpretation around those outputs, knowing which decision fits this client's life, reading the anxiety behind a phone call, stand to benefit. The shift rewards judgment over task completion.
Mace identifies three measurement categories that forward-thinking firms are building around. Behavioral metrics document that the advisor helped a client make better decisions, such as staying invested during a downturn or maintaining cash flow discipline. Progress metrics track movement toward specific, named goals, including a retirement date, a child's education, or a business transition, not just portfolio returns. Experience metrics cover communication consistency, personalization, response time, and referral rates. A book where seven to 10 percent or more of clients refer annually signals strong trust. "Advisors are exhausted," Mace says. "There's this feeling of being at capacity, of struggling to keep up." Clearer metrics, she argues, help firms focus capacity on what actually builds lasting client relationships.
The skills Mace points to do not appear on any certification exam. She emphasizes communication, active listening, emotional presence, and the ability to show composure when a client calls in a panic. These are not peripheral capabilities; they are the core of what separates one advisor from another in the fifth act of advice. "So much of whether you're the advisor or on the support team is not just what you say but how you show up energetically," Mace says. "People can tell." She recommends building these practices into firm culture before a crisis arrives, through role-playing difficult conversations and training for volatility scenarios, not in the moment when a client is already frightened.
Mace offers a framework built around three foundational decisions. The first is partnership: no firm, she argues, can move through this transformation alone. The right partner, whether a broker-dealer, custodian, outsourced investment provider, or enterprise firm, brings infrastructure and the speed to adapt that no single practice could match independently. The second is specialization: narrowing focus to a specific client profile, by values, communication preferences, and the role clients want the advisor to play, creates conditions for relationships that AI cannot replicate. The third is infrastructure: technology and operations must be deliberately designed to amplify the human side of advice. "AI will enhance the advisor's ability to deliver value," Mace says. "But it will absolutely change the work."
SEI (NASDAQ: SEIC) manages, advises, or administers approximately $1.9 trillion in assets as of March 31, 2026. Its platform for advisors integrates investment solutions, custody through a trust company that does not commingle investor funds, technology built on open architecture, and practice management support. Mace's broader argument is that the fifth act of advice is ultimately a human transformation, not a technological one. "AI will enhance the advisor's ability to deliver value," she says. "But it will absolutely change the work." Advisors who honestly assess what their true value is, and build their businesses around that answer, are the ones best positioned to lead through this period.
Shauna Mace: head of practice management, SEI; leads practice management strategy and business-building support for advisors on the SEI platform.