Investors still want advisors, even as AI expands investment choices

The wealth management industry has spent years bracing for a moment when technology might displace the human advisor, but according to a major new study released this month, that moment has not arrived and may be moving further away.

The 2026 Voice of Investor Satisfaction, Trust, and Advocacy (VISTA) study, an independent report by KPMG LLP sponsored by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), surveyed 2,123 US individual investors with at least $100,000 in investable assets.

It found that 83 percent are satisfied the industry is meeting their needs and 82 percent are satisfied with their firms' ethical standards and accountability. Investors working with financial advisors - whether exclusively or in a hybrid approach combining human advice with self-directed access - continue to report the highest satisfaction and trust of any group.

The findings arrive at a point of significant disruption for the advice industry. Artificial intelligence has moved from pilot programs to embedded tools, product choice has expanded into private markets and digital assets, and younger investors have entered the market with different expectations. But the study's headline conclusion cuts against the disruption narrative: the fundamentals of what investors want have held.

"Investor confidence in our industry remains strong, and this year's results show that it rests on trusted guidance," said Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., president and CEO of SIFMA. "Investors are increasingly aware of new opportunities, but they are unwilling to trade away trust and transparency in pursuit of innovation."

AI enthusiasm is cooling - particularly among Gen Z

One of the most striking data points in the 2026 VISTA study is the sharp decline in trust in AI-only financial advice. Among Gen Z investors - the cohort historically most receptive to digital tools - trust in AI as a primary source of investment advice fell from 20 percent in 2025 to 10 percent in 2026, according to the KPMG/SIFMA report. Across all generations, trust in financial advisors as a primary source rose to 52 percent, up from 50 percent the prior year.

At the same time, the study found that 43 percent of investors say they are unlikely to switch providers due to enhanced digital and AI capabilities - up from 35 percent in 2025. Technology, the report concludes, has become a baseline expectation rather than a differentiating reason to move accounts.

That framing is relevant for advisors watching platforms compete on AI features. InvestmentNews's 5-Star Technology awards for 2026 highlighted providers delivering proactive monitoring and AI-powered tools that help advisors make better decisions and strengthen client relationships - a formulation that positions AI as advisor-enablement rather than advisor-replacement. The VISTA data supports that framing.

Investors are not rejecting technology outright. Hybrid investors - those who combine a financial advisor with some degree of self-directed market access - reported 87 percent satisfaction in 2026, up from 85 percent in 2025, and just one point below the 88 percent reported by fully advisor-supported investors.

The gap between hybrid and purely self-directed investors, who reported meaningfully lower satisfaction scores, underscores the value of keeping professional guidance in the mix even as digital tools expand.

Millennials emerge as the industry's trust leaders

Perhaps the most consequential finding for advisors thinking about long-term client development is the position of millennials in this year's data. Among advisor-supported millennial investors, 92 percent reported being satisfied with the industry's ability to meet their needs - the highest mark of any generational segment.

Trust in the industry to act in their best interest reached 85 percent among advisor-supported millennials in 2026, up from 77 percent in 2025.

Those numbers matter because millennials are positioned to receive a substantial share of the estimated $84 trillion intergenerational wealth transfer already underway. As InvestmentNews has reported, the next-generation wealth wave is forcing advisors to rethink their playbook as millennials and Gen Z reshape the advice relationship. The VISTA data adds a dimension to that picture: millennial trust in advisor-supported investing is accelerating.

Gen Z's trajectory is more nuanced. That generation placed transparency on equal footing with investment returns as a top priority in 2026 and slightly increased its reliance on financial advisors as a primary investment resource, from 39 percent in 2025 to 42 percent in 2026. At the same time, separate research reported by InvestmentNews found that more than half of Gen Z investors have considered switching advisors, suggesting engagement and retention remain active challenges even as interest in professional guidance grows.

Private markets interest is real - but uneven

For the first time, the 2026 VISTA study examined investor familiarity with private markets, digital assets, and prediction markets. The findings point to genuine demand, particularly among younger cohorts, but with meaningful friction between interest and actual participation.

Among millennials, 65 percent reported being very or somewhat interested in investing retirement savings in private markets. That figure was 57 percent among Gen Z investors, according to the KPMG/SIFMA report. Both numbers are significantly higher than those for Gen X and Boomers.

Interest, however, is not the same as action. The study found that concerns about risk, complexity, security, and unfamiliarity remain the primary barriers across all three emerging investment categories. For financial advisors, the data identifies a clear opportunity: serving as the educator and risk navigator who bridges the gap between client curiosity and client confidence.

"Trusted relationships have never mattered more, especially for Gen Z investors," said Nadia Orawski, principal and advisory line of business lead for financial services at KPMG LLP.

The study was conducted online between July 22 and August 14, 2026, among investors with a minimum of one year of investing experience and primary or joint responsibility for investment decisions. The full report is available through SIFMA's research portal.