Three times as many Canadian advisors are concerned about AI posing a threat to their business than U.S. advisors, according to an international survey by the Natixis Center for Investor Insight.
More than a third (36%) of Canadian advisors believe AI will put them out of business — a belief shared by only 12% of U.S. advisors and 18% of advisors overall.
The study, released last week, involved 2,950 financial professionals from 23 countries, including 400 North American financial advisors, 100 of whom were from Canada. It was conducted by CoreData research between March and May this year.
While not all advisors see AI as a current threat, the survey showed that changing over the next five years, with 43% saying AI-powered self-directed tools will become their No. 1 competitor, up from just 7% currently. A bit more than half (54%) see other advisors as their biggest threat currently, with 11% expecting that to remain the case in five years.
More than a quarter (26%) of Canadian advisors surveyed already see automated advice platforms as their biggest competitor, compared with just 5% of U.S. advisors.
Canadians were also most likely to express concerns about the technology’s societal impact (61% compared to 56% overall).
While advisors see AI as a growing rival, they’re also keen to take advantage of operational efficiencies AI deployment offers to their practices, with 71% already doing so. Advisors are using AI to write emails and for note-taking (61%), for practice administration (48%) and as part of their investment decision-making process to summarize market commentary and economic data (56%), or for portfolio and risk analysis (40%).
Even so, AI integration hasn’t been smooth, with 61% saying integrating the technology into workflows has been harder than expected. In addition, 69% said investors who use AI for advice take unnecessary risks.
They also feel the AI investment trade has a long way to run (76%) and will drive market growth for the next two decades (69%). Only 21% predicted that the so-called AI bubble will pop this year.
Wealth transfer: an existential threat
The report notes that the modern financial advice industry caters to the affluent baby boomer generation, with clients aged 62 and older making up 30% of clients.
Aging populations indicate a “shortage of younger clients to feed the new business pipeline,” and a potential gap in their book of business, however.
The reliance on older clients will also mean declining assets under management (AUM) over time as decumulation picks up, although they bring potential for new revenue through estate planning services and tax-efficiency plays like direct indexing.
With the oldest boomers now turning 80, the report notes that the industry is now focused on “wealth transfer, an issue so big that 53% of advisors worldwide call it an existential threat to their practice.”
According to the survey, more than four in 10 North American advisors say they’re increasingly worried they will not be able to retain their assets through the intergenerational wealth transfer. That concern is especially high among Canadian advisors (63%) versus U.S. advisors (39%).
At the same time, younger investors are increasingly open to automated advice. According to Natixis’s 2025 investor survey, 57% of millennials and 49% of Gen Xers said they’re more likely to use automated advice. Both said they believe AI-driven advice brings potential for higher investment returns (56% of millennials and 48% of Gen Xers).
Advisors see adding specialized planning services for younger investors (44%), expanding digital tools (43%) and adding AI capabilities (42%) as essential to attract younger clients, the survey found.
Specialized services could include investor education, home-buying strategies, pension-gap planning, student debt management, income management for entrepreneurs, or education in areas of interest, such as private assets.
The survey also revealed that advisors are concerned about rising geopolitical uncertainty and market volatility, which are prompting clients to hold more cash, and the need for succession planning as the average advisor age rises.
North American respondents to the Natixis survey reported median AUM of $200 million and average AUM of $4.8 billion.