EXPOSED
The analytical core of this job — portfolio construction, rebalancing, Monte Carlo retirement projections, tax-loss harvesting, plan document production — is already commoditized by robo-advisors and planning software, and LLMs now draft the client-facing narrative around it. What survives is the part clients actually pay a fee for: talking a panicked retiree out of selling in a drawdown, mediating spousal disagreements about money, and owning a fiduciary recommendation with a name on it. Licensure (Series 65/66, CFP, state RIA registration) plus fiduciary liability keeps a human in the loop, but that shield is regulatory and thinner than a medical or CPA license.
Mixed — a routine tier and a judgment tier. An 8 reflects that asset allocation, rebalancing triggers, Monte Carlo runs, RMD and Roth-conversion math, and the 60-page plan deliverable are all executed today by eMoney, MoneyGuidePro and Betterment's engine with no advisor keystrokes — what pulls it above the 0-6 band is the discovery meeting where a client's stated goals contradict their spending, and the annual review where the real work is behavioral, not computational.
Fully desk- and screen-based. A 3 is right because everything happens on Zoom, in a conference room, or in Redtail — the only physical acts are handing over a signed ACAT form and driving to a client's kitchen table, neither of which requires a body that a courier or a screen share can't replace.
Licensed human required and personally liable. An 11 sits at the bottom of the licensed band because Series 65/66 and state RIA registration are genuine legal barriers with individual Form ADV disclosure and personal FINRA/SEC exposure for unsuitable recommendations, but the license is a proctored exam and a filing rather than a residency, and an unlicensed AI can lawfully do all the analysis so long as a registered human signs the recommendation.
The human relationship is the product. A 16 is earned in March 2020 conversations — clients keep paying 1% of AUM to someone who knows their divorce, their special-needs child's trust, and their fear of dying broke, and the highest-value moment of the year is convincing them not to liquidate, which requires a person they have known for a decade rather than a correct answer.
Exists to be accountable for ambiguous calls. A 14 reflects fiduciary calls with no single right answer and irreversible consequences — whether to recommend a QLAC over a bond ladder, when a 72-year-old's cognitive decline requires contacting the trusted contact, how to allocate an inheritance between two adult children with different creditors — decisions where the advisor's documented reasoning is the only defense in an arbitration.
Has AI actually changed your work?