The Investment Association (IA), the industry group for the UK’s asset management sector, has called for greater cooperation between government and industry in order to best capitalise on the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI).
The call is one of a series of recommendations made by the IA’s Technology Working Group designed to expand the use of AI within the industry.
The report, titled ‘Artificial Intelligence: Current and Future Usage Within Investment Management’, focuses on current use cases for AI and any barriers that exist and are curtailing wider adoption.
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It makes four recommendations – the first of which relates to greater regulatory clarity and consistency to enable developers and users of AI to “plan and invest with confidence”.
The working group also calls for a UK fintech ecosystem with “strong international connections”.
The report also addresses the security and privacy concerns associated with AI by calling for more public and private sector action on AI-enabled fraud, including cybercrime and misinformation.
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A final recommendation calls for collective understanding on systemic risk posed by AI, stating that “the changing profile of systemic risk in the financial sector should not be a reason to hold back from innovating”.
“When paired with the promise shown with tokenisation, the new technological innovations outlined in this report have the potential to redefine how we think about asset management over the next decade,” said Michelle Scrimgeour, CEO of Legal & General Investment Management and chair of the technology working group.
“It’s been a privilege for the IA to be involved in the Technology Working Group. The collaborative effort with policymakers, regulators and market participants has demonstrated strong appetite to galvanise industry progress,” said Chris Cummings, CEO of the Investment Association.
“There is potential to embed AI in nearly every function of investment management, to enable better products, services and business growth. In turn, this could help millions of domestic investors and the UK economy.
“Many firms are already exploring the innovative opportunities of AI to bring about better outcomes for clients and consumers, and the recommendations in this report offer a blueprint to move beyond early use cases to more significant integration and transformation,” said Cummings.
