By John H. Robinson, Financial Planner (September 2025)
Unique Elements of Financial Services
One of the unique elements of financial services relative to other industries is that it is perpetually in a state of disruption. Each time a new instrument of disruption emerges, it is accompanied by a prediction of doom for financial advisors. First, it was the rise of discount brokers and no-load mutual fund, then the Internet introduced online trading. More recently, the Robo-Advisors and Robinhood set out replace investment advisors and “democratize” investing. Each time, the perceived threat morphed into unique
opportunities for planners to evolve and innovate.
“Adapt or Perish”
My mantra has always been “adapt or perish. ” As I mention in the Five Questions” article I wrote for the Financial Planning Hawaii blog, over the past 37 years, I have gotten really good at adapting and not perishing. Now, scarcely a day goes by without some AI fintech startup CEO chest-thumping about how his company’s platform represents an existential threat to the Financial Planning Hawaiis of the world. I have seen this movie before.
Discount Brokers & No-Load Mutual Funds
Predicted to eliminate advisors by giving consumers “direct access” to investments.
Online Trading Platforms
The rise of E*TRADE and others promised DIY investing and the “end of the middleman.”
Robo-Advisors & Robinhood
Automation and zero-commission trades were marketed as a complete advisor replacement.
AI & Finfluencers
AI startups and social media influencers present themselves as disruptive forces.
AI as a Transformative Tool
Per the headline of this section, “I have seen the future, and it is US!” In my opinion, AI is not disruptive for the financial planning space, it is transformative. AI is already allowing me to create more and better educational content, helping Financial Planning Hawaii and Fee-Only Planning Hawaii increase brand awareness, and enabling us to help consumers distinguish between disastrously bad advice from inexperienced, unqualified social media influencers and expert wisdom from true financial planning domain authorities.
Meet the AI Version of Me
One of the tools we will be rolling out shortly is an AI version of me that will serve up answers to questions posed by visitors to our websites in exactly the same way that I would respond. It is a form of chatbot, but so much better. You can think of the chatbot as a “Mini Me,” because the AI agent used to create the chatbot will have been trained on every article and paper I have ever written. I will also be using my Avatar to create short reels for posting to Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube to counter-position against the legions of inexperienced “finfluencers” who are flexing their thimble full of financial knowledge.
Here is a preview of coming attractions – Meet My Mini Me
As a humorous sidebar, when my friend Dan Solin sent me the avatar, he and his team of Gen Z-ers created for me, the title of the link was “Middle-aged man with receding hairline.” If I am being honest with myself, they were being charitable in referring to me as “middle-aged,” but once my hair transplant grows back, I plan to demand an apology for the snarky receding hairline bit.
