76% of Singapore Investors Use AI for Finances, HSBC Survey Finds

Singapore's investors are quietly building an AI habit. A new HSBC survey shows that 76% of local investors now use artificial intelligence as part of their financial or investment activities — a figure that edges past the global average of 73%. What's striking is not just the overall number, but the demographic spread: 72% of Gen X and Baby Boomer investors in Singapore reported using AI for finance, well above the global averages of 65% and 59% for those age groups. The stereotype of AI adoption being a young person's game does not hold here.

The survey, conducted among over 600 Singapore investors between January and February this year, reveals a nuanced picture of how AI is being woven into financial decision-making. Investors are using the technology primarily for research and information analysis — crunching market data, surfacing trends, and generating initial investment hypotheses. But they are not handing over the reins. After AI produces its insights, most respondents said they compare those outputs against their own analysis, then seek confirmation from professional financial advisers before acting.

This pattern mirrors a broader characteristic of Singapore's approach to technology adoption: enthusiasm tempered by prudence. Only 8% of local investors said AI is the single biggest factor in their major investment decisions, compared to 12% globally. And while AI appears to be nudging some toward greater risk tolerance — 43% said it had increased their willingness to take measured risks — that figure still trails the global benchmark of 49%. Singapore's investors are using AI as a co-pilot, not an autopilot.

The findings carry implications beyond personal finance. Singapore's financial sector is one of the largest consumers of AI talent in the city-state, and the survey data suggests that the end users — retail and affluent investors — are already comfortable with the technology in a high-stakes context. For fintech startups building AI-powered wealth management tools, this is a signal that the market is ready. The question is no longer whether Singaporeans will use AI for investing, but how deeply they will integrate it as the tools become more sophisticated.

Why it matters for Singapore: Investor appetite for AI tools creates a tailwind for the fintech ecosystem in Singapore. Startups building AI-driven portfolio management, robo-advisory, and market analysis platforms have a receptive local user base to validate their products before expanding regionally. For MAS and other regulators, the survey also underscores the importance of ensuring that AI-generated financial advice meets the same standards of transparency and accountability as human-provided counsel.