Nine in 10 Singapore Investors Still Distrust AI for Key Decisions, HSBC Says

Despite widespread adoption of artificial intelligence for financial research, nine in ten investors in Singapore still refuse to let AI make or meaningfully influence their investment decisions, according to HSBC's head of international wealth and premier banking. The revelation came at the Asian Banking & Finance and Insurance Asia Summit in Singapore, where Ashmita Acharya described a market that enthusiastically consumes AI-generated information but stops short of delegating judgment.

HSBC's Ipsos survey of 609 mass-affluent and high-net-worth investors in Singapore found that 76% use AI for financial and investment tasks, above the 72% global average. Yet only 12% said AI was the most influential factor in their actual decision-making. For the remaining 88%, human advisors remain indispensable — 62% of investors said financial professionals and institutions were the source of their last investment decision.

The trust gap cuts across generations. Both Gen X and baby boomer investors in Singapore recorded 72% AI adoption rates for investment tasks, well above global averages of 65% and 59% respectively. But even among these digitally engaged cohorts, the reluctance to hand over decision-making to algorithms remained consistent. Acharya attributed the gap to a fundamental need for reassurance: AI can process information, but it cannot yet contextualise insights or challenge assumptions the way a human advisor can.

Looking ahead, 58% of Singapore investors indicated a preference for a hybrid approach combining AI with human advisors — a model that Acharya said banks should be moving toward urgently. In this vision, AI handles the research, data gathering, and preparation work, freeing advisors to focus on judgment-driven conversations, strategic expertise, and the emotional reassurance that machines cannot replicate. She noted that better-informed clients now expect advisors to apply judgment, validate decisions, and catch errors that AI tools may still miss.

Why it matters for Singapore: As one of Asia's most sophisticated wealth management markets, Singapore is the proving ground for the hybrid advisory model. The data shows that local investors are not Luddites — they are heavy AI users who understand the technology's limits. For banks and wealth managers operating in Singapore, the message is clear: the winning strategy is not AI or human, but AI and human, working together. The institutions that figure out that balance first will define the next decade of wealth management in the region.