HSBC survey: investors use AI tools but still trust human advisers for final calls

International banking giant HSBC conducted a survey of retail investors across multiple countries and found a surprisingly resilient pattern: despite widespread access to AI-powered research and portfolio tools, the majority of respondents turned to a human financial adviser when making their most recent actual investment decision. Investors appreciate AI for its speed in processing data, surfacing ideas, and summarizing news flows, but the emotional and fiduciary dimensions of managing real capital still call for human involvement. The findings carry practical implications for brokerages and wealth managers: automation is more likely to augment advisers than to replace them. For individual investors, the takeaway is that combining AI-driven screening with expert human judgment tends to produce better outcomes than relying on either alone.