Artificial intelligence in fiduciary management: skin deep or deeply integrated

AI is rapidly entering the world of fiduciary management, but it is not – yet – the autonomous investment manager you might fear. We surveyed fiduciary managers in the UK to ask them how they are using it right now (August 2025) and their plans for the future. Key highlights in this paper include:

• Widespread Use, Limited Scope: 85% of fiduciary management firms are already using AI, but primarily for efficiency and lower-risk operations.
• No Autonomous Trading: AI is not currently being used by fiduciary managers to make independent trading decisions. However, some underlying funds may already be using AI in this way.
• Focus on Efficiency: The primary current applications are reading and writing documents, like drafting reports and responding to emails. This aims to lower costs for FMs, which may ultimately lead to lower fees for clients.
• AI strategy is still developing: Only 23% of firms have a detailed strategic plan for AI adoption, highlighting how early we are in this journey.