AI Will Wipe Out 80% of Financial Planning Business, Advisor Predicts

Goodson founded the AmeriFlex Group in Las Vegas after selling his 20-year practice in Santa Barbara, California. AmeriFlex is a hybrid RIA, with its advisors having the option to become owners. Last year it added 53 financial advisors, for a total of 213.

The firm, founded 5 1/2 years ago, has $16 billion in assets under administration with advisors in 29 states.

In the interview, Goodson notes that the RIA — which offers several differentiating programs — has been particularly successful in its effort to attract female advisors.

Here are excerpts from our conversation:

THINKADVISOR: What prompted you to become an early adopter of financial planning?

THOMAS GOODSON: I met Harry Dent at a Fidelity-sponsored conference in Boston 20 or 23 years ago. He [is] all about demographics.

At that time, he said that, when all the 42-year-olds turn 65, their needs would turn into planning needs as they start to decumulate all their accumulated assets.

I thought, well, I don’t want to wait 23 years.

What do you think wealth management will look like a decade from now?

This may be counter to what some people think, and it might be considered heresy, but I’m convinced that when AI marries with the large, deep-data aggregators — big groups like Fidelity and Schwab and new entrants like Apple and Amazon — they’ll take out 80%, the middle portion, of the planning business.

The only remaining clients will be the high net worth. This will eliminate advisors who aren’t providing service to the high net worth, irrespective of whether they’re with a wirehouse, are independent [with a broker-dealer] or are an RIA.

Firms that aren’t positioned for that transition will be left behind.

By what means will artificial intelligence and the data aggregators take out 80% of the planning business?

Things you charge on your bank credit card are sold to [companies] like Apple and Amazon.

Therefore, they know where you spend your money, your spending habits, what you like, and they combine all that. They now also know what your life span is going to be.

They can get you in to talk about financial planning and triangulate that data to make you a client of theirs.

It’s that convergence of data that individual advisors don’t have.

Sounds like a scary scenario, doesn’t it?

It’s scary for financial advisors who aren’t prepared to go where the market will be. We know this is coming and are moving to high ground.

How do you think your group will fare in the transition you forecast?

Our company will be OK because we have those high-net-worth [client] offices. We’ll end up with 25 or 30 outposts with CFPs [specializing in HNW client needs]. They’ll have a team working with clients all over the country.

It seems that being a visionary is your forte. Right?

As Mike Tyson said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” It’s a battle every day. You’ve got to think.

I think about this industry day in and day out and in my dreams. That’s either a blessing or a curse.

But I’m convinced that what I just shared with you is going to happen. It won’t be an event where you wake up one day and 80% of the advisors are out of business. It’s occurring now. Think about it.

What client asset level do you serve at present? 

Two different groups: Those that have $250,000 to $5 million in investable assets and a very specific high-net-worth group with $5 million to $100 million.

For [the latter], we have a group of AmeriFlex employees that have clients of their own but also provide [specialized] services to our network.

For example, a lot of advisors don’t know how to successfully navigate some high-liquidity issues for estate planning or issues relevant to multinational residence.

Last year you added 53 advisors. What’s the big attraction to your RIA?

The root is that we’re a hybrid, and the advisors in our group have the option to be an owner. They really find that appealing vs. renting a corporate RIA within a broker-dealer.

What’s your goal for the total number of advisors in 2025?

We have 213 now. We’ll grow to about 300 by the end of the year.

I understand that you also have a goal of parity between male and female advisors. Correct?

We have one of the highest ratios of women [to male] advisors in the industry. That’s a [deliberate] endeavor.

We’ve been as high as 38% women; currently, I estimate that it’s around 30%, only because [more male advisors have affiliated lately].

But we’ve just had a three-woman group join. So it’s going back up.

Women that affiliate with us have a network of women business partners to help them in various areas, such as estate planning, high-end travel, high-end banking.

What’s “The W Source,” which you acquired last spring?

It’s a web-based meeting place for women professionals. It facilitates networking opportunities on a local and national level.

Please talk about your succession program for AmeriFlex financial advisors.

It’s called SuccessionFlex. Advisors can decide if they want to initiate a succession plan, which, for example, will last a week — or five years.

If you don’t want to [sell] for three years, let’s say, we’ll buy part of your practice and typically pay three times revenue.

When you’re ready to sell, we’ll subtract that from the ultimate price.

The advantage is that you get to take money off the table.