Continuing a series of articles about how clients' use of AI puts advisors under pressure to demonstrate their value proposition, we have this report on a survey from HSBC showing how people around the world use this tech. It turns out that Singapore is in the lead for AI enthusiasm.

A higher share of Singapore’s mass-affluent and HNW investors use AI to handle finance and investment than the global average in findings that continue to highlight how advisors must heed the new tech reality, a survey from HBSC finds.

HSBC said it polled more than 600 people in Singapore in January and February. 

Some 76 per cent of those polled use AI for finance and investment, versus the global average of 72 per cent. Even so, they continue to need financial advisors tovalidate AI-generated insights before taking an investment decision. HSBC's published research from Ipsos included 9,993 mass affluent and high net worth investors across 10 markets: mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Taiwan, the UAE, the UK and the US.

"Our new data tells us is that Singapore's investors are using AI in their financial decision-making with discipline,” Ashmita Acharya, head of International Wealth and Premier Banking, HSBC Singapore, said. “They are doing more of their own analysis, arriving at conversations better prepared, and expecting more of the professional advisors who help them as a result. That is not a challenge to the advisor relationship model; it is setting a higher bar for what good advice looks like.”

As discussed by this publication’s editor here, wealth managers and bankers must reconsider their value propositions as more clients arm themselves with AI-driven insight before and after in-person meetings and video calls, covering topics as varied as asset allocation to tax structuring and type of trust. (See a related feature about the topic.)

HSBC in Singapore said it is accelerating the roll-out of advisor-enabled AI, including Wealth Intelligence, launched in September 2025, and AI Prepare, launched in May this year. Wealth Intelligence gives relationship managers access to insights and research from more than 10,000 sources, helping advisors arrive at client conversations better informed, the bank said. AI Prepare generates a client engagement pack in seconds, bringing together the client’s full financial picture.

Last month, the bank and Google Cloud announced a multi-year strategic AI partnership, with hyper-personalised wealth management support among its three initial focus areas. The partnership is expected to enable more than 200 new AI use cases across HSBC's global operations within two years.

Generational differences
The generational spread of that adoption is one of the more striking Singapore-specific findings, HSBC said. Gen X investors report using AI in finance at 72 per cent, against a global equivalent of 65 per cent. Among Baby Boomers, the gap is wider: 72 per cent in Singapore versus 59 per cent globally. AI engagement here is not concentrated among younger investors; it cuts across age groups in a way that distinguishes Singapore from most of the other nine markets surveyed, the bank said. 

The report said AI adoption does not translate into reliance. Only 8 per cent of Singapore investors say AI was the single most influential source in their last major investment decision, against 12 per cent globally. And while 43 per cent say AI has increased their appetite for taking calculated risks, that figure sits below the 49 per cent global average, consistent with Singapore's positioning – the bank said – as a more measured market alongside the US (44 per cent), the UK (39 per cent) and Taiwan (43 per cent).

Investors use AI to research and analyse (69 per cent), for strategy support (44 per cent), and to stress-test their own ideas (34 per cent), then bring those findings to a professional advisor for reassurance (79 per cent) and strategic expertise (71 per cent). Four in 10 Singaporean investors (40 per cent) say their ideal approach is hybrid, with 57 per cent preferring AI and advisors working together, above the global figure (50 per cent). That preference holds across generations: 45 per cent of Singapore Gen Z investors favour the sequence for generating new investment ideas, ahead of their global peers at 38 per cent.

The HSBC survey said AI is changing investor attitudes. Globally, some 51 per cent say it makes them feel more in control, compared with 26 per cent who say it makes them feel less in control. For one in five (20 per cent), AI is lowering the barrier to entry by making investing feel less intimidating.

Nearly half (49 per cent) of those in the global survey said AI makes them more willing to take calculated risks – more than double the 20 per cent who say it makes them more cautious. That effect is more pronounced in parts of Asia and the Middle East: India (64 per cent), UAE (63 per cent), Malaysia (54 per cent) and Hong Kong (53 per cent) report higher willingness to take calculated risks, while the US (44 per cent), Singapore (43 per cent), Taiwan (43 per cent), and the UK (39 per cent) are more measured in their approach.

Humans in the loop
Among high net worth investors (those with $2 million or more in investable assets), AI adoption reaches nine in 10 (90 per cent), compared with 82 per cent globally. Singapore's wealthiest respondents attributed an average 40 per cent of their investment returns over the past 12 months to AI influence, above the 31 per cent average across all Singapore investors surveyed. At the same time, two thirds (65 per cent) say AI makes them feel more in control. 

The Singapore dataset comprised 609 respondents (weighted).

Commenting on the global survey, Barry O’Byrne, CEO of International Wealth & Premier Banking, HSBC, said: “Clients are increasingly using AI to explore their options, but when it comes to making investment decisions, they value judgement, context, and accountability from a trusted wealth advisor."