Platforms look to secure adviser favour with AI ‘experiment’

Analysing 18 of Australia’s leading platforms, SuitabilityHub’s second annual Platform Market Wrap report has suggested that artificial intelligence will once again be a hot topic for the profession this year, with many platform providers actively developing or piloting AI tools.

Even so, SuitabilityHub managing director Recep Peker noted that there appears to be very little overlap between the tools different platforms are trialling.

“This is a great experiment as advisers will have access to a rich range of solutions in the coming years, and we will learn which applications of AI will have the greatest impact on advancing the industry,” he said.

Elaborating on this, Peker told ifa that each platform appears to have a different view on how AI can be leveraged to deliver the best results for advisers and their support staff.

“I think what we are likely to see in the medium-term is essentially proliferation and solutions that advisers can use, and over time, it will become clear which of these solutions are really positively impacting advice businesses,” he said.

“It will help the whole industry, because everyone’s trying different things, it will help the industry essentially work out collectively, like, ‘OK, how do we use AI to best serve advisers and their clients?’”

However, the report indicated that the root of the AI race is platforms harnessing technology to deliver the most efficiency and scalability for advisers as the profession attempts to overcome high operating costs and client capacity constraints.

For example, HUB24, in particular, had made strides in 1Q 2025 in streamlining fee consent management, a key pain point for advisers in ongoing client servicing, allowing advisers to process digital and traditional fee consents across multiple clients at once.

Additionally, the report noted that HUB24 is also leveraging machine learning to deliver same-day processing of signed forms once uploaded onto the platform.

Meanwhile, North launched its Interactive Client Review tool in 2024, replacing static reports with a “dynamic digital presentation of a family’s financial position”, helping advisers demonstrate value and create a more interactive experience for clients.

Peker explained that platforms are actively rolling out new tools to help advisers meet the evergrowing demand from the Australian public.

“To help advisers achieve their growth aspirations, platforms are continuing to invest in solutions that remove complexity,” he said.

“From automating routine advice strategies like pension refreshes and recontributions to introducing bulk fee arrangement templates, platforms are enabling advisers to scale their businesses while improving client outcomes.”