Online advice will never be a "real threat" to Financial Planning with internet services complementing rather than taking over the role, a Financial Planner believes.

Automated advice has become a burgeoning topic of debate in the sector this year, with the FCA looking at whether artificial intelligence can help towards solving the 'advice gap'.

The regulator's chief executive Martin Wheatley said in recent months he wants to look at how new tech and automated advice can help those may not have the funds for a complete advice package.
Danny Cox CFP^CM, head of Financial Planning at Hargreaves Lansdown, said he was not convinced if there is sufficient demand for online advice in the market today.
He said: "I can see how some online tools can help consumers make more straightforward decisions, however the internet is all about here and now: instant answers.
"Tell me you don't get frustrated if you have to enter your address details when buying something, let alone the details of your past pensions, children's dates of birth etc.
"And this is just one reason why online advice will never be a real threat to financial planning.
"Advice-bots will never winkle out the emotive soft facts or ask that awkward follow up question in such a way as to get an unexpected, and highly important, answer."

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The right online advisory services will complement D2C services, he said, adding he expects to see continued growth in telephone based transactional advice.
He said: "Offline services to compliment online are a necessity for perhaps the majority of investors and not just in the advisory world.
"We could easily see the numbers of "traditional" advisers fall further and be replaced, in large part, by telephone teams.
"Planners offer a very different type of solution to this. It has never been more important to clearly define the right market for your services."
He expects to see about ten firms launch online advice services over the remainder of 2014.