Artificial intelligence (AI) agents could replace humans trading in financial markets in a few years, according to HSBC investment bank boss Michael Roberts.
The bank recently announced cuts to its human wealth managers with plans to replace them with AI – and traders could soon face the same prospect, with the combination of advances in AI, quantum computing and distributed ledger meaning see could replace humans trading in financial markets, said Roberts.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Roberts stressed that humans need to remain “in the loop”, adding: “I think quantum computing will be able to look at very complex types of market movements, and with the advent of AI – which will make that even quicker – you can see agents trading bonds using quantum computing. That’s the future.
“Advancements in AI, quantum computing and distributed ledger technology [mean that] the next two to four years are going to change the way we look at the pace, speed and scope of what we are trading.”
HSBC, like its competitors, is applying AI to parts of its business that might not have been seen possible a few years ago, but technology is advancing quickly in the areas of AI and quantum computing.
Earlier this month, in its announcement that it will replace human wealth managers with AI, the bank stated: “HSBC UK is a long-established, leading UK wealth manager and premium banking provider. We’re continuing to evolve to deliver more digitally enabled products and journeys to support our best-in-class wealth service and meet the changing needs of our customers.”
In July, the bank announced that it was launching an AI centre of excellence in Singapore, with the aim to recruit 100 AI specialists. The plan was for the centre to start applying AI to customer wealth journey conversations as one of its initial focuses.
Banks are using AI across their businesses to reduce human intervention. In June, ING announced its pilot of an AI agent to process mortgages had been a success and that it was extending it. Today, it is live in the Netherlands. The AI agent looks over applications to understand them, explain possible outcomes and ways to move forward, and then a human employee will make final assessments and decisions.
Marco Li Mandri, change lead for scalable agentic products at ING, said there are no planned job cuts in relation to ING’s implementation of AI for mortgages, but hinted there could be in other areas. “Not for this use case,” he said.
Another area AI can add huge commercial value is supporting investment bankers in deal making, according to Bahadir Yilmaz, chief analytics officer at ING. “Investment bankers work on deals,” said Yilmaz. “And these deals can take from six months to 18 months. They are very complex with a lot of due diligence and analysis.
“There are teams of 10-20 people working on a deal for many, many months. This starts with going to clients for early-stage meetings, and when you go to these meetings you have to be prepared. You probably saw a lot of Wall Street movies, and there, you see a lot of analysts working through the paperwork and creating folders. This is an iconic cliche scene, but that preparation can be done with AI today.”
