How Machine Learning Is Helping Morgan Stanley Better Understand Client Needs

Systems that provide automated investment advice from financial firms have been referred to as robo-advisers. While no one in the industry is particularly fond of the term, it has caught on nonetheless. However, the enhanced human advising process -- augmented by machine learning -- that was recently announced by Morgan Stanley goes well beyond the robo label, and may help to finally kill off the term. New York–based Morgan Stanley, in business since 1935, has been known as one of the more human-centric firms in the retail investing industry. It has 16,000 financial advisors (FAs), who historically have maintained strong relationships with their investor clients through such traditional channels as face-to-face meetings and phone calls.