The finfluencer regulation debate and the widening advice gap were placed squarely before a room of UK financial planners at MMI London 2026 on 6 October, where a panel of international advisers argued that the profession must do far more to assert its credibility in a world where TikTok and artificial intelligence have become default financial guides for millions of consumers.
Michael Yuille, a certified financial planner at Hoxton Wealth, opened bluntly. He argued that the sheer volume of consumers falling victim to financial scams, including cases he described witnessing in South Africa, underlined the urgency for regulated advisers to reinforce their professional standing. His call for action was pointed: as a profession, he said, something needs to be done so that planners are seen as the professionals.
The context behind that frustration is well documented. A review of posts by financial influencers on TikTok found that 68% were breaking at least one of the Financial Conduct Authority‘s financial promotion rules, according to Compliance Corylated. The regulator has not stood entirely idle: on 22 October 2024, Freshfields reported that the FCA announced it was interviewing 20 social media finfluencers under caution using its criminal powers, and had issued 38 new alerts against social media accounts that may contain unlawful promotions. Enforcement, however, runs well behind the pace at which unregulated content spreads.
AI Adoption: Opportunity and Compliance Risk
The panel, which also included Pave Finance chief executive Chris Ainsworth and Melbourne Capital Group head of international wealth Rob Atherton, did not limit the conversation to finfluencer regulation. Ainsworth argued that technology, used properly, could play a material role in closing the advice gap, but he was direct in separating genuine innovation from superficial adoption.
He described how many US advisers were already using AI for meeting notes, scheduling and reminders, but argued the greater opportunity lay in delivering personalised investment propositions at scale. His warning, however, was equally clear. When he asked a room of US advisers how many were using ChatGPT directly in client portfolios, around a third raised their hands. “Completely illegal,” he said, pointing to the absence of explainability in general-purpose AI outputs as the core regulatory problem. Poorly controlled AI use, he cautioned, creates regulatory exposure that firms are not yet taking seriously enough.
For investors thinking about who manages their money and how, this matters. A planner using an unaccountable AI tool to influence portfolio construction is a governance risk, not a productivity gain. Ainsworth’s position, that advisers must understand what they are doing and why, is the standard any responsible client should expect.
Finfluencer Regulation, Human Judgement and the Next Generation
Yuille added a dimension to the finfluencer regulation argument that goes beyond compliance: AI should widen access to advice, not simply enhance services for existing wealthy clients. Greater efficiency, he said, had already allowed him to work with more clients. But the panel was united in one view: technology does not replace the human relationship at the heart of financial planning.
Atherton framed it in behavioural terms. People are driven by fear, he said, and financial planning is fundamentally about empowerment. That is a dynamic no algorithm currently replicates.
On recruitment, Atherton pointed to Malaysia’s internship culture and the early exposure to financial planning in schools and universities as models worth examining. His own firm runs a two-year employee academy and takes on interns regularly. His argument was direct: developing a competent adviser takes time, and firms that rely on competitors to do that work before poaching the result are undermining the profession’s future. “People are an investment, not a cost,” he said.
The FCA’s 38 alerts and 20 caution interviews are a start, but the profession’s longer-term answer to the finfluencer problem is a pipeline of credible, well-trained planners who can make regulated advice accessible before consumers turn elsewhere.
