As artificial intelligence and fintech come knocking, half of Asia-Pacific finance professionals fear for their jobs
- Performance analysts, traders, accountants and sales agents to lose out over next decade, according to CFA Institute survey
- But CFA members also expect number of finance professionals to grow 16 per cent over same period
Half of finance professionals in Asia-Pacific believe their jobs will either disappear or change substantially over the next decade, with some of their work taken over by artificial intelligence and other technologies, according to a poll by CFA Institute.
Globally, this number stands at 48 per cent. The institute, a global association of investment professionals, offers the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation as well as other international professional accreditation. It has now accredited 165,000 professionals in more than 165 countries. More than 250,000 candidates registered worldwide for the three-level CFA exam this month, up 11 per cent over last year.
The institute polled 3,832 members in 95 markets globally, with 33 per cent of respondents coming from the Asia-Pacific region.
Nick Pollard, managing director for Asia-Pacific at the institute, said job losses could not be avoided in light of technological changes.
“Technological disruption is certainly driving change in the investment industry worldwide – and some jobs may no longer exist. However, it does not mean we have fewer people in the investment industry. It only means professionals will need to learn new skill sets to handle more sophisticated tasks which AI cannot perform,” Pollard said.
