BridgeWise, a wealth AI provider, has published its inaugural State of AI for Wealth in 2026 report, revealing that nearly four in five investors globally now turn to AI for investment-related queries.
The study, which surveyed 2,100 respondents across 19 countries, found that 78.3% already use AI tools for investment research, with close to half (45.7%) qualifying as power users who consult AI always or often.
The UK, however, trails its peers, with a third of British respondents saying they never use AI for investment queries, against 21% globally. Meanwhile, 57% of UK respondents said they plan to partially replace their research with AI, compared with 65.1% worldwide.
Alongside the headline findings, the report introduces the Global Wealth AI Optimism Index, a proprietary benchmark assessing 19 countries across four pillars: adoption, confidence, edge, and momentum.
The Middle East ranked highest globally, outperforming APAC, North America, and Europe on both current usage and future intent. Latin America ranked first worldwide for reported confidence in AI accuracy and the belief that it confers a strategic investment advantage.
The research also identifies a group described as “Untapped Believers” — approximately 29.3% of non-users who already trust AI’s accuracy. According to the report, this suggests the main barrier to uptake is not scepticism but rather a shortage of accessible tools within the wealth ecosystem.
On demographics, the data highlights a notable gender gap. Women account for 62.1% of those who have never used AI for investment purposes and 66.7% of those who lack confidence in its outputs. Male respondents report confidence in AI at 81.7%, compared with 70.6% among women, and men make up 60% of those who believe AI delivers a competitive investment edge.
Looking ahead, the report characterises a shift it calls the “Great Research Migration”, with 65.1% of respondents indicating they are likely to move away from manual research in favour of AI-driven tools within the coming year. The trend is most pronounced among younger investors: 57.8% of those aged 18 to 35 already identify as frequent AI users, against just 26.9% of those over 50.
BridgeWise CEO Gaby Diamant said, “The competitive divide in the wealth space will no longer run between humans and machines. It will run between those who have access to specialized, wealth-native intelligence that surfaces opportunities invisible to generic AI engines, and those still navigating an increasingly complex global market with tools that were not built for it. The data from this study confirms the demand is already there. The mandate now is to meet it with AI that is explainable, accurate, and purpose-built for finance from the ground up.”
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