[Cache #258]

TD has a new ad campaign, with this tagline:

We believe the digital future is also a human one.

Megan Matthews and I discuss it in the above 30-second video; our full conversation is here.

Working with many financial advisors as I do, my mind goes immediately to what TD’s wealth management function intends to get out of this campaign (even though the campaign is for the bank in its entirety).

Although I happen to have no insider knowledge as to what TD indeed thinks (and if I did, I would not tell you), I am comfortable in saying that the Big Banks’ wealth management arms see digital / AI platforms as opportunities in some cases, and as threats in others.

The banks believe (as do I) that high-net-worth clients are best served by human advisors; helping clients avoid emotional investing mistakes is just one big reason. Those clients, who are primarily comprised of entrepreneurs and business owners, need help from humans to manage not just their portfolios, but many aspects of their complex corporate and family structures.

And so we can begin to see the tightrope that the banks are walking with We believe the digital future is also a human one. Digital and AI-driven offerings are a fact and necessity of doing business in 2026, and the banks need to trumpet their effectiveness – but not in a way that drives HNW clients into the arms of robots.

The big question for advisors: for those HNW clients, are you performing better than a robot?

I have conducted one-on-one interviews with more than 500 of my clients’ HNW clients over the past 15 years. They often tell me of a previous advisor they left, and why. Here is what they almost never say: “I was unhappy with the returns.”

Here is what they almost always say: “He or she rarely called me or met with me, and overall didn’t seem to care.”

What was lacking was not what AIs can do, which is pick stocks. What was lacking was what only a human can do, which is extend a personal touch and truly care.

If you don’t have those processes embedded in your brand, you are winging it. The remedy is to take your brand and operationalize it. I have a new program by which you can quickly and easily do that. You can read about it here.