Business
Advisors to the ultra rich say AI isn’t a gamechanger for landing new clients
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A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Market data firms have been pitching artificial intelligence as the key to locating elusive ultra-high-net-worth clients. But leaders at elite advisory firms told Inside Wealth they aren’t sold.
For starters, while AI products can surface data and contact information on ultra-high-net-worth individuals, that’s only half the battle.
“When we’re looking for clients with north of $100 million, I struggle to think they’re going to take a cold email and say, ‘Yes, here’s my balance sheet,'” said Matthew Fleissig, CEO and co-founder of Pathstone, a registered investor advisory with $182 billion in client assets.
Instead, he said referrals come when the company works on a more personal level, like when Pathstone once secured a private jet in under an hour for a client who needed to get from New Orleans to Albany, New York, before their mother died.
“Those types of things are how we are able to grow the business,” he said. “We create moments that matter.”
Fleissig said AI for client prospecting hasn’t been the gamechanger that startups purport it to be.
“These databases have been around forever, and now people have added an AI overlay to be able to mine the database,” he said. “Most of the time, it’s very similar strategies of aggregating data sources that are public or you can pay for, and trying to feed you lists of people. We, at this point, can do that ourselves.”
A growth executive at a high-end national RIA told Inside Wealth that he had done at least 20 demos of AI client prospecting tools in the past six months and said most are built on widely available large language models like Claude and GPT.
“You’re slapping a coat of paint on one of five major LLMs and selling through the fact that ‘Oh our info is better,'” said the executive, who requested anonymity to talk about client acquisition strategies. “Do I pay them $100,000 or do I talk to my IT team and figure out a way of doing it for cents on the dollar?”
Andrew Douglass, head of growth at AlTi Tiedemann Global, said there is little competitive advantage to using nonexclusive data. When the independent wealth management firm used to cold call clients from these types of databases, the client usually already had an advisor or had been called by dozens of other firms already, he said.
For the past five years, client referrals and personal networks have made up 40% and 30%, respectively, of AlTi’s organic growth, he said. Another 30% comes from networking with experts like trusts and estates lawyers and accountants who are likely to be working with clients going through a liquidity event, such as inheriting a fortune or selling a business.
“Most people go out and say, ‘Our minimums are $25 million so whoever has $25 million in liquid assets makes a great client.’ We don’t think that that is a strategy that ultimately works,” said Douglass, calling from the Heckerling estate planning conference in Orlando, Florida. “We think really being looked at in the market as a subject matter expert, consistently showing up to places like Heckerling and where the professional community is and being able to provide value, is the most effective way to grow the business,”
Word-of-mouth referrals are not inherently scalable and can be slow-going. Douglass said the sales cycle with an ultra-high-net-worth client can take 12 months, if not longer.
However, advisories focused on the ultra-rich like AlTi Global are looking for quality, not quantity, he said. The firm’s annual target for organic growth is 25 to 30 new clients in the U.S., which could add about $1.5 billion to $2 billion in new assets.
Eden Ovadia, CEO of AI client prospecting startup Finny, said she is used to encountering skepticism. Ovadia, who co-founded Finny in late 2023, said she views AI prospecting as a complement to traditional outreach rather than a replacement.
She said a popular way for high-end advisors to use Finny is to promote exclusive events to the right audience. For instance, an advisor looking to invite prospects to a suite at a Miami Heat game can use Finny to identify people who work in real estate and are interested in the team. Ovadia also said Finny can be used to identify clients who might need advice after a life transition, such as finding people who recently bought a property worth at least $5 million near Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
“There’s definitely a little bit of cynicism we have to get over when we talk to ultra-high-net-worth firms and they’re, ‘No, we don’t do AI. We want everything to feel really personalized, really white glove,'” she said. “I couldn’t agree more. The idea here is we actually can surface more data about your clients or your prospects than even you know.”
Finny can also be used to keep an eye on existing clients and monitor for signs they may be unhappy, such as searching for investment advice online, Ovadia said.
Fleissig said he is more excited about customers finding Pathstone through AI platforms like Gemini and ChatGPT. In the past two weeks, he said, Pathstone has received five inbound inquiries from clients worth at least $100 million from AI search engines.
Douglass said while AI hasn’t changed the way AlTi Global finds new business, he’s open-minded.
“If someone has a better mousetrap, we’re certainly excited about what the market’s going to look like and bring to bear,” he said.
Business
Budget 2026 Live Updates: TCS On Overseas Tour Packages Slashed To 2%; TDS On Education LRS Eased
Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: Union Budget 2026 Live Updates: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is presenting the Union Budget 2026-27 in Parliament, her record ninth budget speech. During her Budget Speech, the FM will detail budgetary allocations and revenue projections for the upcoming financial year 2026-27. Sitharaman is notably dressed in a Kanjeevaram Silk saree, a nod to the traditional weaving sector in poll-bound Tamil Nadu.
The budget comes at a time when there is geopolitical turmoil, economic volatility and trade war. Different sectors are looking to get some support with new measures and relaxations ahead of the budget, especially export-oriented industries, which have borne the brunt of the higher US tariffs being imposed last year by the Trump administration.
On January 29, 2026, Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey 2025-26, a comprehensive snapshot of the country’s macro-economic situation, in Parliament, setting the stage for the budget and showing the government’s roadmap. The survey projected that India’s economy is expected to grow 6.8%-7.2% in FY27, underscoring resilience even as global economic uncertainty persists.
Budget 2026 Expectations
Expectations across key sectors are taking shape as stakeholders look to the Budget for support that sustains growth, strengthens jobs and eases financial pressures:
Taxpayers & Households: Many taxpayers want practical improvements to the income tax structure that preserve simplicity while supporting long-term financial planning — including broader deductions for home loan interest and diversified retirement savings options.
New Tax Regime vs Old Tax Regime | New Income Tax Rules | Income Tax 2026
Businesses & Industry: With industrial output and investment showing resilience, firms are looking for policies that bolster capital formation, ease compliance, and expand infrastructure spending — especially in manufacturing and technology-driven sectors that promise jobs and exports.
Startups & Innovation: The startup ecosystem expects incentives around employee stock options and capital access, along with regulatory tweaks that encourage risk capital and talent retention without increasing compliance burdens.
Also See: Stock Market Updates Today
The Budget speech will be broadcast live here and on all other news channels. You can also catch all the updates about Budget 2026 on News18.com. News18 will provide detailed live blog updates on the Budget speech, and political, industry, and market reactions.
We are providing a full, detailed coverage of the union budget 2026 here, with a lot of insights, experts’ views and analyses. Stay tuned with us to get latest updates.
Also Read: Budget 2026 Live Streaming
Here are the Live Updates of Union Budget 2026:
New Delhi: The Cabinet on Sunday approved the Union Budget 2026-27 during a meeting in Parliament chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A meeting of the Union Cabinet was held at Sansad Bhawan at 10 a.m., and after the Cabinet’s approval, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proceeded to Parliament to present the Budget.
Earlier, FM Sitharaman met President Droupadi Murmu and offered her a copy of the digital budget. The President also offered ‘dahi-cheeni’ (curd and sugar) to Sitharaman when she arrived at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The Finance Minister was seen carrying her trademark ‘bahi-khata’, a tablet wrapped in a red-coloured cloth bearing a golden-coloured national emblem on it.
Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, Chief Economic Advisor Dr V. Anantha Nageswaran, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Ravi Agrawal and other officials were seen accompanying the Finance Minister. Sitharaman was set to present her ninth consecutive Union Budget in the Lok Sabha. In 2021, she switched to using a digital tablet to carry the Budget papers, further promoting a modern and eco-friendly approach.
The ‘bahi-khata’ is a red pouch that holds the digital tablet containing the Budget documents. This year, Sitharaman opted for a deep maroon Kanjeevaram saree from Tamil Nadu. The saree featured a deep maroon base with a contrasting border and subtle gold detailing, paired with a yellow blouse.
The Budget is likely to strike a deft balance of sustaining growth momentum and maintaining fiscal consolidation. It also needs to address near-term challenges emanating from unprecedented geopolitical flux, said economists. According to economists, the budget is likely to focus more on capital expenditure, especially in sectors deemed to be strategically important owing to prevailing geopolitical compulsions.
While the FY26 Budget was more tilted towards stimulating middle-class consumption with tax reliefs, the FY27 Budget’s approach to stimulating consumption will be selective, they added.
Business
Education Budget 2026 Live Updates: What Will The Education Sector Get From FM Nirmala Sitharaman?
Union Education Budget 2026 Live Updates: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2026–27 on February 1, with a strong focus expected on the Education Budget 2026, a key area of interest for students, teachers, and institutions across the country.
In the previous budget, the Bharatiya Janata Party government announced plans to add 75,000 medical seats over five years and strengthen infrastructure at IITs established after 2014. For 2025, the Centre had earmarked Rs 1,28,650.05 crore for education, a 6.65 percent rise compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, the Economic Survey 2025–26, tabled in the Parliament of India, points to persistent challenges in school education. While enrolment at the school level is close to universal, this has not translated into consistent learning outcomes, especially beyond elementary classes. The net enrolment rate drops sharply at the secondary level, standing at just over 52 per cent.
The survey also flags concerns over student retention after Class 8, particularly in rural areas. It notes an uneven spread of schools, with a majority offering only foundational and preparatory education, while far fewer institutions provide secondary-level schooling. This gap, the survey suggests, is a key reason behind low enrolment in higher classes.
Stay tuned to this LIVE blog for all the latest updates on the Education Budget 2026 LIVE.
Budget 2026 Live Updates: TCS On Overseas Tour Packages Slashed To 2%; TDS On Education LRS Eased
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