AI is triggering seismic shifts in asset management

The world of finance has seen its share of great transformations, but few have felt as inevitable as the rise of generative AI.

Speaking on The More You Know podcast, Mark Lovett, head of investments at STANLIB Asset Management, set out both the promise and the peril of this new technological age. His message was clear: AI is not simply a tool at the edges of the financial system. It is a disruptive force that will reshape how capital is allocated, industries compete and investors think about risk and reward.

Lovett drew on decades of experience to frame the scale of the changes under way. He has lived through three major market bubbles: Japan’s commercial property boom of the 1980s, the dot-com surge of the 1990s and the US housing crash of 2008. He recognises the familiar ingredients of enthusiasm, rapid capital deployment and narrative momentum.

The AI wave, he argued, most closely echoes the internet revolution of the 1990s, but this time the surge is not out of control. The infrastructure being built, though expensive, is underpinned by more robust business models than the speculative websites of 1999. That is both comforting and cautionary: bubbles can take years to form, and they only look obvious in hindsight.

Rewiring how work is done

The scale of AI’s impact is not confined to one industry. Specific areas such as manufacturing and retail have been at the heart of previous disruptions. This time, the services sector is in the midst of the upheaval. Advertising, legal services, finance, logistics and customer engagement are already being reshaped.

Lovett said even creative industries are being redefined by machine learning tools, often at startling speed. This is more than improving efficiency – it is rewiring how work is done.

For the asset management industry, AI results in sharper decisions and less room for sentiment. It amplifies signals, accelerates data flows and raises the stakes for misjudgment.

In that environment, analytical discipline becomes the anchor. Lovett warned against the hype that accompanies every new announcement about AI. The task is to separate real value from clever marketing. While that is never easy, he offered a personal barometer: when capital starts backing flimsy or unproven business models, the clock is ticking towards the end of a cycle. He does not believe this is happening yet.

AI is changing financial careers in fundamental ways, he said. It is making markets more efficient, but that efficiency comes at a cost. Entry-level investment roles that once provided a training ground for young analysts are disappearing. Machines can now do in seconds what used to take hours of grunt work. For new entrants to the profession, this means learning will be more self-directed and less structured. For those already established, it means embracing AI not as a threat but as a competitive necessity.

This hybrid future, where human judgment works alongside data-driven models, will define who wins and who loses. Strong management teams will become more, not less important. In a world flooded with information, discernment will be the true advantage. AI will not eliminate risk. It will redistribute it.

Lovett said the human capacity to adapt has always outpaced the fear of disruption. His call to investors is simple: “Embrace, adapt and improve.” Investors should accept that the world will keep shifting, integrate new tools into strategy rather than resist them and ensure that flexibility becomes a core investment principle.

AI may be the next great disruption. Whether it ends as a sustainable growth story or another cautionary tale will depend less on the technology itself and more on how investors respond to it. The market may be moving fast, but human insight still has a decisive role to play.

About STANLIB Asset Management

STANLIB Asset Management is one of South Africa’s leading investment managers, with more than R580bn in assets under management as of June 2025. As the institutional asset manager within the Standard Bank Group’s Investment & Asset Management business unit, STANLIB is focused on delivering consistent investment returns. To fulfil this fiduciary duty, it leverages progressive investment strategies and best-in-class, transparent partnerships, including its collaboration with J.P. Morgan Asset Management. This partnership provides clients with more access to global insights and forward-looking strategies.

STANLIB offers a core range of unit trust funds and manages a diverse array of bespoke institutional portfolios across various disciplines and asset classes, including fixed income, multi-asset, listed property, equity, and alternatives. Visit STANLIB.com.

STANLIB Asset Management (Pty) Ltd, an authorised financial services provider (FSP) under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS), Act No. 37 of 2002 (Licence No. 719).

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