Wealth advisers sign the advice, so each cycle's briefing should start with what the agent now drafts in their name. Every 90 days the advice support agent is recertified on the firm's own client files. Its review packs, suitability drafts and trade rights can change. Align product shelf updates with the cycle, brief advisers on each change, and review the first reports closely.
What changes for wealth advisers?
An advice support agent usually prepares client review packs at depth 1: holdings, performance, cash flows and changes since the last meeting. It drafts suitability reports and rebalancing proposals at depth 2 from the adviser's recommendation. Where the firm runs discretionary mandates, it may place trades within the mandate and the firm's own limits at depth 4, because trades move money; larger or unusual trades are left to a person. Advice itself, and any judgement about a client's needs or vulnerability, stays with the adviser.
Recertification replays the agent on recent client files. Typical changes: a fund leaves the product shelf and the agent stops proposing it; the suitability template changes and the agent's drafts follow it only once recertified; trade limits narrow for a type of instrument after the replay found an error.
Provenance runs through every file. Holdings and transactions from the platform are sealed. A client's stated objectives and attitude to risk are declared. A pension transfer value from the ceding scheme is signed. A suitability report should make clear which facts are which.
In the UK the FCA's Consumer Duty expects good outcomes for retail customers. A suitability report that reads well but rests on a stale risk profile is a poor outcome waiting to happen, however quickly it was drafted.
For example, a firm removes a multi-asset fund from its shelf after a review. At the next recertification, the agent's rebalancing drafts stop proposing it and flag clients who hold it. Advisers who planned to top up that fund at annual reviews now need a replacement recommendation, and should know before the meetings are booked.
Who owns readiness?
The head of advice owns adviser readiness. The investment committee owns the product shelf. Compliance owns the suitability template. The builder owns recertification. The head of operations owns the firm's own trade limits.
Steps for each cycle
- Person (investment committee secretary): list shelf changes for the next cycle.
- Agent, depth 1: report the cycle. Review packs prepared, suitability drafts and their edits, trades placed and held, refusals, with the deciding bound for each.
- Person (compliance): file-check a sample of suitability reports drafted by the agent and signed by advisers.
- Person (builder): recertify on recent files, the current shelf and template.
- Person (head of advice and builder): write the change note: shelf changes, template changes, trade limits, new refusals.
- Agent, depth 2: draft practice files, including a client whose risk profile is out of date, checked by compliance.
- Person (head of advice): brief advisers and paraplanners.
- Person (compliance): review the first ten reports signed under the new certificate.
| Step | The agent does | Depth | Stays with a person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Review pack | Prepares from platform data | 1 | Deciding what to discuss |
| Suitability report | Drafts from the adviser's recommendation | 2 | Advice and signature |
| Rebalancing proposal | Drafts within the shelf | 2 | Approving with the client |
| Discretionary trade | Places within mandate and limits | 4 | Setting limits |
| Larger or unusual trade | Prepares and holds | 4, held | Approving |
| Vulnerability signal | Flags to the adviser | escalation | Every judgement |
What should advisers practise?
Reading a drafted report as the signer. Check that each recommendation matches the client's declared objectives and that the risk profile is current. If the profile is more than a year old, update it before signing.
Shelf changes. Know which funds left and what replaces them, with reasons the adviser can give a client.
Held trades. Read the deciding bound: "instrument outside mandate" or "source declared" call for different checks.
Vulnerability. The agent may flag phrases in client emails. Advisers practise what to do next: a call, a note, and adjusted communication.
Controls and the evidence they leave
- Shelf calendar aligned with cycles. Evidence: shelf version history and cycle dates.
- Suitability file checks. Evidence: compliance's sample and findings.
- Change note. Evidence: dated note seen by compliance.
- Named approval on held trades. Evidence: approvals in the append-only record.
- Practicum for new advisers. Evidence: the practicum log template for wealth advisers.
What to measure
File-check findings on agent-drafted reports against the previous cycle. Edits advisers make per report. Held trades and their waiting time. And reports signed with a risk profile older than the firm's own standard, which should be none.
Where does readiness slip?
The shelf changes between cycles and drafts propose a removed fund. Align shelf changes with recertification, or hold the affected drafts until then.
Advisers sign fluent drafts without reading the risk profile date. The signature is theirs, as are wealth advisers accountable for an AI agent's mistakes explains.
Approval rights for held trades are informal. Whether advisers need a certificate is the firm's decision; see do wealth advisers need a certificate to approve AI agent actions. HR advisers face similar letter risks; compare keeping HR advisers ready for recertification.
Where the Academy fits
Pryme Intelligence Academy's Operator track covers human review and keeping knowledge current, the two skills that matter most when the agent drafts in an adviser's name. Certified Pryme Operator is valid 12 months and checkable at source by anyone, which helps a firm show supervision to its regulator. More in the guide to AI literacy and certification for people who work with agents.
Questions people ask
Can the agent give advice to a client directly?
No. It prepares and drafts; advice comes from the adviser.
Should clients know an agent drafted their report?
Many firms say so in the client agreement. The adviser remains the person who stands behind the advice.
What happens to discretionary trades if the agent drops to depth 1?
It stops placing them. The investment team places trades by hand until the next successful certification.