Wealth manager stocks sink as new AI tool sparks disruption fear

Tax planning and wealth management stocks sank Tuesday after financial software provider Altruist launched an artificial intelligence tool for creating tax strategies, sparking concerns that traditional players could be at risk.

Shares of Charles Schwab fell as much as 8.1%, with other wealth management stocks also taking a hit. Raymond James Financial dropped 8.5%, LPL Financial slid 8.4% and Stifel Financial sank 7.2%.

Altruist's new tool, unveiled on Tuesday, helps financial advisors personalize strategies for clients and create pay stubs, account statements and other documents, the company said in a statement.

"The selloff appears tied to broader concerns about AI disrupting the financial advice and wealth management model," said Neil Sipes, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. Investor focus today is "likely centering on concerns around efficiencies being competed away, fee compression long-term and potential market share shifts."

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Insurance brokers' stocks had a similar meltdown Monday after Insurify's new rate-comparison AI tool raised concerns about those companies' businesses.

The threat to traditional business models across industries from the advent of new AI-powered applications has started spreading into many corners of the stock market, starting with the software firms. The jitters really struck investors last week after AI startup Anthropic released tools aimed at automating work tasks across areas ranging from legal services to financial research.