Despite a flurry of executive orders targeting renewable energy, fossil fuels and environmental policy, advocates say many companies and countries are continuing ESG and DEI initiatives. But they might not be calling them that.

The White House has canceled the October 2023 executive order from the previous administration on AI regulation and oversight.

Funds in areas including bitcoin, technology and clean energy were especially successful.

A recent Smarsh survey found that although 79% of finserv firms view AI as critical to the sector's future and 81% of large firms feel pressured to adopt AI to stay competitive, only 32% have formal AI governance programs in place.

But even as many firms' tech budgets are likely to increase, experts say carefully spending that money to increase efficiency will be paramount to maintaining a nimble tech stack.

Experts in the finance and wealth management industries say AI saves time and helps synthesize large amounts of data, but technical and ethical limitations remain.

From trending independence to the rise in AI in wealth management, these stories and series dove deep on issues of utmost importance to financial advisors in 2024.

AI-driven faux-emotional chatbots pose existential questions about the future of human financial advisors.

Trust, or the lack thereof, was one of the overarching themes of artificial intelligence in the wealth management industry this year.

All these topics and more were the subject of the recent webinar, "Morningstar's 2025 Outlook: Investment Strategies for the Year Ahead."