UK wealth managers stocks tumble as AI fears ripple across Europe 

MILAN, Feb 11 - UK wealth management ​stocks ⁠St James’s Place and Quilter fell ​sharply on Wednesday, as concerns over potential disruption from artificial intelligence spread ​to ‌the broader European financial sector, following a steep selloff in U.S. rival stocks.

A ⁠gauge of European financial services shares ⁠fell as much as 1.8% ​by 0923 GMT, with St James’s Place down more than 10% at one point and Quilter sliding as much as 6.1%, both hitting ​their ‌lowest levels since December. Shares in LSEG, already hit by a selloff last week that wiped out nearly $1 trillion in value from across the global software sector, rose 2% after activist ​investor Elliott was reported to have built a stake and begun ‌engaging with the company to drive performance. Shares of U.S. brokerages sold off on Tuesday after wealth management ‌startup Altruist introduced AI-enabled tax-planning features, as the still-nascent technology continues to fuel fears over disruption to incumbents.

Analysts at RBC Capital Markets ​said the reaction in UK wealth manager stocks appeared driven more by short-term positioning ‌than any fundamental shift, noting the selloff mirrored larger declines in U.S. wealth shares.

“If shares do continue to display volatility in ⁠response to subsequent ⁠developments, we expect this to reignite ‌the man vs machine debate in delivery of financial advice/WM,” they wrote in a ​note.

Elsewhere across ​European financials, Italian asset managers were also heavily ‌hit, with Banca Mediolanum and Azimut down 5.6% and 3.8%, respectively. Other big decliners on Wednesday included online trading platforms FlatexDEGIRO and Swissquote.

St James's Place

Quilter

London Stock Exchange

Banca Mediolanum

Azimut Group