Update | Would you take investment advice from an app? Meet Hong Kong’s first robo-investment advisor, ‘Chloe’

Fintech firm 8 Securities said on Monday it plans to launch Hong Kong’s first so-called robo-investment advisor app in the next quarter, which it is calling “Chloe”, but experts remained divided on whether such an idea will every catch on in the city.

Asia, and especially Hong Kong, is seen as lagging other international markets on the adoption of robo-advisors.

Assets held by such robo-advisors in Hong Kong are expected to expand exponentially to US$20.6 billion by 2020 from the current US$400 million, according to a Boston-based research firm Aite Group’s latest robo-advisor forecast.

The apps are powered by artificial intelligence and machine-learning technologies developed in-house, and effectively learn day by day as a system’s user base and database grows, matching products to customers with different financial needs.

That’s very different, of course, to what is offered by around 450 local brokers in Hong Kong, who have traded for decades, by offering personalised services based on close relationships, to hold onto clients.

Mathias Helleu, 8 Securities’ executive chairman and co-founder, expects the Chloe app’s popularity to grow fast thanks to higher mobile penetration and lower entrance levels for users.