AWARENESS AND PERCEPTION OF ROBO ADVISORY SERVICES AMONG INVESTORS IN MALAPPURAM

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is changing the financial industry by providing inexpensive, automated, and customized tools to individual and institutional investors, revolutionising the way people make financial decisions. This study intends to evaluate the awareness and perception of robo-advisory services among investors in Malappuram district. Robo-advisors are computer-generated algorithms that provide Investment advice, Portfolio management, and financial planning solutions to customers without requiring much intervention from a human advisor by utilizing Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics. This study also aims to study the perception of acceptance, its influencing factors, and the perception of investors towards acceptance of robo-advisory services. It was an integrated descriptive research design. Data was obtained from 120 investors made with the help of purposive sampling, using a structured online questionnaire. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics, weighted mean analysis, and a one-sample test. The results show that the investors had a positive perception towards the use of robo-advisory, and the most preferred domain where robo-advisory services would be used was in Portfolio Management and Financial Planning. The overall mean perception score stood at 3.605 (where '3' is the neutral point) which was significantly more than the neutral point. The perception of investors in Malappuram was found to be favourable, thus indicating the potential for a higher penetration rate of robo-advisory services, also as increasing awareness and information, robust security systems, transparency, and user trust are essential for larger adoption.