AI Disruption Spreads to Financial Services as Altruist's Hazel Agent Tanks Broker Stocks

Summary

On February 10, fintech firm Altruist unveiled Hazel, described as a first-of-its-kind agentic AI tax-planning and wealth-optimization tool. Unlike generative AI chatbots, Hazel possesses "transactional agency" — it can autonomously execute complex tax-loss harvesting, rebalance portfolios across multiple institutions, and navigate international regulatory hurdles in seconds. The announcement immediately hammered financial services stocks: LPL Financial closed down 8.31% after falling 11% intrad