Will AI Make or Break Your Portfolio & Retirement? LFG Daily - October 17, 2025

Dream Bigger, Sleep Better

Luke Lloyd, CEO Lloyd Financial Group

Should You Let AI Manage Your Money? The Promise and Pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence in Your Portfolio

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become one of the most powerful and talked-about tools in the investing world. From stock-picking algorithms to robo-advisors that automatically rebalance portfolios, AI is reshaping how investors think about risk, reward, and decision-making. But as AI continues to evolve, a crucial question arises: Should you rely on it to make your financial decisions?

The Promise of AI in Investing

AI brings something to the table that humans can’t: the ability to process enormous amounts of data in milliseconds. It can detect patterns in markets, analyze earnings trends, and even assess sentiment from news headlines and social media posts.

For investors, that can mean:

• Smarter Data Analysis: AI can identify relationships between economic indicators, stock prices, and corporate performance faster than any human analyst.

• Emotion-Free Decisions: One of the biggest challenges in investing is human emotion—fear and greed. AI doesn’t panic-sell or get caught up in hype.

• Automation and Efficiency: AI-driven platforms can rebalance portfolios, harvest tax losses, and optimize diversification automatically, often at a lower cost than traditional methods.

AI can be a valuable tool in your investment toolkit—but only if you understand its limits.

The Pitfalls of Relying Too Heavily on AI

AI doesn’t have judgment. It doesn’t understand nuance, context, or your personal goals. Markets are driven by human behavior, politics, and unpredictable events—factors AI can’t always model correctly.

Some key risks include:

• Overfitting Data: AI can become “too smart,” finding patterns in noise that don’t actually predict future performance.

• Lack of Adaptability: When market conditions change—like during a financial crisis or geopolitical shock—AI can break down, reacting based on outdated assumptions.

• Absence of Personalization: AI doesn’t know your risk tolerance, your retirement goals, or how you’ll feel watching your portfolio drop 20% in a downturn.

In short, AI can crunch numbers—but it can’t understand people.

AI Should Assist, Not Replace, Human Strategy

The best approach is to use AI as a complement to human decision-making, not a substitute for it. Think of AI as a co-pilot—helpful with data, but not the one flying the plane.

A good financial plan should blend:

• AI’s speed and precision for analytics, pattern recognition, and rebalancing.

• Human wisdom and experience for interpreting the data, understanding your goals, and guiding your behavior through market volatility.

That’s where fiduciary financial advisors stand apart—they can incorporate the best technology available while keeping your long-term plan, values, and emotions in check.

The Bottom Line

AI will continue to transform investing. It’s already enhancing research, improving efficiency, and opening new possibilities for portfolio management. But relying solely on AI to make your financial decisions is like letting autopilot fly through a storm—you still need a human hand on the controls.

At Lloyd Financial Group, we use technology as a tool to empower smarter decisions, not to replace human judgment. Because at the end of the day, true financial success comes from aligning smart data with smart strategy—and that’s something AI can’t do alone

Don’t leave your financial future up to chance. Let’s build a plan that gives you confidence today and peace of mind for tomorrow. Click here to schedule a meeting — I’m here to help you take the next step toward financial freedom.

Colin Symons, CIO Lloyd Financial Group

Philly Fed Manufacturing was more downbeat than NY, at -12.8 vs. exp. 10. Interestingly, while Shipments fell a fair amount, New Orders showed good improvement, from 12.4 to 18.2.

BofA retail sales data showed card spending up 0.2% m/m, which may be a bit weaker than normal due to the shift in Labor day timing. Not awesome but not too bad.

The CNN Fear & Greed index hit extreme fear.

AAII said retail flipped to net bearish, with bulls at 33.7% and bears at 48.1%.

The KRE regional bank index was -6% yesterday and down more today on concerns of credit stress and recession. For our part, we don’t own domestic banks and are uninterested in buying any, here, but none of these concerns are really new. Yes, there were some new bad loans announced, but it seems awfully unlikely the economy suddenly collapsed. I don’t see the point in panicking after sentiment gets spooked. Bank selling continues today, though.

I’d also note that credit spreads were largely unchanged on the day, so broad panic doesn’t seem present.

Despite all the panicky talk, SPX closed yesterday only 2% off its all-time highs. All that vol has systematic investors pulling back, though. This seems like more of a sentiment and volatility problem than a fundamental problem. When volatility relaxes, the market should snap back.

Options Expiration, today.

What does it all mean? Sentiment quickly turned on bank fears and systematic funds are selling but fundamentally everything still looks fine. Assuming liquidity remains fine, once volatility relaxes the market should recover.

Don’t leave your financial future up to chance. Let’s build a plan that gives you confidence today and peace of mind for tomorrow. Click here to schedule a meeting — I’m here to help you take the next step toward financial freedom.

Book a Meeting with LFG

Disclosures/Regulation:

This content is intended to provide general information about Lloyd Financial. It is not intended to offer or deliver investment advice in any way. Information regarding investment services are provided solely to gain an understanding of our investment philosophy, our strategies and to be able to contact us for further information.

All information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy is not guaranteed. There is no representation or warranty as to the current accuracy, reliability or completeness of, nor liability for, decisions based on such information and it should not be relied on as such.

The views expressed in this commentary are subject to change based on market and other conditions. These documents may contain certain statements that may be deemed forward‐looking statements. Please note that any such statements are not guarantees of any future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected. Any projections, market outlooks, or estimates are based upon certain assumptions and should not be construed as indicative of actual events that will occur.

Past performance is no guarantee of future returns.

Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk. Therefore, it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy will be profitable