TECHNOLOGY & OPERATIONS

In marketing , AI is being used to generate ads , which brings down the cost of advertising and allows companies to tailor their advertising and marketing to a specific audience , Egan said .

The portfolio managers said , however , that advisors and investors should be cautious before putting their money into a particular company .

“ One needs to be wary of pretenders versus contenders ,” said Rahul Narang , another senior portfolio manager at the firm . “ There are companies that will see the benefit more immediately from AI … and then there are companies that will see it much later in time .”

Columbia Threadneedle has been investing in AI for years , but has done so in a disciplined manner , which is how other investors should approach the

Columbia Threadneedle ’ s Rahul Narang cautions investors not to get too engrossed by the marketing pitch of a company or to fall for trends .

technology as well , Narang said . An advisor or investor needs to do their own research on an investment , since many companies make AI references during earnings calls , he explained .

When conducting research on a company , advisors should look into whether it has a competitive moat around its business and if it understands how its product will differ from others in the market , he said . The company should also understand the competitive landscape it ’ s in .

There are still risks involved when it comes to AI investing , Narang said . The first has to do with regulations . Since this is a new technology , it is unclear what rules will be implemented and how they ’ ll affect the space .

Data ownership is also an issue , he said . There will be a question about who owns AI data and who is ultimately responsible for it .

Narang cautioned advisors and investors not to get too engrossed by the marketing pitch of a company or to fall for trends when making an investment decision .

“ I remember during the late 1990s … a company would add ‘ dot-com ’ to their company name and the stock would go up multiple times ,” he said . “ It ’ s important not to get caught up in the hype of AI marketing .”

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