From March 6 to April 28, a fictitious portfolio of 38 stocks gained 4.9%, while the average of 10 leading investment funds fell 0.8%
Posted Date – 11:59 AM, Sat – 5/6/23
London: A basket of stocks picked by artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot ChatGPT has far outperformed some of the UK’s most popular investment funds, according to media reports.
According to an experiment conducted by financial comparison site finder.com, a virtual portfolio of 38 stocks gained 4.9% between March 6 and April 28, while 10 stocks rose 4.9%, according to CNN. Leading investment funds lost an average of 0.8 percent.
Finder CEO Jon Ostler said in a statement earlier this week that “it won’t be long before a large number of consumers try to use (ChatGPT) for financial gain.”
During the same eight-week period, the S&P 500 index, which tracks the 500 most valuable U.S. companies, rose 3%. Europe’s comparable Stoxx Europe 600 index has gained 0.5% in that time.
According to CNN, a typical investment fund raises money from multiple investors and is overseen by a fund manager who decides how to invest the money.
Analysts at Finder benchmark the performance of ChatGPT-generated funds against the 10 most popular UK funds on trading platform Interactive Investor. Funds managed by HSBC and Fidelity are also among them.
Analysts ask ChatGPT to select stocks based on some common criteria, including selecting companies with low levels of debt and a track record of growth. Microsoft, Netflix and Walmart are among the companies selected.
While large funds have used artificial intelligence to support their investment decisions for years, ChatGPT has put the technology into public hands and has the potential to guide retail investors’ decisions, according to CNN.
A Finder survey of 2,000 UK adults last week found that 8% already use ChatGPT for financial advice, while 19% said they would consider doing so.
However, a further 35 percent said they would not consider using a chatbot to help them make decisions about money, according to CNN.
In a study published in April, researchers at the University of Florida found that ChatGPT could more accurately predict the stock price movement of a particular company than some more basic analytical models.
