ETF Store president says AI trading bots may hit active fund managers harder than retail investors

ETF Store President Nate Geraci said the growing use of AI agents in stock and options trading could hurt retail investors’ performance, but the broader and faster rollout of AI trading bots may pose an even bigger challenge for active fund managers. His argument centers on how AI is changing access to information across financial markets. Geraci said AI is making markets more efficient while quickly narrowing the information gap between individual investors and professional institutions. As financial and market data becomes increasingly commoditized, he argued, one of the long-standing advantages held by active managers may weaken further. He added that this pressure does not disappear simply because fund managers can also adopt AI tools themselves. In his view, if the same technology becomes widely available across the market, the traditional information edge that active managers relied on may continue to erode.