FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) — On Wednesday, investors once again found themselves increasingly worried about the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on established business models. While such fears have long been familiar in the internet and software sectors, as well as among information service providers, they are relatively new in the financial sector, where insurers and their service companies have recently been affected.

Now, these concerns are reaching online brokers and asset managers, who already came under pressure the previous evening in New York. Shares in U.S. companies such as Charles Schwab dropped, and this was mirrored domestically by Flatexdegiro, whose shares fell 8.3 percent by midday. DWS, just days after hitting a record high, lost 2.6 percent.

Martin Comtesse, an expert at the analysis firm Jefferies, described a "broad-based selloff" among European online brokers, driven by concerns that margins could come under pressure due to alternative, AI-powered offerings. Customers are expecting more automation and personalization at lower costs. The immediate trigger was the launch of an AI-based tax planning tool by the asset management startup Altruist.

The previous day, Allianz shares had already slipped due to AI worries. Experts Claudia Gaspari and Ivan Bokhmat from the British bank Barclays believe that the setback in the insurance sector is only just beginning, while for the stock exchange operator LSE, the reaction may have been excessive. LSE shares managed to recover somewhat on Wednesday, but Allianz remained under pressure.

On Wednesday, Barclays strategists led by expert Emmanuel Cau downgraded the insurance sector to "Underweight." Fear is dominating, and stocks are being indiscriminately labeled as losers. The low point may not have been reached yet, wrote Cau. Insurance is particularly vulnerable, while in other areas such as software, media, internet, and financial services, there could still be selective opportunities.

So far, Michael Huttner, an expert at Berenberg, has unsuccessfully tried to allay concerns in the insurance sector. There are by no means only AI risks but also opportunities. In the end, competition in sales could be clearly offset by cost and efficiency advantages, he commented. Overall, the development is still at a very early stage.

More broadly, after several days of recovery, SAP shares were again among the losers in the DAX on Wednesday. This was even more pronounced for German internet-related stocks such as Scout24, Zalando, Redcare Pharmacy, Auto1, Delivery Hero, and Hellofresh. Their losses ranged from nearly 4 to over 6 percent./tih/ag/jha/