Tracey McDermott made the comments as she outlined the difficulties facing the sector in addressing the advice gap.
Speaking about the FAMR recommendations and future action from the regulator, she said there was no silver bullet for making advice accessible across the wealth spectrum.
But she said that robo-advice had “the potential to be an extremely effective way of providing more affordable and engaging advice for many consumers”.
In her speech, published this week, she said: “Those who say they would not consider paying for advice often appear to have a limited understanding of the benefits of advice; others just feel that advice is “not for them” or say they don’t feel confident engaging with the topic.
“Let’s be honest, Financial Planning doesn’t set most people's pulses racing. This is compounded by a distrust of financial service companies.
“Recent scandals in the wholesale and retail banking industry have damaged the reputation of financial services and this continues to discourage consumers from approaching financial advisers.
“So, in this new landscape, we have identified a clear need for intervention to ensure consumers are able to access the support they need, when they need it.”
She said some people are making more decisions with little guidance – despite increasingly complex choices– and blamed this on consumers’ perceptions of financial advice.
She said: “In order to empower consumers to take advantage of the options now available to them, we need a market that provides affordable advice and guidance for everyone, at all stages of their lives.”
Ms McDermott said the FCA prefers calling robo-advice automated advice and added “while it won’t be for everyone”, it has significant potential.
She said: “For those who prefer face-to-face advice, we are also seeing a number of hybrid models which give people the option of speaking to an adviser at some point during the automated process.
“And it’s not just about automated advice - technology can also play a role in traditional advice.
“For example, development of portable fact finds and shortening overly lengthy suitability reports doing which FAMR recommends could lead to real progress in reducing the cost of traditional face-to-face advice.”