Another tool called Portfolio Monitor uses natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to analyze thousands of social media posts per second to deliver clear data visualizations that reveal emerging trends in stocks and cryptocurrencies. This tool can be used by portfolio managers or investment advisors to conduct sentiment analysis on issues or trends.
Hortz: Where do you see the development of AI and ML will take financial services firms? How can AI and ML revolutionize the industry?
Howell: AI-driven RegTech tools can help firms spend less time on compliance and generate better, more comprehensive results. To be clear, less time doesn’t mean firms are not meeting their regulatory requirements. Rather, AI/ML can make a compliance program both more efficient and more effective. This now allows firms more time to focus on client engagement, business innovation, and growth. Also, tools like ours that are geared toward small to mid-sized firms make these revolutionary technologies more accessible and affordable to more registrants. And these tools can scale with the firm’s growth plans.
Hortz: Tell us about your assembling an advisory board of tech-savvy investment advisors interested in co-developing AI-driven RegTech tools. How are you structuring this working relationship with advisors and what are your goals and the outcomes you see coming from this initiative?
Howell: At Joot, we deeply value our relationships with our customers and users of our technology. We want the tech tools we develop to work for people, not the other way around. User feedback factors heavily into our product design process. We observe how people use our technology and adapt our products and services to meet their needs and preferences, which evolve over time as they face new regulatory requirements and the tech landscape changes. We see our customers and co-developers as partners in our product development story.
Hortz: Any other advice or suggestions you can share with advisors on how to take advantage of these technologies and apply them to critical functions and risks in their business?
Howell: Many times, firms pursue “AI for the sake of AI.” It’s important to think about AI in terms of human enablement, not process automation. This starts with understanding the task that firms intend to support and determining where precisely AI can add value to their products and services. The best uses of AI/ML are those that free up employees to perform tasks better suited to their talents and interests. Firms will then be well on their way toward implementing effective—and even revolutionary—AI-powered solutions.
Institute for Innovation Development is an educational and business development catalyst for growth-oriented financial advisors and financial services firms determined to lead their businesses in an operating environment of accelerating business and cultural change. We position our members with the necessary ongoing innovation resources and best practices to drive and facilitate their next-generation growth, differentiation and unique client/community engagement strategies. The institute was launched with the support and foresight of our founding sponsors—Ultimus Fund Solutions, NASDAQ, Pershing, Fidelity, Voya Financial and Charter Financial Publishing (publisher of Financial Advisor magazine).