AI & Finance™: News for the Week Ending 2/2/24

CFP Board has published the Guide to CFP Board’s Technology Standard, a comprehensive resource to assist CFP professionals in selecting, using and recommending technology for client service, including advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tools. The guide is part of an ongoing series of resources to help CFP professionals with their practice.

Developed in close collaboration with CFP Board’s Standards Resource Commission, this guide is a valuable resource that will aid CFP professionals in complying with the Duties When Selecting, Using, and Recommending Technology, outlined in Section A.14 of CFP Board’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct (Code and Standards).

In addition to the guide, CFP Board also developed sample questionnaires that address core financial planning technologies, common features and capabilities, technology and the vendor relationship, plus assumptions and outcomes. CFP Board also published a checklist for CFP professionals to use when evaluating their technology platforms, determining whether to add or replace technology or selecting vendors.

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) announced the firm is working with Microsoft to deploy an advanced suite of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions.

Since 2018, Cushman & Wakefield has been focused on aligning business, data, and operations. Results to date range from an 80% material reduction in operational cycle time, to a reduction of client supply chain costs via proprietary supply chain network optimization capabilities.

Azure OpenAI Service is a cloud-based generative AI solution that offers customers a range of capabilities, including access to cutting-edge AI models, backed by the power of Azure. With Azure OpenAI Service, Cushman & Wakefield can benefit from the power of cloud computing, data analytics, and artificial intelligence to deliver innovative solutions for its clients and stakeholders. Azure OpenAI Service enables Cushman & Wakefield to create custom copilots that can enhance customer experience, improve operational efficiency, and increase competitive advantage.

The platform enables developers to build, deploy, and manage AI solutions for various scenarios and domains. Some of the features of Azure OpenAI Service include machine learning, cognitive services, bot framework, computer vision, natural language processing, speech recognition and more.

Building on decades of successful originations software development and as a next step in its dedication to continuous improvement, defi SOLUTIONS is releasing defi ORIGINATIONS, the modern, modular originations system designed for efficiency and productivity and architected to set the stage for innovation. defi ORIGINATIONS is powered by the ambitions of defi and clients to innovate and disrupt the industry for the benefit of dealers and borrowers.

With expertise developed from the delivery of two industry-topping originations systems, honed through close, long-term partnerships with North America’s top lenders, defi ORIGINATIONS offers self-service configuration with performance guardrails.

On a technical level, defi ORIGINATIONS is modularized and architected using cloud-native, SaaS-based technologies for lightning-quick processing times, scalability, flexibility, and advancements such as artificial intelligence.

On a functional level, defi ORIGINATIONS is designed for no-code configuration, automation, peak performance, and the ultimate in efficiency.

defi ORIGINATIONS is feature rich, results driven, and flexibility focused to allow a lender to run a total loan or lease originations operation on a single platform.

The financial advisory and wealth management sector has an exciting and ready-to-use new AI tool with the launch of Jump, artificial intelligence software designed to redefine how wealth advisors manage their client interactions and compliance tasks. Created to turn conversations into comprehensive notes, actionable tasks, and compliance records, Jump offers a cutting-edge solution for advisors seeking efficiency and accuracy in their daily operations.

Traditionally, wealth advisors have spent considerable time on manual note-taking and administrative tasks following client meetings. Jump dramatically reduces this time by automating the process. The AI-driven platform can generate detailed notes, identify tasks, write precise follow-up emails, and seamlessly update Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems with just a click. By integrating with popular platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Salesforce, and Wealthbox (with Redtail CRM coming soon), Jump can take the 20-60 minutes most advisors spend on admin work after each meeting to less than five minutes.

“Last year we began trying to address how time-consuming note-taking was for our advisors and how difficult it could be to consistently get timely meeting notes into our records, so we started having an extra team member attend every client meeting to take notes,” said Veronica Fox, Chief of Staff at successful wealth management RIA Solidarity Wealth. “Now Jump’s AI note-taker handles writing the final draft notes and to-do list. This saves our team dozens of hours per month in note-taking and CRM data entry time. I just open up the meeting notes in Jump, review, and click to save them to our CRM.”

Ocusell, an enterprise listing software provider and REAI, a real estate AI technology company, jointly announce the launch of the industry’s first compliant automated listing process, powered by cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technology. This exclusive partnership represents a transformative solution that seamlessly combines intuitive front-end design with robust proprietary AI technology, empowering real estate professionals to streamline their listing workflow and eliminate time spent on manual data entry – publishing listings to multiple MLSs (Multiple Listing Services) as well as major social media platforms simultaneously in seconds from a single platform – a technology that before now did not exist.

Ocusell is an AI driven add/edit platform for brokerages that streamlines the listing process and serves as a bridge to multiple MLSs. The technology was developed in Cincinnati and piloted with local brokerages over the last two years. This technology is currently available to brokerages in FMLS (First Multiple Listing Service) which serves 57,272 residential real estate agents and REALTORS® primarily in Atlanta, one of the largest MLSs in North America, and Georgia MLS in Atlanta, Georgia, which serves 50,676 subscribers throughout the entire state of Georgia. Ocusell and REAI‘s teams of business rules/standards professionals & AI Machine Learning PhDs have developed the AI technology addressing significant MLS constraints in order to provide real estate professionals & MLS organizations with a seamless listing experience and unparalleled transaction performance.

Orion Advisor Solutions announced powerful enhancements and integrations showcasing the unstoppable combination of Orion and Redtail Technology. The improvements – spanning email and calendar management and generative artificial intelligence (AI) – aim to streamline operations for advisors and free up time they need to effectively engage with clients.

Orion’s latest enhancements leverage proprietary technology and assistive AI to save advisors time when it comes to client communication, compliance and document management – addressing some of the primary tasks on their agendas.

Client communication technology at Orion is taking a quantum leap forward with Redtail Suite Sync – a seamless email, calendar, and contact syncing tool. Email and calendar syncing ranks as the top-requested feature by Redtail advisors. Developed for Microsoft 365 at launch with Google suite soon to follow, advisors and operational employees can now easily share calendars and instantly schedule meetings. Calendar events and appointment reminders are synced through Redtail CRM, including mobile functionality for must-have email and calendar access on-the-go.

PayPal Holdings, Inc. announced six new innovations the company is piloting and bringing to market this year to revolutionize commerce through artificial intelligence (AI) driven personalization for both merchants and consumers. During the PayPal First Look keynote, Alex Chriss, President and CEO, introduced: a completely new PayPal checkout experience that radically speeds up check out for consumers and helps merchants convert transactions like never before; Fastlane by PayPal, a dramatically faster and smarter guest checkout experience; Smart Receipts, giving customers AI-personalized recommendations from merchants to keep them coming back; the PayPal advanced offers platform so merchants can provide relevant, personalized, real-time offers to consumers and drive more sales; a reinvented PayPal consumer app giving shoppers new ways to earn cash back and more reasons to use PayPal; and, Venmo’s enhanced business profiles, so small businesses can find and engage new customers, and grow their businesses.

Socure, a provider of artificial intelligence for digital identity verification, sanction screening, and fraud prevention, announced that Exeter Finance LLC, a leading indirect auto finance company, has chosen the Socure ID+ platform for onboarding its new customers.

In a strategic move to stay at the forefront of industry innovation, Exeter recognizes the pivotal role that accurate identity verification plays in reducing risk, supporting strong portfolio performance and ensuring an excellent customer experience for authentic identities.

Socure’s ID+ platform leads the market standard for its accuracy in identity verification and proofing, KYC, fraud risk prediction, document verification, and bank account ownership validation. Delivered through a single API, the platform helps the largest financial institutions and over 400 fintechs orchestrate the entire user lifecycle, starting at onboarding and beyond. Socure’s proprietary identity graph includes more than two billion known good and bad identities. Socure’s identity graph, in combination with advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence, are responsible for automatically verifying users, as well as the association, velocity and risk of relevant attributes including devices, emails, addresses, IDs, documents, and more.

TIFIN, a leading AI and innovation platform for wealth, announced the spin-off of TIFIN AG and the appointment of industry veterans Rajini Kodialam and Brian Carlin as board members. Rajini is Founder and Co-CEO at E-3 Tech and the Co-Founder Emeritus of Focus Financial Partners while Brian was the former CEO of J.P. Morgan Private Capital and CEO of J.P. Morgan Wealth Management Solutions.

TIFIN AG, formed within TIFIN and founded by Dr. Vinay Nair, employs state-of-the-art supervised trained algorithms to drive asset growth for wealth management firms. The platform provides several AI modules for client acquisition, expansion, and retention that include prioritizing prospect lists, identifying referral opportunities, scoring existing clients for asset consolidation, and assessing client and asset retention risk. Firms can use these customizable algos in conjunction with marketing automation capabilities, fostering a robust feedback loop to change how wealth managers engage clients and prospects. In addition, the platform streamlines wealth data sources by collaborating with clients, enhancing the reliability and depth of information with TIFIN’s data lake and 3rd-party vendors.

The company has appointed a group of executives with deep experience in building new ventures and driving growth across the fintech, wealth, and asset management industries. The board will include TIFIN’s Founder and CEO Dr. Vinay Nair, Rajini Kodialam, Founder and Co-CEO at E-3 Tech and Co-Founder Emeritus at Focus Financial Partners, and Brian Carlin, former CEO of J.P. Morgan Private Capital and CEO of J.P. Morgan Wealth Management Solutions.

Vanilla, a provider of innovative estate planning software, announced new additions to its platform, including VAI Chat, Collaborative Onboarding, and the expanded availability of Vanilla Document Builder.

VAI Chat is an AI-powered assistant designed to simplify the estate planning experience for wealth planners, advisors, and their clients. Currently in beta, VAI Chat offers an intuitive chat experience in the Vanilla platform, answering practical estate planning questions sourced from a curated corpus of estate planning content. Its capabilities extend beyond traditional support, providing real-time responses to complex queries such as, “What happens to a SLAT if a couple gets divorced?” or “What are the best ways to figure out if my client has used any of their exemption?” VAI Chat is built off of VAITM, Vanilla’s AI engine for estate planning. Last year, Vanilla previewed how VAI can be used to transform static estate planning documents into visual diagrams inside of the Vanilla Estate Builder.

“We’re thrilled to launch these groundbreaking tools that significantly simplify the estate planning experience for clients,” said Gene Farrell, CEO, Vanilla. “Our commitment to leveraging advanced technology like AI demonstrates our dedication to providing advisors and clients with solutions that are not only sophisticated but also simple and delightful.”

Vanilla has also introduced a new Collaborative Onboarding feature, allowing advisors to partner more effectively with clients in conducting comprehensive estate reviews. Advisors can now invite clients to initiate their estate profile, enabling a collaborative environment where clients input their information and securely upload existing documents for review and visualization. This innovative process culminates in either the advisor’s planner or Vanilla transforming these documents into easy-to-understand estate visualizations.

Winnow Solutions, LLC announces the development of Winnow AI, a groundbreaking AI-powered legal search assistant designed to streamline compliance for banks, lenders, and financial institutions. The company unveiled the new product during Legalweek in New York on Monday.

Leveraging cutting-edge machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) technologies, Winnow AI empowers legal and compliance teams to navigate the ever-evolving regulatory landscape quickly and accurately. Winnow developed the product in collaboration with Theseus AI, whose previous work involved using proprietary algorithms to analyze medical imaging and present objective data to radiologists and surgeons to improve patient diagnosis.