Designing the world’s first generative AI for global asset managers

The challenge

Broadridge is one of the world’s biggest fintech companies, with more than $6bn in revenues, providing technology infrastructure and solutions to some of the world’s leading financial institutions. In 2023, it knew that asset managers were facing a wide and complex range of challenges, from fee pressures to evolving client expectations.

These challenges also present opportunities for asset managers to meet unmet client needs, stand out from competitors and fuel engagement. To capitalise on these opportunities, they need cutting-edge tools with data, to define and measure a firm's competitive advantages, and strategy, to deploy them effectively. Broadridge decided to build the world’s first custom-generated AI for asset managers.

As an ongoing creative partner, we were asked to design the UI and UX, support with logic and customer journey definition, create a visual approach that could scale, and craft marketing assets including an explainer video.

How it works

DistributionAI has two areas: Insights and Analytics. Insights is trained on ten years of Broadridge’s proprietary research, insight reports and expert thought leadership. Users can explore themes and trends and get thematic answers to questions impacting the global asset management industry.

Analytics, when launched, will provide precision analytics, quantitative answers and forecasts about current and future demand for global asset management products.

The product uses natural language generation techniques to allow users to explore and interrogate Broadridge’s distribution knowledge base.

AI UI and UX

We designed the look and feel of this product to fit with Broadridge’s existing brand guidelines including an ident and avatar that is instantly recognisable as an AI tool.

We had to make the UX simple yet compelling. This had its challenges, such as two separate areas, each using different data sets. Some of the solutions we addressed were clearly signposting the two core functions; question depth of each chat (how much a user can ask in one chat before resetting the query); how they can interrogate its answers; source identification; when to start a new chat; and the presentation of parsed data.

Like publicly available AI, DistributionAI uses natural language generation techniques, but unlike ChatGPT and others it’s trained on specialist asset management research and data that’s not publicly available. Unlike public GPT models, sources are included at the bottom of its responses, so these can be verified to validate response.

We also created an explainer video to introduce DistributionAI to Broadridge’s existing and potential clients. Watch our 30-second version:

The outcome

DistributionAI is an intelligent virtual analyst, using AI to give asset managers fast access to ten years of proprietary research, global market insights and thought leadership, plus unique data and analytics from Broadridge’s market-leading products.

Leadership, strategy, product, marketing and sales teams can now access knowledge and analysis at a speed they couldn’t previously, and respond to industry dynamics with decisions based on evidence. It is empowering them with the intelligence and insights they need to compete in a fast-paced, changing environment.

We’re working on a number of AI projects. If you’d like to discuss yours, contact Phil Reid, our Strategic Director, at phil@studiomade.co