Shizuoka Bank to launch robo-advisory service in partnership with Monex-Saison-Vanguard Investment Partners
As Monex continues with its push into novel technologies, one of its subsidiaries – Monex-Saison-Vanguard Investment Partners, teams up with Shizuoka Bank over robo-advisory service.
Monex-Saison-Vanguard Investment Partners, Inc., a subsidiary of Monex Group, Inc. (TYO:8698), has just reported about an agreement with The Shizuoka Bank, Ltd. on the introduction of a robo-advisory service. Monex-Saison-Vanguard Investment Partners, Inc. already offers the service to its clients – it launched a discretionary investment management service that uses Robo-advisors back in September 2016, aiming to help individuals design a life plan based on their own values and life styles by thoroughly supporting clients to develop and follow an asset management plan.
Monex, Inc. has been offering the service above, and now Shizuoka Bank Group agreed on a plan to introduce the service, with the launch scheduled for April 2018. This collaboration is a part of the capital and business alliance between The Shizuoka Bank, Ltd. and Monex Group, Inc. The robo-advisory service with discretional investment management will include asset management and asset control services, as the robo-advisors will be making investment decisions, executing transactions and consulting based on customers’ selection of investment purposes, risk tolerance, capital amount, target amount, etc. In addition, the robots will regularly conduct a follow-up of the investment plan and will reconsider it if necessary.
The agreement underlines the flair that Monex has for new technologies. Last week, the broker announced that it will start using AI technologies for certain procedures on the Account Management page on its website.
The company will use AI-powered Optical Character Recognition (OCR) system to process data from documents submitted by customers through the website. Previously, the customers had to send the documents via mail. Now the information can be submitted electronically, the data will be processed by the OCR system and the staff can simply verify the identity documents, if necessary. The OCR will be used for procedures such as account information update – name and/or address change.
Earlier this year, the broker announced the start of delivery of a new market analysis report based on the work of an AI program. To deliver the “Monex AI Report”, the broker has partnered with fintech company Good Moneyger, whose AI solution – VESTA, seeks to reduce chances of investment loss by examining market data and cycles and estimating chances of market crashes. The report rates the investment score of various asset classes based on a three-stages scale. There is also a “weather forecast” for the global market, with a map reflecting the business confidence in various regions.
