Fintech Providers Sidekick and PlannerPal Win PIMFA WealthTech AI Tech Sprint and Showcase Solutions at the Morningstar Investment Conference

PIMFA WealthTech, the market network and technology platform created with principal strategic partner Morningstar, a leading provider of independent investment insights, recently set a challenge to the fintech industry and asked, “how can wealth management and financial advice firms leverage AI to enhance operational efficiency by optimising end-to-end processing across front, middle, and back-office functions?”

This tech sprint challenged numerous fintech providers to demonstrate how their technology utilises AI solutions to solve issues such as:

• Accelerating onboarding and enhancing KYC checks by automating identity verification, document processing, and leveraging AI for real-time customer verification, fraud detection, and regulatory compliance
• Improving periodic suitability reviews through automation and enhanced accuracy in compliance checks
• Personalising client reporting by using AI to tailor communications, generate customised reports, and provide insights based on client preferences
• Innovating software development by using AI to automate the entire software development cycle

Following a competitive process, Sidekick and PlannerPal were selected as winners of the tech sprint by the PIMFA WealthTech Advisory Council.

Sidekick are a next generation digital wealth manager that offers products designed to help clients optimise their wealth-building opportunities and tax efficiency through their smart cash management in one intuitive, easy-to-use platform.

PlannerPal are an AI solution is designed to help financial planners and advisers save time, deepen client relationships and grow their practice through their note taker that captures and summarises key insights from meetings ensuring that Consumer Duty needs are met and that vulnerable clients are identified. The AI tool also generates documentation such as annual reviews and suitability reports, tailored to the firm’s needs and integrates with their CRM to ensure client records stay accurate and current for effective compliance.

PIMFA Plus partner TIKKER, alongside Money Means, were also recognised at the Morningstar Investment Conference for their contribution to this space and their role in driving forward innovation.

Richard Adler, Chief Commercial Officer at PIMFA and Director of PIMFA Wealthtech, said: “PIMFA WealthTech exists to address digital business transformation through the development and adoption of market-leading technologies. Our objective is to drive innovation and enhance collaboration between Fintechs and wealth management and advice firms – and this tech sprint is a prime example of this in action.

AI is set to be one of the most important and seismic changes to impact our industry and society more widely. It’s potential to automate tasks, process vast amounts of data, drive innovation and address complex challenges, ultimately improving efficiency and productivity, cannot be under played. Many firms are still reviewing their approaches to AI and investigating how it can be integrated into their operations.

Tech sprints such as this are an invaluable way of highlighting the fantastic array of solutions now available to support our vital industry and their clients. I’d like to thank all the firms that participated in this important tech sprint, and offer congratulations to Sidekick and PlannerPal for winning the challenge and demonstrating their solutions so skilfully.”