Aveni Forms Wealth Management Advisory Board to Guide AI Development

July 16, 2025 • FinTech News
Aveni Forms Wealth Management Advisory Board to Guide AI Development

Strategic Industry Collaboration

Edinburgh-based fintech innovator Aveni has taken a significant step toward shaping the future of AI in financial services by forming a high-profile Customer Advisory Board. The board brings together senior executives from four leading UK wealth management firms:

  • Succession Wealth (Aviva subsidiary)

  • Schroders Personal Wealth (joint venture with Lloyds Banking Group)

  • 7IM (Seven Investment Management)

  • Rathbones (FTSE 250 wealth manager)

This carefully curated group represents over £150 billion in combined assets under management, providing Aveni with unparalleled access to industry expertise and frontline regulatory challenges.

Addressing the AI Implementation Gap

The advisory board will serve as a critical sounding board for Aveni’s product development team, focusing on three core objectives:

  1. Practical Implementation: Moving beyond theoretical AI applications to develop tools that solve real operational pain points

  2. Regulatory Alignment: Ensuring solutions meet current FCA standards while anticipating future compliance requirements

  3. Client-Centric Design: Maintaining the human element in financial advice while enhancing efficiency through AI

“We’re not building technology in a vacuum,” explained Aveni’s CEO. “By embedding practitioner insights from day one, we can create AI solutions that wealth managers actually want to use – not just ones that look good in demos.”

Tackling Industry-Wide Challenges

The board’s agenda reflects the complex pressures facing modern wealth managers:

  • Demand Surge: 72% of UK adults now seek professional financial advice (up from 58% in 2020)

  • Regulatory Burden: Compliance costs consuming 15-20% of operating budgets at mid-sized firms

  • Talent Shortages: 40% of advisory firms reporting difficulty hiring qualified staff

Quarterly workshops will facilitate rapid knowledge sharing, allowing innovations developed for one firm to benefit the entire sector.

Building on FinLLM Foundation

This initiative expands upon Aveni’s breakthrough FinLLM technology – the first large language model specifically engineered for financial services. Recent benchmarks demonstrate:

  • 93% accuracy in compliance documentation review (vs. 78% for generic AI models)

  • 60% faster client report generation while maintaining audit trails

  • Built-in explainability meeting EU AI Act Article 13 requirements

Notably, FinLLM’s training incorporated over 5,000 FCA regulatory documents and 50,000 anonymized client interactions to ensure context-aware performance.

Redefining the Fintech-Industry Relationship

Aveni’s model represents a paradigm shift in financial technology development:

  • Co-Creation Process: Advisory board members participate in monthly product sprint reviews

  • Transparent Development: All AI outputs include source attribution for compliance verification

  • Continuous Feedback Loop: Real-world usage data directly informs model refinements

Industry analysts suggest this approach could become the gold standard for regulated AI deployment. “The wealth management sector has been burned by generic tech solutions before,” noted a Celent analyst. “Aveni’s collaborative model significantly de-risks AI adoption.”

Market Implications and Future Roadmap

The advisory board’s formation coincides with growing institutional interest in practical AI applications. Aveni has confirmed:

  • Plans to expand the board to include private banking representatives in Q1 2025

  • An upcoming pilot integrating FinLLM with three major back-office systems

  • Research partnerships with two UK universities on AI-augmented suitability assessments

With £8 million in Series A funding secured last quarter, Aveni is positioning itself at the forefront of what it calls “the third wave of fintech” – where domain-specific AI solves concrete business problems rather than chasing technological novelty.