Wealth.com wants to add an AI legal expert to your firm's leadership team in an effort to revamp the traditional estate planning process.
On Tuesday, the Phoenix, Arizona-based
The minds behind the tech say Ester's two most notable features are its ability to understand specific client goals and the intricacies of existing estate plans; and the fact that Ester is conditioned with both short-term and long-term memory that incorporate a client's previous actions into its responses.
To further distinguish itself from other large language models, officials say the Ester proprietary model is trained and supported by Wealth.com's estate planning knowledge, experience and data.
This proprietary design allows Ester to guide clients by addressing their questions and providing proactive guidance, according to the company. Leaders also champion it as an efficiency play, noting that Ester can automate tasks traditionally handled by financial analysts and in-house paralegals so those individuals are free to handle more impactful work.
Wealth.com also envisions Ester bridging a significant client expectation gap. In 2021, Spectrem Group conducted research with wealthy investors about what services they receive from wealth management firms, as well as what services they would expect to receive.
According to the
Investment management is the only service that was provided at nearly the level as expected, with 95% of wealthy investors expecting that service and 88% receiving it.
But Danny Lohrfink, co-founder and chief product officer at Wealth.com, understands the attention that comes with rolling out a product containing the letters "A" and "I" in the current environment.
He said artificial intelligence and machine learning rank at, or near, the top of almost most trend lists in 2023.
But it is important to "distinguish between the AI that is the buzzword in the PPT deck versus the real AI that is actively trained and harnessed by experts to deliver scalable value to businesses and their clients.
"When properly supervised, these technologies can be incredibly powerful, but if left unsupervised or untrained they can be both misleading and dangerous," Lohrfink said in a statement. "That's why there's an arms race for AI/ML talent, and thankfully we have the best in the business."
One of the architects responsible for the development of Ester is
Fontes previously served as the managing director and head of data Intelligence at TIAA, leading the firm's Center of Excellence for Data Science and Machine Learning. He also made significant contributions as head of data science and machine learning at Vanguard.
For Fontes, no financial plan is complete without an estate plan, and he believes Ester will empower financial advisors to onboard clients efficiently while allowing those clients to build estate plans that suits their needs.
In an interview with Financial Planning, Fontes said Ester is always learning, and the advice the tool provides should lead to action. It should also extend to more people the comfort that comes with having a sound estate plan in place by way of advisors.
"Ester was developed to support individuals at all levels depending on their financial literacy, and support advisors as they support their clients on the navigation through the process of creating estate planning documents. Which is, by the way, not very easy," Fontes said. "When I did my own, I still think I had a lot of questions. So hopefully Ester can answer my questions."
But Fontes said Ester and other tools like it are really about leveling the playing field. He said today, the industry can focus on finding the right way to deliver a message instead of relying on the way it was always done.
He points to Ester's ability to take existing estate planning documents and transform them into something visual as a new way to do things.
"The way we're building things at Wealth is building with a purpose. And I truly mean that because building with a purpose for us means (offering) the ability for individuals to navigate the waters of financial services or financial literacy," Fontes said. "I can level the bar, either visually or verbally … however we feel like as long as the message gets across."
Firm's who have gotten their hands on the new tool are just excited about the potential of Ester. Donna D. Shin, vice president of portfolio solutions group and wealth planner at Keebeck Wealth Management in Chicago, said she has been looking forward to the full release since Ester was in beta.
"The capabilities of the Visualization Suite have given me days back by reading existing planning documents and summarizing them into a visualizer in just seconds," Shin said in a statement. "Ester is truly revolutionary and an absolute 'must' for all advisors."
