Exclusive: Google’s VC Firm Invests in Range, a Startup Training AI to Give Financial Advice
Range, a wealth management startup, recently closed a $12 million Series A funding round led by Gradient, Google’s AI-focused venture fund. The company aims to provide tech-enabled financial planning services that target aging millennials. Range’s secret sauce is its AI model that they are training to give financial advice and, eventually, eliminate the need for human financial planners. According to Fahad Hassan, Range’s founder and CEO, they are “trying to make that wealth advisor a computer,” and it is a matter of when, not if.
The Current State of Financial Planning Services
Typically, financial advisors sit down with clients, assess their finances, and develop a financial plan, making recommendations for saving, investing, and estate planning. These recommendations often require nuanced, in-depth research and analysis, creating complexity and a need for human judgment. Conversely, Range is aiming to train their AI model to provide financial advice, including answering questions like what type of college savings plan a parent should open, whether to invest in a rental property or build a home addition to raise property value, or why high earners often live paycheck to paycheck.
Range’s Platform and Technology
At present, each Range customer is assigned to a human advisor who can answer questions and provide advice similar to any other wealth manager. Behind the scenes, however, the company is using customer data to train their AI model to give financial advice. Each time a client asks an advisor a question, the advisor feeds that query into the company’s AI model. The AI model then calculates the answer using known information about the client, giving their financial advisor feedback on their response accuracy, and also adding new knowledge to the AI model.
Only trained financial planning professionals review the financial advice AI, and they adjust the response as needed to reduce mistakes. This ability to train the AI is critical to the success of Range’s business model. They plan to make human financial planners obsolete, but they cannot take a fast-and-loose approach due to regulatory requirements. Range is audited annually to ensure that their advice is always good and accurate.
Related Facts
• Range is an SEC-registered investment advisor and legally liable for the advice they give clients.
• Currently, Range takes pains to ensure that customers never directly interact with the AI.
• Range’s expert advisors are training the AI model to improve on financial advice given to its customers.
Key Takeaway
To effectively operate their financial planning service, Range needs to train their AI model accurately. As the technology improves, the company intends to gradually reduce their reliance on human financial advisors. The ultimate goal is to have their AI model as the sole financial planner. It’s a bold plan, but it could transform financial planning for the next generation.
Conclusion
Range is a growing startup that is getting the attention and backing of VCs. Their plan to replace human financial planners with an AI model may sound ambitious, but it is not a far-fetched idea in this tech-driven age. For now, Range is using its human advisors’ expertise to train their AI model and provide financial advice to its customers. They aim to make human financial planners obsolete, but they are diligent about ensuring their advice is accurate and regulatory compliant. As time progresses and the AI model’s accuracy improves, it remains to be seen if Range will revolutionize the financial planning industry.
