Schroders Singapore pioneers with Asia’s “First” Asset Manager Facebook Chatbot

Schroders today launched a beta version of Schroders GO, an online chatbot operating through Facebook Messenger, which aims to allow the asset manager to better engage its clients.

The chatbot allows clients to access information on any fund as well as market information, and is as easy as asking a person a question anytime of the day without having to download an app.

Susan Soh

Susan Soh, Country Head of Schroders Singapore, said:

“The launch of Schroders GO makes Schroders the first asset manager in Singapore to digitalise the investor service experience. Schroders GO is a unique chatbot due to its ability to not just offer information about Schroders, but also fetch information on other similar funds for comparison – all within the chatbot. This is possible because we built Schroders GO with our investor needs in mind.”

Lieven Debruyne, CEO Asia Pacific, Schroders, added:

Lieven Debruyne

“The launch of Schroders GO highlights our commitment to provide solutions catering to our clients’ needs. In today’s fast-moving digitalised environment, it is a logical step for us to develop a tool that allows us to serve our clients more efficiently, from providing fund information to engaging investors with interactive learning.”

“We wanted to develop a localised instant platform that investors, today in Singapore and soon regionally, are able to get answers and resources as and when they need them. This was why we invested in developing a tool that is always-on, allows social sharing and speaks our clients’ language.”

The beta version of the chatbot is launched in close collaboration with key distribution partners Citi, Income, UOB and Synergy Financial Advisers. The full version of Schroders GO is expected to be launched in early 2018.

Currently, Schroders GO is able to process four major types of inquiries, including:

Fund-related queries (e.g. What is the NAV of the Schroder Asian Income?);
Queries about Schroders as a firm (e.g. Where is your office in London?);
External market information (e.g. What is the current SGD exchange rate against the USD?); and
General contextual questions adding a personalized touch to the user-chatbot interaction (e.g. Who made you?).

Backed by deep learning and natural language processing capabilities, the chatbot is able to self-learn and answer three-dimensional questions (e.g. Show me USD funds in the Asia Pacific managed by Robin Parbrook), which makes it a lot more powerful than fund lists commonly provided on websites. It is available in English but is able to understand Singlish.

Besides answering queries, Schroders GO allows users to track and get the latest information on their preferred funds with a ‘Watchlist’ function. The chatbot also offers a digital learning experience for users, by being able to generate incentivized quizzes to help deepen understanding of investing, as well as market commentaries from the Schroders team within the platform.

To get a first-hand look at Schroders GO