January 27, 2025

Naga Vydyanathan

Smart Investing with Agentic AI: Outsourcing the Financial Thinking

Table of contents

Imagine you’re an investment manager navigating the ever-shifting landscape of Indian markets. Each day presents a whirlwind of decisions that could spell success—or invite setbacks. Should you rebalance your portfolio in light of the Adani-Hindenburg controversy’s impact on infrastructure and energy stocks? Should you reduce exposure to a tech-heavy fund amidst global semiconductor shortages, potentially affecting India’s IT exports? Is it time to capitalize on the small and mid-cap rally of 2023, which has seen a surge in domestic retail participation? Or perhaps pivot towards renewable energy investments, aligning with India’s ambitious green hydrogen and solar power targets in the latest Union Budget? With India’s inflation moderating and the RBI taking a cautious stance on interest rates, every decision must be backed by timely insights and razor-sharp analysis.

These are just a few examples of the constant, high-stakes questions fund managers and portfolio managers grapple with:

  • Market Movements: Do you buy, hold, or sell when a sector suddenly spikes or slumps?
  • Client Needs: How do you adjust a portfolio to match an individual’s shifting financial goals without overexposing them to risk?
  • Risk Mitigation: Should you hedge your positions against potential interest rate hikes or currency fluctuations?
  • Performance Optimization: Can you spot patterns and opportunities fast enough to seize them before competitors do?

Each decision requires analyzing mountains of data: economic trends, earnings forecasts, asset correlations, and much more. But as the complexity of markets grows, so does the time and effort needed to make these calls.

Now, what if you could outsource this heavy lifting—the deep financial analysis, the pattern-spotting, and the constant recalibration—to an expert that never tires or second-guesses itself? What if this expert worked around the clock, crunching numbers and synthesizing insights faster than any human ever could?

Agentic AI: Let the Machines Do The Thinking

Agentic AI refers to systems composed of autonomous, goal-driven agents that work independently or collaboratively to achieve complex tasks. In advanced systems, these agents are designed to not only analyze but also act on insights, mimicking decision-making processes typically requiring human expertise.

In investment management, an agentic AI framework can transform financial analysis and research by delegating key tasks to specialized agents:

  • Data Gathering Agent: The first line of action, this agent scours diverse data sources—ranging from market reports and company financials to earnings calls, presentations, market-moving headlines, geopolitical updates, economic indicators, NSE/BSE-specific order book analysis, FII/DII flow impacts, and SEBI compliance factors—gathering the raw, detailed information necessary for analysis.
  • Processing Agent: Once data is collected, this agent cleans, organizes, and ensures the dataset is ready for further scrutiny, removing noise and highlighting relevant patterns.
  • Macro Analysis Agent: Dedicated to interpreting big-picture trends, this agent tracks geopolitical developments, sectoral shifts, and market sentiment to provide a holistic understanding of the landscape. For fund managers and relationship managers, this agent interprets large-scale trends, geopolitical shifts, and market sentiment to assess how economic or political events may impact mutual fund performance, guiding allocation decisions. For portfolio managers, it evaluates market conditions—like economic indicators and sector news—that influence individual stock prices, helping create personalized client reports.
  • Planning Agent: Armed with insights from the macro analysis, this agent devises strategic plans. For mutual funds, it identifies optimal allocation strategies based on evolving market conditions. For portfolio managers, it tailors strategies that balance risk and return for individual clients, adjusting portfolios to reflect the current market outlook.
  • Summarizing Agent: Finally, this agent distills the findings into concise, easy-to-digest reports or visual dashboards, making it simple for fund and portfolio managers to act. Whether it’s delivering a high-level summary of mutual fund performance or a personalized report on stock-level performance for individual clients, the summarizing agent ensures the information is accessible and actionable.
 AGENTIC AI PIPELINE: OUTSOURCING YOUR FINANCIAL THINKING

By automating these steps with agentic AI, you achieve:

  • Time Efficiency: Freeing you from manual analysis, allowing you to focus on strategic decisions.
  • Enhanced Precision: Data-driven insights eliminate guesswork and reduce the margin for error.
  • Scalability: Handle growing portfolios and increasing data complexity without breaking a sweat.
  • Consistency: Agents work tirelessly, ensuring no opportunity or risk slips through the cracks.

Let us now look at specific use cases of how AI can help in asset management.

Outsmart the Market: AI Co-pilots for Asset Management

In asset management, decisions aren’t made on gut feelings—they’re driven by data. And this data is vast, diverse, and dynamic—constantly evolving with market shifts, geopolitical drama, and tech breakthroughs. To make sense of this complex data and make timely, informed decisions, asset managers need to team up with AI. Here’s how AI is already making asset management smarter and more strategic:

Dynamic Portfolio Rebalancing

For portfolio managers, maintaining optimal asset allocations amid market fluctuations is key to success. Traditional rebalancing methods often depend on periodic reviews, but AI tools like BlackRock’s Aladdin leverage real-time data to analyze market trends, macroeconomic indicators, and asset performance. During volatile periods like the 2023 banking crisis in the U.S., AI-driven systems helped managers proactively adjust allocations by shifting exposure away from regional banks to more stable sectors like healthcare or utilities.

Market Event Prediction and Proactive Strategy Adjustment

AI enhances market event prediction by processing vast real-time data, from news articles to social media chatter. Platforms like Kensho, widely used by investment firms, employ machine learning to forecast potential market disruptions. For instance, during the Adani-Hindenburg saga, an AI system could have flagged risks by analyzing global investor sentiment and financial disclosures, enabling fund managers to hedge against potential losses or diversify into alternative sectors.

Custom Client Reporting

Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all client reports. AI tools like FactSet’s Digital Reporting Suite enable managers to create personalized, dynamic reports tailored to each client’s unique portfolio. In India’s mid-cap rally of 2023, AI-driven reporting could highlight how individual client portfolios benefited from small-cap exposure while offering data-driven insights for future allocations—building trust and fostering deeper client relationships.

Smart Investment Screening and Selection

AI is revolutionizing investment screening by analyzing enormous datasets to uncover opportunities. Goldman Sachs’ Marquee platform uses AI to provide asset recommendations based on risk profiles and market forecasts. In India, for example, AI tools have identified high-growth opportunities in renewable energy startups, aligning with the country’s green energy goals and investors’ growing demand for ESG-compliant portfolios.

Risk Management and Fraud Detection

AI’s ability to spot trends and anomalies makes it invaluable for risk management. For instance, JP Morgan uses its COiN (Contract Intelligence) platform to analyze trading patterns and identify potential risks. Similarly, AI can detect irregularities in cash flows, such as in the Karvy stock broking case, where better anomaly detection could have flagged unusual fund movements early. By continuously monitoring portfolios, AI helps fund managers stay ahead of potential pitfalls.

Adopting AI-Driven Investing: What Lies Beneath the Surface

Adopting AI in investing promises huge potential as we have seen, but like any shiny new tool, it comes with its own set of challenges. Let’s break down the key hurdles and how to tackle them for a smoother adoption.

Data Transparency: Privacy Matters

AI-driven investing systems rely heavily on vast amounts of data, including client portfolio details, market trends, and even personal investment preferences. If these data sets aren’t handled properly, it could lead to privacy concerns or misuse.

Mitigation: Implement robust data governance practices. For example, when using client data to adjust portfolios, ensure that the AI follows strict privacy protocols, such as anonymizing personal data. Also, use transparent data sources that clients can review and validate, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards like GDPR.

Bias in Training Data

Bias in AI training data is a well-known issue, and in investing, this could manifest as AI perpetuating biases in stock selection or risk assessment. For example, if the AI is trained on historical data that overemphasizes past performance of large-cap stocks, it may ignore emerging markets or smaller companies, leading to unbalanced portfolio recommendations.

Mitigation: Regularly audit and update training data to ensure it is diverse and inclusive. Diversify data sources to include emerging markets, sectors, and companies to prevent the AI from becoming “too comfortable” with traditional investments. For example, re-train the system with data that includes a wider range of assets, including new startups or ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) focused investments.

Black Box Decision-Making

In asset management, portfolio managers need to understand why an AI suggests certain moves. Without transparency into the decision-making process, they may hesitate to act on AI’s recommendations..

Mitigation: Use explainable AI (XAI) frameworks that provide insight into why certain decisions were made. For instance, if an AI system suggests selling bonds, also show how changes in inflation data, interest rates, and GDP forecasts contributed to this recommendation. Having a breakdown of economic indicators or sentiment trends justifying a change can improve trust and decision-making.

Unforeseen Consequences: The Surprise Factor

Agentic AI, in its true sense, involves autonomous decision-making, allowing systems to act on their own without human intervention. However, this autonomy can lead to unintended investment decisions if not carefully monitored, resulting in risky or suboptimal portfolio adjustments.

Mitigation: To avoid this, use AI as a co-pilot, not the pilot. Have human oversight to validate AI’s suggestions, especially in volatile situations. Monitor its performance regularly and ensure that the AI’s learning process includes constant adjustments based on real-time data.

Apart from these, implementing agentic AI frameworks requires robust, scalable high performance computing and cloud-based systems, capable of processing vast amounts of data and running complex models. Additionally, a skilled team with expertise in both AI and finance is essential to fine-tune models, troubleshoot issues, and ensure that AI aligns with financial goals.

Akaike’s Edge: Today's Solutions and Tomorrow's Potential

In a dynamic and ever-evolving financial landscape, staying ahead requires more than just intuition—it demands precision, adaptability, and intelligent support systems. Akaike’s AI-driven solutions bridge the gap between global best practices and India-specific financial nuances, offering portfolio managers and fund managers the tools they need to make smarter decisions today and redefine possibilities for tomorrow.

Today’s Solutions: Empowering Portfolio and Fund Management

Akaike introduces a groundbreaking approach to portfolio and fund intelligence by blending Agentic AI frameworks with ease of use, ensuring accessibility for both financial experts and non-tech-savvy users. Designed to cater to the unique challenges of the Indian market, Akaike’s solutions provide real-time insights, actionable recommendations, and an intuitive experience for decision-makers at all levels.

Our system mirrors advanced global models like those discussed in the provided research, while integrating India-specific data, regulations, and market trends. Here’s how Akaike stands out:

  • Data Fusion in Knowledge Base: Akaike’s Data Agent aggregates and processes information from a wide spectrum of sources, including Market Fundamentals, earnings calls, geopolitical news, SEBI filings, and alternative data like sentiment analysis, fear and greed indexes etc.
  • Conversational Interface for Effortless Interaction: Akaike's user-friendly conversational AI enables seamless interaction, even for users with minimal technical expertise. Through natural language queries, portfolio managers and clients alike can ask questions like:some text
    • “What sectors should I focus on this quarter according to the BCG India Outlook?”
    • “How does the RBI’s interest rate decision impact my portfolio?” 

The interface delivers precise, easy-to-understand responses, eliminating the need for complex software navigation or technical training.

  • Personalized Portfolio Recommendations: Our Planning Agent tailors strategies for individual portfolios, ensuring optimal asset allocation by balancing market risks with client objectives.
  • Real-Time Market Adaptability: Akaike’s Macro Analysis Agent tracks economic shifts such as RBI interest rate decisions or inflation data, providing insights to mitigate risks and seize opportunities across industries.
  • Simplified Decision-Making: Insights are delivered via intuitive dashboards, allowing fund and portfolio managers to quickly act on investment recommendations, whether adjusting exposure during market volatility or capitalizing on emerging sectors like renewable energy.

Case Study: Dynamic Portfolio Adjustments

During the Adani-Hindenburg market volatility, Akaike’s AI swiftly identified elevated risks in infrastructure stocks by analyzing FII outflows, market sentiment trends, and sectoral dynamics. Leveraging these insights, fund managers were able to proactively reduce exposure to vulnerable sectors and strategically reallocate investments toward resilient growth areas like FMCG and IT. This timely adjustment resulted in risk-adjusted returns exceeding benchmarks by an impressive 15%, showcasing the power of Akaike’s data-driven decision-making.

Tomorrow's Potential: The Future of Investing with Akaike

Looking ahead, Akaike is poised to redefine the Indian financial market with advanced AI solutions, focusing on:

  • Hyper-Personalized Financial Strategies
    • Deliver micro-targeted investment insights tailored to diverse client segments, ranging from retail investors to HNIs.
    • Leverage behavioral analytics to predict investor responses to market shifts and refine strategies accordingly.
  • Alternative Data for Deeper Insights
    • Incorporate non-traditional data sources, including ESG trends, rural consumption patterns, and regional market sentiment, to uncover unique investment opportunities.
    • Focus on underrepresented sectors, including AgriTech and renewable energy, aligning with India’s economic priorities.
  • Advanced Predictive Analytics
    • Strengthen forecasts of market disruptions using AI models trained on India-specific scenarios, such as banking sector challenges or commodity price fluctuations.
  • Explainable AI for Trust
    • Offer transparent, well-justified recommendations, ensuring fund managers and stakeholders can confidently act on AI-driven insights.
  • Scalable Intelligence
    • Expand capabilities to process growing volumes of data, keeping pace with the rising retail participation and increasing digitization of India’s investment ecosystem.

Delivering Smarter, India-centric Solutions

Akaike’s portfolio and fund intelligence tools offer unmatched precision and usability, empowering clients to navigate India’s unique financial ecosystem with clarity and confidence. By integrating advanced technology with a deep understanding of Indian markets, Akaike goes beyond being just a tool—it’s a trusted co-pilot, guiding the future of investment management.

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Naga Vydyanathan
Naga Vydyanathan