FNZ & Microsoft unite to transform wealth management with AI

FNZ and Microsoft have agreed a five-year global strategic partnership designed to drive digital transformation in the wealth management sector.

The partnership will see FNZ integrate Microsoft Azure AI Foundry into its technology platform, aiming to offer financial institutions, advisors, and their clients a more personalised and robust digital experience. FNZ's existing relationships in Australia include major names such as NAB, Colonial First State, Centrepoint Alliance, Care Super, and UBS Australia.

Key objectives for the collaboration include developing next-generation tools for advisors and investors, strengthening applications of data and analytics, boosting operational efficiency, and enhancing overall resilience and scalability for FNZ's technology offerings.

The partnership will focus on co-innovation, joint go-to-market initiatives, and the creation of new digital wealth solutions powered by artificial intelligence. Both companies view the combination of FNZ's technology and experience in wealth management and Microsoft's artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure as complementary strengths within the current technological landscape.

Roman Regelman, Group President at FNZ, described the company's goals for the project, stating, "FNZ has always been at the forefront of innovation in wealth-management technology. Partnering with Microsoft allows us to accelerate our AI-led roadmap and enhances our ability to deliver personalized, intelligent and resilient solutions to our clients, strengthening our position of leadership."

"Together, we are not just upgrading technology. We are setting a new standard for how wealth management is delivered. Partnering with Microsoft further advances our mission to open up wealth, by making investing more accessible to more people worldwide."

FNZ currently supports over 650 financial institutions and 26 million end investors, managing close to USD $2 trillion in assets under administration. This scale allows the company to leverage one of the largest data sets in the industry, which is expected to play a central role as artificial intelligence and analytics capabilities are enhanced through the partnership with Microsoft.

Operationally, FNZ and Microsoft plan to prioritise several distinct areas. First, the companies aim to enhance advisor and investor experiences by integrating Azure AI Foundry elements - including Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models - into FNZ's platform for greater efficiency and improved user interfaces.

Second, FNZ will adopt Microsoft Fabric to strengthen its data and analytics capacity, with the goal of offering wealth managers and advisors tailored insights that match their specific requirements. This is intended to provide deeper analytics-driven understanding of both client and market needs.

The agreement also involves close engineering collaboration. Joint teams from FNZ and Microsoft will co-develop digital wealth solutions, deploying Azure AI Foundry throughout FNZ's global platform. FNZ will use GitHub Copilot to enhance productivity and support its development operations.

From a resilience and scalability perspective, FNZ will combine its own platform capabilities with Microsoft's technologies and development tools to ensure that its solutions for financial institutions continue to meet industry requirements for risk management, compliance, and reliability.

In support of operational efficiency, FNZ will deploy Microsoft 365 Copilot and intelligent agents to bolster processes in middle- and back-office operations. This is expected to streamline operations and improve day-to-day productivity throughout the organisation.

Bill Borden, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Financial Services, Microsoft, commented on the expected impact of the partnership:

"Our partnership brings together Microsoft's AI and cloud technologies with FNZ's global platform and expertise in wealth management to deliver insights that will lead to more impactful and personalized experiences for advisors and their clients. Together, we're helping financial institutions lead as Frontier Firms by reimagining their operations through agentic AI, accelerating innovation, and unlocking new value across the wealth management ecosystem."

The companies will also coordinate global go-to-market strategies, including launching modular wealth management solutions through multiple channels such as the Microsoft Marketplace. The partnership encompasses joint global marketing and coordinated industry activities to broaden market reach and facilitate adoption of the new technology solutions.

FNZ's ownership includes some of the world's largest institutional shareholders, among them Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Generation Investment Management, and Motive Partners.