At the Front: How AI is Helping Build Strong Financial Futures

It used to feel like the stock market was reserved for wealthy people and brokers, but with technology comes accessibility. Gone are the days when to start investing, you had to call a full-service broker and pay through the nose, just to make a trade. These days, you still have to pick up the phone, but it’ll be your smartphone, which, if not already kitted out with one (or some) of the latest apps, soon can be. Everything you need is at your fingertips, available at a relatively low cost, allowing anyone with Wi-Fi and a bank account to start playing the stock market.

It’s clear to see that the stock market is more accessible to the general public than ever before. An Adjust and Apptopia report  released in October 2020 confirmed that activity in investment apps that allow users to trade stocks directly from their phone is booming — average sessions per day from January to June 2020 grew a massive 88%. With the plethora of digital tools available, access to investment has been democratized. However, with access, comes risk.

The market is well and truly open for all and it’s performing.  The bull market that started in March 2009 is the longest in history - the Covid-19 pandemic brought it to a halt for a mere 33 days in March 2020 and then a new bull market began. Great news for investors, but is this lulling us into a false sense of security? The current  generation of investors is accustomed to a world with continuously increasing returns, but as history shows us, that can change in the blink of an eye.

What this shows is that access is one thing, but knowledge is another. But now there’s an app for that, too.

San Francisco-based Front is the first strategic investment platform that puts data-driven investment guidance in the hands of this new generation of investors – and it’s just announced the public launch of a fintech app that gives everyone access to AI-driven FISCO stock scoring technology for free.

There’s been some buzz around this for a while. Back in November 2020, Front announced a waitlist for the app and 40,000 people signed up in a mere two months. Those who connected their broker received early access to the app during the beta launch, with these broker accounts representing over $50 million in assets under management. Not a bad start, but why the hype? What does this app actually do?

Front is not just another trading app. Nor would it receive so much interest if it were. In fact, Front connects to and layers on top of other trading apps and brokers, like Robinhood, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Stash, and others. The app analyzes people's portfolios and personalizes daily stock picks for each investor, based on their preferences and existing investments. It’s all about using AI technology to help investors make informed decisions and easily understand risk. Front monitors companies, markets, and news 24/7, calculating a single score for every stock called FISCO. It’s like a credit score for stocks. FISCO also assesses stock compatibility with investors’ existing portfolios and incorporates this into the final stock score to help investors choose stocks that strengthen their overall portfolio. With so many new trading, robo-advisors, and all-in-one banking apps, it’s refreshing to see an app providing free investing guidance instead of just access. It’s essentially like providing driver’s education when all others are just handing over the keys to the car. 

“The question is not whether to invest, it’s how,” says Bam Azizi, Front’s Co-Founder and CEO. “As younger generations look to the stock market to build wealth, they need tools to find opportunities and understand risk. I founded Front to give people the power to build better financial futures.”

FISCO doesn’t entirely remove the risk in trading – nothing does – but it puts more information at investors’ fingertips, allowing them to make more informed decisions that fit with their risk appetite. Unbiased, personalized, data-driven insights allow investors to invest with their heads, instead of their guts, and that can only be a good thing.

For any additional information, please contact Natacha Rousseau: Natacha@front.org