GLOSSARY
Upscale is a technology company that specialises in the Wealth and Asset Management industry eco-system. If you come across some industry jargon, this page helps you to understand what it means!
Agentic AI refers to AI systems that can interpret a goal, determine the steps required to achieve it, interact with approved systems and tools, and carry out multiple actions within defined boundaries.
An AI agent is a software-based AI system that can perform tasks or coordinate actions on behalf of a user. In wealth management, an agent might retrieve client information, prepare a meeting briefing and create follow-up actions within a controlled workflow.
An Application Programming Interface (API) allows different software systems to exchange information and trigger actions between one another.
A/B testing compares two versions of a message, format or experience to determine whether one produces a stronger response or outcome than the other.
Assets under management, or AUM, refers to the total market value of assets managed by an investment manager or financial institution on behalf of its clients.
A broker-dealer is a financial services firm involved in securities transactions. The term is commonly used in regulatory contexts when referring to firms that provide brokerage and investment services.
A controlled approach to personalisation where regulated facts, approved claims, disclosures and other fixed content remain unchanged, while predefined elements can be adapted for a particular client, audience or context.
Content-to-trade conversion measures the progression from engagement with investment content or research towards trading activity. This can include research views, security views, quote checks, watchlist additions, order initiation and executed trades.
A predefined level of certainty an AI or automated system must reach before an output can be accepted or progressed without further intervention. Lower-confidence cases can be escalated for human review.
Cohort analysis compares groups of clients or users that share a particular characteristic or experience, such as those exposed to specific investment content, to understand differences in subsequent behaviour or outcomes.
A discretionary manager is an investment professional or firm authorised to make investment decisions on behalf of a client within an agreed mandate.
Distribution intelligence is the use of data and analytics to understand how investment products, research and content are being distributed, engaged with and connected to commercial opportunities.
An engagement layer is a technology and workflow capability that connects core systems, client context, approved content, communication channels and engagement data to coordinate advisor and investor interactions.
The official investment outlook, position or recommendation adopted by an investment firm or financial institution.
Incrementality measures whether an activity generated an additional outcome beyond what would otherwise have occurred. In engagement measurement, firms can use controlled cohorts or phased rollouts to assess incremental differences in client activity or commercial outcomes.
Investor classification is the categorisation of clients according to applicable financial-services requirements. A client's classification can affect whether particular investment products or communications are appropriate or available to them.
An integration fabric is an architecture that connects applications, APIs, events, data and other systems so information and actions can move across a technology environment.
Know Your Customer (KYC) refers to the processes financial institutions use to verify a client’s identity and understand relevant information about them as part of regulatory and financial-crime controls.
Last-click reporting attributes an outcome to the final interaction that occurred before the action, rather than considering the wider sequence of interactions that may have influenced it.
Margin lending refers to financing provided to support investment or trading activity. Margin lending balances, activity and revenue can be used by securities brokerage firms as measures of commercial client activity.
Market-adjusted flows measure client asset flows while accounting for changes caused by market performance, helping firms distinguish changes in asset values from underlying client inflows and outflows.
Multi-touch attribution is an approach to measurement that considers multiple interactions across the client journey rather than attributing an outcome to a single touchpoint.
Net new assets (NNA) measure new client assets or flows brought into a financial institution and can be used as an indicator of commercial and relationship outcomes.
A data-driven recommendation identifying the most relevant action an advisor or relationship manager could take with a client based on available client, portfolio, behavioural or contextual information.
A wealth-management model in which a financial institution can offer investment products or solutions from external providers as well as its own products.
A measurement of current performance before a new process or technology is introduced, allowing subsequent improvements in areas such as processing time, productivity or cost to be assessed.
The delays, repetitive tasks, system switching and manual processes that make a workflow slower or harder to complete.
A technology layer that coordinates data, systems, workflows and actions across multiple applications without necessarily replacing the underlying systems.
Portfolio concentration refers to a significant exposure to a particular investment, company, sector or other part of a portfolio. It can provide an important signal for determining when research or a client conversation may be relevant.
Product penetration measures the extent to which clients use or hold a firm's investment products and can help financial institutions understand the depth of their client relationships.
A point solution is a specialised technology product designed to solve a specific problem or perform a particular function rather than support a broader connected workflow.
Private credit refers to lending provided outside traditional public debt markets, typically through privately negotiated loans or other private debt investments.
Predictive analytics uses historical data, statistical techniques or AI models to identify patterns and estimate potential future behaviour or outcomes.
Research revenue attribution is the process of connecting engagement with investment research to subsequent client activity and commercial outcomes. It can help firms understand which research, audiences and distribution strategies are associated with stronger engagement and trading activity.
The regulatory and operational practice of retaining required records of client communications, decisions, approvals and other activities for supervision and audit purposes.
Role-based access controls which information, systems or actions a user or AI agent can access according to their assigned role and permissions.
Share of wallet refers to the proportion of a client's overall investment relationship or assets held with a particular financial institution. Increasing share of wallet can indicate a deeper commercial relationship with the client.
A structured product is an investment product with specific terms and characteristics that can form part of a client's investment portfolio. In securities brokerage, structured-product opportunities and maturities can create reasons for brokers to engage clients.
The risk that the timing and order of investment returns, particularly poor returns early in retirement, can materially affect how long a retirement portfolio lasts.
A term describing the repeated switching between different systems and applications required to complete a single workflow or client task.
A system of record is the authoritative system in which an organisation maintains a particular type of information, such as client relationships, portfolio data or regulatory records.
Single-touch attribution assigns influence for an outcome to one interaction or touchpoint, such as the piece of investment content immediately preceding a meeting or enquiry.
Trading turnover measures the level or value of trading activity over a given period. Securities brokerage firms can use it as one indicator of brokerage activity and commercial outcomes.
The amount of time required to move something from initial creation or preparation through approval and into use or distribution.
A technology estate refers to the collection of systems, applications, platforms and infrastructure used across an organisation.
The movement of wealth or assets from one generation to another, commonly through inheritance, gifting or estate planning.
Financial services terminology refers to the specialist language used across banking, wealth management, asset management, investment, regulation and financial technology.
Wealth management terminology includes specialist terms relating to investments, client relationships, financial planning, regulation and technology, including concepts such as suitability, structured products, KYC and source of wealth.
Financial services technology refers to the digital systems, platforms and tools used by financial institutions to support areas such as client engagement, adviser productivity, content distribution, operations and digital transformation.
AI in financial services refers to the use of artificial intelligence to support activities such as information retrieval, content creation, personalisation, analytics and adviser workflows within appropriate governance and regulatory controls.
The Upscale glossary provides clear explanations of terminology across financial services technology, AI, wealth and asset management, client engagement, adviser productivity, content distribution and digital transformation.
Whether you’re exploring AI, modernising advisor workflows or looking to transform how content is distributed and measured, Upscale can help.
Let’s discuss how engagement can become a strategic advantage for your organisation.
