JPMorgan Chase Unveils AI-Powered Tool for Thematic Investing

J.P. Morgan Chase reportedly unveiled an artificial intelligence-powered tool designed to facilitate thematic investing.

The tool, called IndexGPT, delivers thematic investment baskets created with the assistance of OpenAI’s GPT-4 model, Bloomberg reported Friday (May 3).

IndexGPT creates these thematic indexes by generating a list of keywords associated with a particular theme that are then analyzed using a natural language processing model that scans news articles to identify companies involved in that space, according to the report.

The tool allows for the selection of a broader range of stocks, going beyond the obvious choices that are already well-known, Rui Fernandes, J.P. Morgan’s head of markets trading structuring, told Bloomberg.

Thematic investing, which focuses on emerging trends rather than traditional industry sectors or company fundamentals, has gained popularity in recent years, the report said.

Thematic funds experienced a surge in popularity in 2020 and 2021, with retail investors spending billions of dollars on products based on various themes. However, interest in these strategies waned amid poor performance and higher interest rates, per the report.

J.P. Morgan Chase’s IndexGPT aims to reignite interest in thematic investing by providing a more accurate and efficient approach, according to the report.

While AI has been widely used in the financial industry for functions such as trading, risk management and investment research, the rise of generative AI tools has opened new possibilities for banks and financial institutions, the report said.

Fernandes said he sees IndexGPT as a first step in a long-term process of integrating AI across the bank’s index offering, per the report. J.P. Morgan Chase aims to continuously improve its offerings, from equity volatility products to commodity momentum products, gradually and thoughtfully.

In another deployment of this technology in the investment space, Morgan Stanley said in September that it was launching an AI-powered assistant for financial advisers and their support staff. This tool, the AI @ Morgan Stanley Assistant, facilitates access to 100,000 research reports and documents.

In the venture capital world, AI has become a tool for making savvy investment decisions. VC firms are using the technology to analyze vast amounts of data on startups and market trends, help the firms identify the most promising opportunities and aid them in making better-informed decisions about where to allocate their funds.

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