Asheesh Chanda, Founder and CEO at Kristal AI
Kristal AI offers private investors a service that removes the biggest barrier for people wanting to invest in personal wealth — access to elite investment opportunities which have traditionally been restricted to privileged customers of private investment banking companies. Founder and CEO Asheesh Chanda is an ex Hedge Fund manager who has spent 15 years handling investing for high net worth clients at institutions like Citibank, BNP Paribas, and JP Morgan.
Their model is based on deploying proprietary AI-driven robo advisor technology and leveraging its committee of investment experts. Kristal AI has an internal committee that curates a community of global experts to make high-end elite investment products accessible to millions of potential new investors. “Kristal AI wants to transform the private banking world from one where only the privileged few have access to the best service and investment opportunities, to a world where investments are more accessible, transparent, and personalised through the power of technology and human expertise,” said CEO Chanda.
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The leadership team at Kristal AI wants to create long-term value for clients utilising technology to offer digitised wealth management services which they believe is the way to bring value and innovation in this sector. “Today, only the rich get access to the best advisory and best products. We see this is a problem. At Kristal one can get access to institutional products like VC Funds, Hedge Funds, Pre-IPO at 1/5th the ticket size,” explained Chanda.
Clients get personalised advice and portfolio creation services and unlike traditional private wealth accounts, there are no account minimums to get started. Chanda formed the idea of starting Kristal AI based on his personal experience of trying to access private banking services and discovering that the personal wealth management space was not accessible even to individuals with a fairly substantial amount of personal assets to invest.
What pushed Asheesh Chanda to build Kristal AI
Chanda described his experience of trying to open a private wealth account: “Sometime in 2016, as I was trying to open a private wealth account for myself. I discovered that even after having a few millions in my bank account, I couldn’t get access to the best products and advice at the bank. Why? Because I was a million short, in other words I wasn’t “rich” enough. Some frustration, some anger and after maybe a few rounds of beer, I realised that there is an opportunity to change something for the better.”
These insights led to the main idea behind Kristal AI: to address this gap in the personal wealth management space by serving investors whose requirements lie somewhere between the products offered by retail and private banking — and to apply technology-enabled innovation in helping to bridge these gaps.
“There is a segment of investors who are stuck between Retail and Private banking. They want something more personalised and of high quality than what they get in retail banking, but since they aren’t ‘rich’ enough, they can’t get a private banking service,” Chanda pointed out.
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To meet the needs of this burgeoning segment Kristal AI came into existence, offering private wealth accounts that don’t require a minimum balance to get started. In addition, Chanda found that “there is also a segment of second-generation affluent investors who prefer a more high-tech experience and don’t trust the high-fee model of traditional private banks. They like the low fee, low minimum products, and AI-enabled human advisory.”
The core approach of Kristal AI’s investment methodology is a wealth advisory service based on a unique collaboration between an Investment Committee comprising industry experts and Kristal AI’s cutting-edge data-driven AI algorithm.
Key innovations that set them apart
Their personal wealth management service differentiates itself from other competitors chiefly through the following key innovations:
- Advisory and execution over just execution
According to Chanda: “Most wealth tech platforms are pure transaction platforms catering to DIY clients. However, Kristal realises that not everyone has the time and interest to manage their wealth, hence we provide advisory support to help build personalised portfolios for clients and also monitor the performance.”
- Premium products at retail prices:
Chanda explained that no wealth tech platform offers the range of products that Kristal AI has: “Other platforms are limited to stocks and ETF, while we offer VC Funds, PE Funds, Hedge funds, Pre-IPOs, and Digital Family Office. Additionally, we offer these premium products at retail prices. A fund with a 1 million dollar ticket size is available on Kristal for $50,000. No private bank is able to offer such competitive pricing,” he adds.
- Not just robo, but Human + AI Advisory
Unlike most robo advisors which are purely tech plays, Kristal advisory is hybrid, explained the Kristal AI CEO. “With Kristal AI, the AI-based algorithm is complemented by an investment committee with 130 years of experience, whose inputs are taken in by the algorithm to provide personalised advisory to investors.” Plus, there is an investment advisory team dedicated to help affluent investors invest and monitor portolfios.
200 investment products to choose from
Looking at the range of products listed on Kristal AI’s website one can see a diverse and wide range of over 200 investment products to choose from for private wealth investors, including their customised products they call “Kristals”.
From curated ETF portfolios to alternative investment options such as high potential startups, Hedge funds, VC funds, crypto funds, Pre-IPO deals, and more, clients get to choose from a number of options. Private individual investors would not usually have access to these kinds of investment products without being charged the hefty fees associated with investment banks that serve institutional investors.
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Chanda laid out the main advantages of choosing Kristal AI as your private wealth manager as:
- More choices, not just in stocks and ETFs, but a broad range of investment products and solutions including their proprietary algorithm based tool.
- Curated products that are fully assessed for safety and quality of investing, so that investors can fund with ease.
- Advisory support from a dedicated advisory desk to help choose and monitor investments. “An ideal service for busy clients who are time-poor,” explained Chanda.
- Low cost of investing — No account opening or maintenance charges are levied and no minimum balance is needed to open an account. However, Kristal does recommend a minimum amount of USD 500.
Kristal AI began as an ambitious idea sketched out on a blackboard by CEO Asheesh Chanda and Vineeth Narasimhan in 2016 and is now present and thriving in three countries. “We have hit SGD500M in AUM and have expanded in India, UAE, and Hong Kong,” he proudly stated.
Chanda believes the success achieved so far is due to Kristal AI’s team of financial advisors, researchers, and market experts who take a “unique yet holistic approach to our clients’ needs and work hard to achieve their goals.” Chanda concluded by saying Kristal AI is committed to providing the best investment strategies to investors and building a world-class community of portfolio managers, affiliated partners, and investors.
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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Kristal AI
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