Bank of America is the latest financial institution to enhance its self-directed investment platform with artificial intelligence. The move is designed to deliver more timely analysis and personalized content to customers, according to Cory Triolo, a consumer investments digital solutions and experience executive at the bank.

The new capabilities, called “Dynamic Insights,” are directly integrated into Merrill Edge Self-Directed, a platform that launched in 2010. Bank of America follows a trend of banks incorporating AI and personalization into its wealth management platforms; RBC enhanced its self-invest platform with personalization tech earlier this month and HSBC recently integrated IBM’s Watson to guide its investor clients. However Bank of America started developing its own solution several years ago.

“Dynamic Insights is a culmination of several years of work and is 100% proprietary,” Triolo told Bank Innovation. “It was important that we had full control over the experience throughout the platform to deliver the personalized and relevant content investors need.” The functionality was made available to clients May 14 via the mobile app and online.

The patent-pending technology uses a specific set of personas based on investors’ experience level and needs, Triolo said. “From there, our AI engine will learn based on each individual client’s behavior and use to customize and prioritize content from across our platform, including what’s going on in the market and also what’s going on in a client’s portfolio to curate ratings, research, news, tools and data,” he said. The resources and insights are brought together on the platform’s dashboard, first presenting the types of content the customer most frequently accesses.

Beyond providing analysis based on current market conditions, the AI-driven experience also offers insight into how a customer’s investments align with their personal values through access to environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings for their portfolios, as well as for individual stocks and funds.

“ESG is a top priority for our firm. We know — based on feedback from our clients and internal research — many investors want to invest in companies that benefit social, political and environmental causes,” Triolo said. “We now take ESG considerations into nearly all online experiences for finding, validating, and monitoring investments in the self-direct space.”

The AI functionality comes nearly one year after the bank incorporated a service that combines the digital platform with a human advisor. The hybrid approach has allowed customers to access unlimited advice from its team of financial solution advisors, so those customers who prefer a digital interface could have the added confidence on a human advisor.

As Bank of America invests in its Merrill Edge platform, the lender continues to see growth year over year, Triolo said, adding there is “even greater demand now, as clients are seeking additional information to guide their investing decisions.”