TECHNOLOGY
HSBC Asset Management’ s investment is another strong signal of that shift and of the scale of the opportunity ahead.“ We’ ve built Model ML specifically for this industry, and our focus now is on reshaping how teams at the world’ s leading financial institutions work every day.” The tasks are also done with governance at the forefront, ensuring that accuracy and consistency are maintained throughout.
Investing in promise Model ML launched in 2024, and has since raised US $ 100m. Chaz continues:“ We’ re delighted to welcome HSBC Asset Management as an investor. Their backing reflects growing confidence in vertical AI for financial services. Rather than a single model, the differentiator is increasingly the software that can orchestrate multiple models across complex financial workflows. That’ s exactly what we’ re building.” HSBC’ s flagship venture capital strategy invested in the specialist AI company that states it is“ built for financial services”. It already works with asset managers and advisory firms as well as leading banks. HSBC Asset Management’ s flagship VC programme contains curated funds and is part of the bank’ s US $ 81bn Alternatives platform. It makes co-investments in select, high-growth venture-backed companies such as Model ML.
Traditional finance systems were built to track people costs, not technology spend
Chris Andersen CFO Flexera
Rise of AI in financial services: The new generation Financial services are investing heavily into AI as it not only tackles boardrooms and back-end spreadsheets but also the way that banks operate. Chris Andersen, CFO of Flexera, exclusively tells Finance Chief:“ You can’ t manage what you can’ t see. Traditional finance systems were built to track people costs, not technology spend. The rapid expansion of SaaS, data cloud and AI investments has created a blind spot for many finance teams, who now need visibility into spend and usage across disconnected systems, making it difficult to act on before costs show up in the P & L.” Leaders in the space include Lloyds Banking Group, which has positioned itself to be a leader in using AI in its new strategy and services to customers, despite being one of the oldest and largest banks in Britain. AI in financial services is
94 October 2026