First Partners Group and pluszero Accelerate AI Fund Development and Launch Operational Use of Meeting Minutes Automation & Offer 'Brain Plus for Sales' for M&A Sales

First Partners Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, hereinafter referred to as "First Partners") and pluszero Inc. (Headquarters: Setagaya-ku, Tokyo), which develops and provides AI solutions and supports the implementation of generative AI, are fully promoting the "AI Fund" project, which aims to systematize the knowledge of investment professionals using AI and utilize it for fund management.

In this project, the investment professional know-how, including the investment knowledge of Mr. Toshiya Matsunami, an external consultant (Chief Economist and Market Strategist) for First Partners, is being verbalized and systematized using pluszero's proprietary AI development method "AEI" to promote the project aiming for its application in fund management. Following the PoC (Proof of Concept) stage, verification and development are currently ongoing.

In addition, both companies have developed and launched operational use of an application for automating meeting minutes in the internal audit (compliance check) domain. Furthermore, pluszero has begun providing "Brain Plus for Sales," which conducts sales role-playing and business negotiation simulations, to M&A sales employees at First Partners Capital Co., Ltd., a group company of First Partners that engages in M&A consulting services.

■ Background of Development

In the financial industry, the judgment and know-how of experienced professionals play a crucial role. However, this knowledge tends to be tacit and personalized, making it difficult to utilize it in a reproducible manner organization-wide.

At First Partners, while the knowledge of investment professionals used in IFA sales is a significant asset, systematization and ensuring reproducibility have been challenges.

The two companies launched the AI Fund establishment project with the aim of verbalizing and systematizing this knowledge, making it reproducible as an investment decision process, and utilizing it for operations.

Additionally, First Partners conducts compliance checks for IFA employee business negotiations. Previously, auditors had to review negotiation recordings, leading to increased workload and challenges in streamlining the verification process.

Furthermore, sales activities in the financial field, including M&A, often require communication based on advanced expertise and experience. Creating a system to reliably share and inherit the knowledge and response capabilities of senior members to junior members is important. Therefore, they are proceeding with the construction of a practical training environment using the AI business negotiation simulator "Brain Plus for Sales." This aims to enhance the customer response capabilities of junior members through practical experience, thereby strengthening the sales structure and expanding business opportunities.

■ Initiative ①: Launching the AI Fund Project Incorporating Investment Professional Know-How

The two companies aim to verbalize and systematize the investment professional know-how held by First Partners using pluszero's proprietary AI development method "AEI" and utilize it for fund management.

The know-how to be verbalized in this project includes the knowledge of Mr. Toshiya Matsunami, an external consultant (Chief Economist and Market Strategist).

The PoC phase recorded returns exceeding the S&P 500, and they are currently working on improving the algorithm to achieve both further excess returns and stable management.

• Objective: Verbalization and reproducibility of investment professional know-how, and application to operations

• Progress: PoC completed, algorithm improvement phase

• Notes: This project is in the development and verification stage and does not guarantee future operational results.

(Reference)

Toshiya Matsunami: Engaged in asset management operations such as fund management at major life insurance and asset management companies. Since July 2023, he has served as an external consultant (Chief Economist and Market Strategist) for First Partners. He has numerous media contributions and appearances.

■ Initiative ②: Meeting Minutes Automation Application in the Internal Audit Domain

This application supports the efficiency of internal audit operations by automatically generating meeting minutes from IFA employee negotiation audio and performing summarization.

Auditors can reduce the workload associated with conventional recording checks and expedite verification tasks by reviewing the transcribed and summarized minutes.

• Target Domain: Compliance checks (internal audits) for IFA employee business negotiations

• Effect: Reduction of confirmation time per case by 50-70%

■ Initiative ③: Launch of 'Brain Plus for Sales' for M&A Sales Employees

pluszero has begun providing "Brain Plus for Sales," an AI business negotiation simulator for M&A sales employees, to First Partners Capital Co., Ltd., a group company of First Partners that engages in M&A consulting services.

This service provides a practical training environment for M&A sales employees through AI-powered sales role-playing and business negotiation simulations. Since the attributes and scenarios of negotiation partners can be finely set, training can be conducted in an environment close to actual negotiations.

Service Details: https://brain-plus.jp/

■ Future Developments

Both companies will continue verification and algorithm improvement with the aim of launching the AI Fund project, while also developing the necessary systems and governance.

Furthermore, beyond improving the efficiency of internal audit operations through automatic generation and summarization of meeting minutes, they will work to enhance and streamline sales activities in the financial domain, including IFA sales and M&A sales, by utilizing accumulated text data and providing "Brain Plus for Sales."

■ First Partners Company Overview
Company Name: First Partners Co., Ltd.

Location: Akasaka Nakagawa Building 4F, 3-11-3 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Representative: Tsuyoshi Nakao

Business Activities: Provision of financial services by IFAs centered on financial instruments brokerage, life insurance agency

Registration Number: Financial Instruments Intermediary Service, Kanto Local Finance Bureau (Kin-chu) No. 800

URL: https://f-p.jp/

■ First Partners Capital Company Overview

Company Name: First Partners Capital Co., Ltd.

Location: Akasaka Nakagawa Building 2F, 3-11-3 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Representative: Yoshikazu Kato

Business Activities: Advisory services related to corporate mergers, acquisitions, alliances, business transfers, and business alliances

Advisory services related to corporate financing support and financial strategy

Arrangement of real estate finance, bridge finance, etc.

Registered Businesses: Money Lending Business, Real Estate Transaction Business

URL: https://fp-cp.jp/

■ pluszero Company Overview

Company Name: pluszero Inc.

Location: Sendta Building 4F, 2-6-10 Kitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo

Representative: Yoshiyuki Shiro, Ryota Mori

Business Activities: Development and provision of AI solutions centered on natural language processing technology, generative AI implementation support, R&D business, etc.

URL: https://plus-zero.co.jp

■ Contact Information for Inquiries

First Partners Group Co., Ltd. Sales Planning Department / Public Relations Representative
E-mail: [email protected]

pluszero Inc. Corporate Promotion Department
E-mail: [email protected]