PRESS RELEASE
For many people, investing does not begin with choosing a share or fund. It begins with simple questions. How much money can I set aside? How much risk do I want to take? When will I need the money again? Wealthy customers can discuss these questions with a personal adviser. This support through private banking is usually available only to people with several hundred thousand euros to invest. Those starting with a smaller amount often have to work things out by themselves.
InvestSuite wants to give this group more guidance through Charlie for Advice. A bank can add the digital assistant to its investment app or website. Customers ask questions in everyday language. The software asks follow-up questions, collects the information it needs and explains the possible choices step by step.
Many people could benefit. A dashboard published by the Belgian regulator FSMA in September 2026 says that more than 510,000 Belgian individual investors traded shares, bonds or exchange-traded index funds in 2025. An index fund, often called an ETF, automatically tracks a group of investments. According to the FSMA, 96,000 Belgian individual investors traded ETFs for the first time in 2025 through a broker supervised by the regulator.
How Charlie works
In the investment app, a customer might type: “I want to put money aside for later, but I do not know where to begin.” Charlie asks the right questions and uses the answers to prepare a personal proposal. Customers can express preferences, for example for a portfolio that could provide dividend income later. A simple chart shows three possible outcomes for the investments and income: pessimistic, realistic and optimistic. Charlie also remains available after the plan is created to answer questions, explain market movements and adjust the portfolio when it moves off course.
The bank remains responsible
The bank decides what information Charlie can use, what investments the software can suggest and what actions it can take. It also decides when a human adviser takes over the conversation. Charlie therefore works within the bank’s existing rules and controls.
This responsibility covers more than what Charlie may say or do. Customers must also be told clearly that they are talking to AI. The European transparency rules have required this since 2 August 2026. Before any investment advice is given, the bank must assess what the customer knows about investing, their financial situation, their goals and how much risk they can take. These requirements are set out in the European MiFID II rules. European regulator ESMA says that the same duty to protect the customer’s interests applies when AI performs part of the work.
When can customers use Charlie
InvestSuite is working with several large international banks on the first practical tests of Charlie for Advice. These tests show how the software fits into their investment app and advice process. InvestSuite hopes to launch Charlie with its first customers in 2027. The timing depends on integration, testing and approval by each bank.
“People who start investing often have very practical questions. Some do not know where to begin. Others have heard of ETFs but do not know which one suits them, what it costs or how to find the right product among the many unclear names. Charlie makes the search more concrete and guides the customer step by step towards a personal proposal.”
CEDRIC LARIDON | CEO OF INVESTSUITE
AVAILABLE TO BANKS TODAY | Aim: first customers in 2027.
About InvestSuite
InvestSuite is a technology company based in Leuven. It builds software that banks and wealth managers use to offer investment services under their own brand. investsuite.com.
Press contact
Cedric Laridon | CEO
cedric.laridon@investsuite.com | +32 477 59 65 07
