NEI: A New Fund Explorer in Six Weeks
Expero partnered with NEI to deliver a fully integrated, bilingual Fund Explorer in just six weeks, modernizing fund discovery for advisors without disrupting existing systems. Built on Connected Finance™, the solution combines seamless web integration, real-time Morningstar data, and advisor-focused filtering with full accessibility and regulatory compliance from day one. The result is a fast, scalable, and low-maintenance experience that enhances NEI’s digital presence while giving teams complete control going forward.
Use Case
Northwest & Ethical Investments (NEI), a subsidiary of Aviso Wealth, has spent nearly four decades at the forefront of responsible investing in Canada. NEI adopts a differentiated approach to achieving investment results for Canadians, leveraging a unique global network of money managers, proprietary investment management and asset allocation, and a dedicated responsible investing team. With over C$14.3 billion in assets under management, NEI offers a comprehensive and expanding lineup of funds and portfolios designed to deliver a broad array of outcomes with financial growth at the core.
As digital expectations evolved, NEI identified the need for a modern fund discovery experience, one that could streamline how advisors and investors explore its suite of mutual funds. The solution needed to be fast, compliant, bilingual, and deeply integrated with their existing digital ecosystem.
Expero partnered with NEI to design and implement a fully integrated, accessible, bilingual Fund Explorer in approximately six weeks using the Connected Finance™ platform. The result is a modern, compliant, advisor-friendly discovery experience that elevates NEI’s digital presence without requiring a lengthy development cycle or ongoing maintenance burden.
Customer Challenges
NEI required a modern, intuitive, and compliant fund discovery experience delivered on a highly aggressive timeline. Key challenges included:
Compressed Delivery Timeline
NEI needed to upgrade its fund experience quickly, without a multi-quarter build or long design phase. The new experience had to go from concept to production rapidly while maintaining enterprise-grade reliability.
Deep Integration With Existing Systems
To support advisors, the tool needed to appear native within NEI’s website and design system, pulling data dynamically from Morningstar without requiring NEI to create new data pipelines or operational processes.
Compliance, Accessibility, and Bilingual Requirements
Canada’s regulatory and linguistic landscape introduced additional complexity:
- AODA accessibility requirements demanded that the Explorer meet strict standards from day one.
- Full bilingual support (English and French) was mandatory for regulatory compliance and for serving Quebec’s advisor community.
- This was intended to deliver all the needed features within the initial, on-time delivery without significant post-launch rework.
Advisor-Focused Discovery Experience
The tool needed to reflect how advisors actually search and filter funds by series, asset class, performance periods, and other investing attributes while connecting directly to Fund Facts and Responsible Investing documentation.
NEI needed a fast, compliant, integrated solution built with financial expertise and tested data integrations, not a generic off-the-shelf widget.
Delivered Results
Expero delivered a fully integrated Fund Explorer using the Connected Finance™ platform, providing:
Brand-Matched, Seamless Web Integration
The Explorer blends directly into NEI’s existing website and design system so the experience feels native, not bolted on. The implementation required no major restructuring of NEI’s web infrastructure.
Production-Tested Morningstar Integration
As an official Morningstar partner, Expero provided a ready-made, secure data integration layer. Performance metrics, risk data, classifications, and fund attributes flow automatically without NEI building custom pipelines or workflows.
Advisor-Oriented Fund Filtering & Exploration
The Explorer offers an intuitive structure aligned to advisor needs:
- Over 100 funds sortable by asset class, performance, series, and category
- Direct links to Fund Facts and related fund documents
This structure guides advisors toward the information most relevant to investment decisions and reinforces NEI’s position as a performance-focused asset management firm.
Accessibility & Bilingual Delivery at Launch
The platform was configured to ensure:
- Full WCAG/AODA accessibility
- Synchronized English and French content
- Consistent UX for screen reader users and bilingual advisors
- Compliance with regional regulatory requirements
No post-launch remediation was necessary.
Expero Solution
Collaborative Discovery & Alignment
Expero worked closely with NEI’s digital and compliance teams to:
- Align design and functionality with NEI’s branding and internal workflows
- Validate accessibility requirements early
- Ensure data accuracy and avoid parallel processes
Rapid Iteration & Continuous Delivery
Using Connected Finance™, Expero delivered features in rapid iterations:
- Early prototypes validated UI expectations
- Filter sets were tested with NEI’s internal teams
- Localization and accessibility were checked at each stage
- Morningstar data validation occurred in parallel with UI build
Minimal Operational Overhead for NEI
The Explorer plugs directly into NEI’s existing content workflows, meaning:
- NEI controls updates without engineering dependency
- No new technical systems were required
- No duplication of content or parallel database maintenance
The NEI Product Design Lead, Adriana Borbolla, said “My experience working with Expero on the accelerated, fully-integrated NEI Fund Explorer initiative with a highly aggressive timeline was extremely positive. The team was easy to communicate with, highly skilled, collaborative, and consistently delivered great results within short timeframes.”
Results
Launched in Six Weeks
From kickoff to production, the solution went live in roughly six weeks with no downtime, no business disruption, and no list of post-launch fixes.
Fully Bilingual & Accessible From Day One
The Explorer launched with complete French-language support and full accessibility compliance, critical for Canadian advisors and regulatory commitments.
Integrated With NEI’s Existing Systems
The platform fits seamlessly within NEI’s website, styling, and workflows, requiring no new pipelines or backend infrastructure.
NEI Maintains Ongoing Control
Fund updates flow through existing NEI content processes, ensuring:
- No reliance on Expero for daily updates
- No additional technical overhead
- A future-proof solution adaptable to fund lineup changes
Takeaway
The NEI Fund Explorer demonstrates the power of combining financial domain expertise with a flexible, pre-integrated platform. Expero enabled NEI to deliver a modern, compliant, bilingual fund discovery experience in just six weeks without straining internal resources or requiring major system changes.
By leveraging Connected Finance™, NEI gained a scalable, low-maintenance solution that supports advisors, strengthens brand positioning, and provides a foundation for continued innovation across their digital ecosystem.
Overview
Northwest & Ethical Investments (NEI), a subsidiary of Aviso Wealth, has spent nearly four decades at the forefront of responsible investing in Canada. NEI adopts a differentiated approach to achieving investment results for Canadians, leveraging a unique global network of money managers, proprietary investment management and asset allocation, and a dedicated responsible investing team. With over C$14.3 billion in assets under management, NEI offers a comprehensive and expanding lineup of funds and portfolios designed to deliver a broad array of outcomes with financial growth at the core.
As digital expectations evolved, NEI identified the need for a modern fund discovery experience, one that could streamline how advisors and investors explore its suite of mutual funds. The solution needed to be fast, compliant, bilingual, and deeply integrated with their existing digital ecosystem.
Expero partnered with NEI to design and implement a fully integrated, accessible, bilingual Fund Explorer in approximately six weeks using the Connected Finance™ platform. The result is a modern, compliant, advisor-friendly discovery experience that elevates NEI’s digital presence without requiring a lengthy development cycle or ongoing maintenance burden.
The Challenge
NEI required a modern, intuitive, and compliant fund discovery experience delivered on a highly aggressive timeline. Key challenges included:
Compressed Delivery Timeline
NEI needed to upgrade its fund experience quickly, without a multi-quarter build or long design phase. The new experience had to go from concept to production rapidly while maintaining enterprise-grade reliability.
Deep Integration With Existing Systems
To support advisors, the tool needed to appear native within NEI’s website and design system, pulling data dynamically from Morningstar without requiring NEI to create new data pipelines or operational processes.
Compliance, Accessibility, and Bilingual Requirements
Canada’s regulatory and linguistic landscape introduced additional complexity:
- AODA accessibility requirements demanded that the Explorer meet strict standards from day one.
- Full bilingual support (English and French) was mandatory for regulatory compliance and for serving Quebec’s advisor community.
- This was intended to deliver all the needed features within the initial, on-time delivery without significant post-launch rework.
Advisor-Focused Discovery Experience
The tool needed to reflect how advisors actually search and filter funds by series, asset class, performance periods, and other investing attributes while connecting directly to Fund Facts and Responsible Investing documentation.
NEI needed a fast, compliant, integrated solution built with financial expertise and tested data integrations, not a generic off-the-shelf widget.
Our Solution
Our Approach
Collaborative Discovery & Alignment
Expero worked closely with NEI’s digital and compliance teams to:
- Align design and functionality with NEI’s branding and internal workflows
- Validate accessibility requirements early
- Ensure data accuracy and avoid parallel processes
Rapid Iteration & Continuous Delivery
Using Connected Finance™, Expero delivered features in rapid iterations:
- Early prototypes validated UI expectations
- Filter sets were tested with NEI’s internal teams
- Localization and accessibility were checked at each stage
- Morningstar data validation occurred in parallel with UI build
Minimal Operational Overhead for NEI
The Explorer plugs directly into NEI’s existing content workflows, meaning:
- NEI controls updates without engineering dependency
- No new technical systems were required
- No duplication of content or parallel database maintenance
The NEI Product Design Lead, Adriana Borbolla, said “My experience working with Expero on the accelerated, fully-integrated NEI Fund Explorer initiative with a highly aggressive timeline was extremely positive. The team was easy to communicate with, highly skilled, collaborative, and consistently delivered great results within short timeframes.”
Results
Launched in Six Weeks
From kickoff to production, the solution went live in roughly six weeks with no downtime, no business disruption, and no list of post-launch fixes.
Fully Bilingual & Accessible From Day One
The Explorer launched with complete French-language support and full accessibility compliance, critical for Canadian advisors and regulatory commitments.
Integrated With NEI’s Existing Systems
The platform fits seamlessly within NEI’s website, styling, and workflows, requiring no new pipelines or backend infrastructure.
NEI Maintains Ongoing Control
Fund updates flow through existing NEI content processes, ensuring:
- No reliance on Expero for daily updates
- No additional technical overhead
- A future-proof solution adaptable to fund lineup changes
Takeaway
The NEI Fund Explorer demonstrates the power of combining financial domain expertise with a flexible, pre-integrated platform. Expero enabled NEI to deliver a modern, compliant, bilingual fund discovery experience in just six weeks without straining internal resources or requiring major system changes.
By leveraging Connected Finance™, NEI gained a scalable, low-maintenance solution that supports advisors, strengthens brand positioning, and provides a foundation for continued innovation across their digital ecosystem.
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