Challenges
In an industry rooted in customer outcomes, Clifton Asset Management set out to be an innovator in financial services.
They have spent the last ten years focusing on the delivery of technology solutions to give people better financial plan outcomes.
To continue providing best-in-class experiences, Group Head of Compliance – Ian Scaife – set his sights on innovating Learning and Development to coincide with their Consumer Duty strategy.
Employee training so far had followed the default approach of bringing staff into the ‘classroom’, with a ticked box to signify the completion of training on topics such as anti-money laundering or conduct rules.
This approach failed to provide comfort to Clifton’s management team in the face of the FCA’s Consumer Duty.
The Solution
Instead, Clifton Asset Management opted to turn to a more authentic model of compliance training. They socialised an Artificial Intelligence (AI) solution called Clever Nelly, with the express purpose of embedding and reinforcing regulatory knowledge.
Over 14,163 learning interventions have been distributed by Clever Nelly since its launch. These interventions or questions were authored from Clifton’s extensive training material, built to assess and repair individual gaps in knowledge in real-time.
Users have been quick to be receptive to the light-touch nature of Nelly, preferring a continual assessment methodology over the disruptive and typically disenfranchising method of classroom-based training.
Combined with a purposeful Compelling Story, intended to prime their people and effectively communicated by senior stakeholders, Clifton have managed to maintain an impressive engagement score of 96%.
Where an employee internally logs a customer showing characteristics of vulnerability, a real-time notification is received by Clifton’s Group Head of Compliance. Responses were notably low until Clever Nelly was introduced to embed knowledge and empower staff.
Clever Nelly keeps the Consumer Duty at the forefront for Clifton. With evidential real-time data supplied by the AI, they are able to meet the regulator’s expectations and demonstrate that all employees understand their roles and responsibilities in delivering the Duty.
“Clever Nelly is a unique system that fits our objective of future-proofing Learning and Development within the firm. Personally, I feel re-invigorated to create high quality L&D material now we have a top quality system to deliver it and for us to be able to analyse the results.”
The Results
Within three months, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) solution increased employee competency by 31% across six compliance categories, and raised competency in a business-critical area – vulnerable clients – by 36%.
A significant factor behind this success has been high engagement with Clever Nelly. Elephants Don’t Forget recommend an 80% engagement rate for optimal performance; a benchmark that Clifton surpassed by 20%, maintaining an average engagement score of 96% with zero non-engaged users.
As employees are now demonstrably more competent to identify and act on their assessments, there has been a dramatic increase in vulnerability notifications.
Looking more closely at the measurable benefits achieved through Clever Nelly:
- 31% average competency improvement across all six knowledge categories after first three months
- 36% competency improvement in ‘vulnerable clients’ category in three months
- 91.8% average compliance score across all five user groups
- 96% employee engagement on average, with zero non-engaged users since launching Clever Nelly
For more information about Elephants Dont Forget - visit the Elephants Dont Forget Website
About Elephants Dont Forget
Elephants Don’t Forget is the home of Clever Nelly — a multi-award-winning, AI-powered continual assessment platform that helps organisations maintain consistent frontline performance, reduce risk, and improve operational KPIs. Find out more about Elephants Dont Forget
Author: Elephants Dont Forget
Reviewed by: Jo Robinson
Published On: 15th Apr 2026
Read more about - Industry News, Case Studies, Elephants Dont Forget
