Latest news with #AndrewLo
Borneo Post
2 days ago
- Business
- Borneo Post
SBEU calls out committee overseeing MTUC for 'overstepping mandate' on congress exclusion from ILC
Andrew Lo KUCHING (June 4): The Sarawak Bank Employees Union (SBEU) has criticised the Joint Special Committee (JBK) overseeing the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) for allegedly overstepping its mandate by protesting the government's decision to exclude MTUC from the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland. SBEU chief executive officer Andrew Lo said the union had been made aware that the JBK had misused its platform to issue a protest statement. 'We are very concerned at such a statement as this is not within the mandate of the Joint Special Committee to nominate any officials to be a delegate. 'In absence of such a nomination, the government is unable to grant credentials from MTUC,' he said in a statement. Lo, who is also Labour Law Reform Coalition (LLRC) deputy president, pointed out that the JBK was only empowered to conduct a Special Delegate Conference to elect new MTUC office bearers, and to administer MTUC affairs temporarily. 'On 21 Feb 2025, pursuant to a High Court Order (with the consent of the disputing parties), a Joint Special Committee shall be formed for the Malaysian Trades Union Congress with very specific role to conduct a Special Delegate Conference to elect new office bearers. 'Such Special Delegate Conference shall be carried out within 90 days from February 21, 2025, to i.e. May 22, 2025. 'It is unfortunate that the Joint Special Committee was unable to conduct the Special Delegate Conference within the stipulated time. As a result, as to date, there is no new officer bearers to carry out the functions of MTUC.' He stressed that by the consent order, the JBK's only role was to hold the Special Delegate Conference and to perform administration of MTUC until May 22 this year. 'It does not give the Joint Special Committee the mandate to nominate anyone to be a delegate of, or to represent MTUC, at any conference or organisation. 'Such actions may be seen as contempt of Court and MTUC may be sanctioned by the court,' he said. Lo stressed that it is imperative that MTUC gets its internal issues in order. 'This is so that we can play our proper role to represent the interest of workers in Malaysia. 'These should be the priority instead of harping about attending a foreign conference,' he said. On June 3, MTUC JBK chairman J Solomon in a statement had expressed shock over the failure of the Ministry of Human Resources to include MTUC, which is the official workers' representative in the official Malaysian delegation, in the ILC for the first time ever. 'The ministry has registered 40 government officials and eight employer representatives, but not a single representative from MTUC. 'This is a clear violation of the ILO Constitution, which requires full tripartite representation,' he said. He described the exclusion as an 'extreme embarrassment to Malaysia and the ministry officials especially when it is currently the chairman of the Asean.' 'It is an action that equates to backward countries like of Myanmar,' he said. He said MTUC has since filed a formal complaint with the ILO Credentials Committee over this serious breach.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Posthaste: U.S.-Canada trade war getting in the way of RESP contributions
The Canada-United States trade war is affecting anxious Canadian parents' ability to save for their children's education, according to a new study by registered education savings plan (RESP) provider Embark Student Corp. Almost two-thirds of parents are concerned about trade tensions and nearly half said it has impacted their ability to save for their child's education, according to the survey of 1,000 parents with children under the age of five. And 60 per cent said it has changed how they approach savings and 55 per cent said it has impacted their investment strategies. These tariff anxieties are only adding to the mounting challenges facing new parents today, including a lack of sleep and the rising cost of education. Almost 80 per cent of parents said they are regularly woken up by their children, with 41 per cent indicating they are getting six or fewer hours of sleep per night and 37 per cent admitted to making financial decisions they regretted while being sleep-deprived. 'This survey shows that new parents are facing a perfect storm: a lack of sleep, everyday challenges of raising young children, rising costs, and now, trade tensions,' Andrew Lo, chief executive of Embark, said in a press release. The most common reason parents gave for not opening an RESP was not having enough money, followed by fear of their financial situation changing and worries about having to make regular contributions. Rising education costs have increased the challenge. Children born in 2024 are projected to pay 36 per cent more compared to today, according to Embark's estimates. However, 82 per cent still consider their child's education a top priority, ranking higher than the 77 per cent who said paying down debt and the 72 per cent who said saving for retirement were a top priority. A majority of the parents surveyed spend a lot of time thinking about how they'll pay for post-secondary education and wish they had more knowledge about saving and investing for it. Lo recommended shifting from a 'saving is impossible' to an 'every little bit counts' mindset to navigate economic uncertainty. 'It's easy to get discouraged by market volatility, but even contributing a little each month to your child's RESP can make a big difference over time,' he said. 'Government grants alone can match up to 20 per cent of your RESP contributions, delivering immediate value before factoring in compound growth and investment gains.' But the outlook is gloomy for many Canadian parents, with 67 per cent believing it's difficult to balance their family's current needs with their long-term financial goals and 21 per cent who think Canada-U.S. trade relations have permanently changed for the worse. to get Posthaste delivered straight to your U.S. economy shrank at the start of the year, restrained by weaker consumer spending and an even bigger impact from trade than initially reported. Gross domestic product decreased at a 0.2 per cent annualized pace in the first quarter, the second estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed Thursday. That compared with an initially reported 0.3 per cent decline. The economy's primary growth engine — consumer spending — advanced 1.2 per cent, down from an initial estimate of 1.8 per cent and the weakest pace in almost two years. Meantime, net exports subtracted nearly five percentage points from the GDP calculation, slightly more than the first projection and the largest on record. The slight upward revision in GDP reflected stronger business investment and a greater accumulation of inventories. Federal government spending wasn't as much of a drag as originally reported. — Bloomberg Today's Data: Canada real GDP for the first quarter, monthly real GDP for March, Ottawa's fiscal monitor for March, United States personal income and consumption for April, advance economic indicators report for April and University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for May Earnings: Lowe's Cos. Inc., Laurentian Bank of Canada, Canopy Growth Corp. Trump's move to block foreign students from Harvard sends shockwaves within Canadian circles David Rosenberg: Latest labour data shows Canadians are begging the Bank of Canada for renewed rate relief Noah Solomon: You can't always get what you want — the tariff rendition How spousal RRSPs can reduce taxes without getting you in trouble Summer often ushers in a more carefree financial attitude, but with lingering higher interest rates and the current geopolitical climate affecting household budgets, funds for summer fun might be limited, especially when also dealing with debt. When you are feeling financial strain, typical trips involving travel, lodging, and daily expenses might seem unrealistic. However, with careful planning and a focus on budget-friendly choices, a memorable summer without overspending is possible, writes Mary Castillo. Find out more. Are you worried about having enough for retirement? Do you need to adjust your portfolio? Are you starting out or making a change and wondering how to build wealth? Are you trying to make ends meet? Drop us a line at wealth@ with your contact info and the gist of your problem and we'll find some experts to help you out while writing a Family Finance story about it (we'll keep your name out of it, of course). Want to learn more about mortgages? Mortgage strategist Robert McLister's Financial Post column can help navigate the complex sector, from the latest trends to financing opportunities you won't want to miss. Plus check his mortgage rate page for Canada's lowest national mortgage rates, updated daily. Visit the Financial Post's YouTube channel for interviews with Canada's leading experts in business, economics, housing, the energy sector and more. Today's Posthaste was written by Noella Ovid with additional reporting from Financial Post staff, The Canadian Press and Bloomberg. Have a story idea, pitch, embargoed report, or a suggestion for this newsletter? Email us at posthaste@ How Canada and Mexico could grow trade amid U.S. tariff fallout 'Buy Canadian' boosts beauty business. Will tariffs end up reversing that?
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Crystal International Advances Smart Manufacturing
Crystal International Group Limited released its 2024 sustainability report outlining the apparel manufacturer's sustainability vision, strategies, key initiatives, achievements, and performance. The Hong Kong-based company produces denim, lifestyle apparel, sportswear and outdoor apparel, intimates, knits and fabrics across its production facilities in Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. More from Sourcing Journal Teamsters President: 'UPS Will Be in for a Hell of a Fight' After Layoffs UPS Slashes 20,000 Jobs as it Weans Off Amazon Cone Denim Outlines Sustainability Gains in New Report In the report, CEO Andrew Lo described 2024 as a year of gradual recovery amidst geopolitical and macroeconomic challenges. Despite this, the company's efforts to reduce its environmental impact progressed. In 2024, Crystal's net zero target was validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. The company's long-term target is to reduce absolute Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent by 2050, based on a 2022 baseline. As Crystal's production scale gradually increases, the denim factory in Vietnam has expanded its existing wastewater treatment plant by adding a new treatment unit. Currently, the factory is using up to 60 percent recycled water in its production processes. Using sustainable inputs continues to be a priority. In 2024, 40 percent of Crystal's sportswear fabrics incorporated recycled polyester, while around 85 percent of its denim was BCI cotton. In Vietnam, 55 percent of the raw materials were certified with GRS or Recycled Claim Standard certification. In 2024, 80 percent of Crystal's chemicals conformed to the highest level 3 of the ZDHC MRSL. The report also gives insight into Crystal's investments in new technologies. Crystal's Digital Product Creation Center, which was established in 2022, is meeting the increasing demand for 3D virtual sampling. The number of physical samples shipped by Crystal's denim division to customers in 2024 decreased by more than 50 percent compared to 2018. The company is scaling smart manufacturing for denim to prepare for increased capacity, which is aimed at nearly doubling by 2029 compared to 2023. Crystal's denim factory in Vietnam is currently being transitioned to smart manufacturing. The overhaul includes a smart warehouse management system, a smart AGV system, a smart cutting system and smart production lines. Additionally, RFID technology is being utilized to identify and track the movement of semi-finished and finished products along the production process. Crystal said this advancement helps streamline inventory management, reduces the risk of loss or misplacement and enhances quality control by identifying issues swiftly. The overhaul is expected to be completed in mid-2026. Crystal said the denim team will continue to explore the application of artificial intelligence in the production processes, ensuring that we remain at the forefront of innovation in the industry. The newly extended drying hanger system at Crystal's denim factory in Cambodia enhanced the capacity of the pre-drying process, reducing the dryer's operation time by 20 minutes on average. Stretching 5,640 feet, it is the longest drying hanger track among Crystal's denim factories. The report states that it saved approximately 22 percent of steam and 3 percent of electricity consumption, resulting in an annual reduction of around 350 tonnes of carbon emissions. Crystal is planning to expand its FLAP model (short Finishing Center, Logistics Center, Assembly Center and Parts Manufacturing Center), which serves as a blueprint for automating its knits division. The model is being piloted at one of Crystal's lifestyle apparel factories in China. Colleagues from sister factories participating in months-long, in-depth training sessions at the factory to equip them with the knowledge and experience needed to implement FLAP at their factories. In general, Crystal is expediting its factories' transition to automation. Over 300 automated machines and robots in Crystal's knits factories in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Bangladesh since 2023. The technologies have reduced the amount of time it takes to produce a basic T-shirt by 34 percent compared to 2020. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Cision Canada
29-05-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Half of Canadian parents' ability to save for education impacted in the wake of Canada-U.S. trade tensions
A national survey reveals current economic challenges have created the perfect storm for many new families currently struggling to stay afloat. TORONTO, May 29, 2025 /CNW/ - A new survey from Embark, a leading provider of Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs), reveals that Canadian parents with young children are increasingly concerned about Canada-U.S. trade tensions and economic uncertainty, which has affected their approach to saving and their ability to save for their children's education. The poll, which highlights the significant pressures parents with kids under the age of five face in Canada, found two-thirds (66%) of parents were concerned about Canada-U.S. trade tensions, with 60% claiming that it has changed their approach to savings. Roughly half went one step further, mentioning that tensions have affected their investment strategies (55%) and their ability to save for their child's education (49%). "This survey shows that new parents are facing a perfect storm: a lack of sleep, everyday challenges of raising young children, rising costs, and now, trade tensions," said Andrew Lo, President and CEO of Embark. "It's easy to get discouraged by market volatility, but even contributing a little each month to your child's RESP can make a big difference over time. Government grants alone can match up to 20% of your RESP contributions, delivering immediate value before factoring in compound growth and investment gains. Mounting Challenges of Early Parenthood For many new parents, tariff anxieties are only adding to the already mounting challenges of parenthood, including a lack of sleep, financial roadblocks to investing, and the rising cost of education. The survey found that 79% of parents with young children are regularly woken up by their kids, with 41% stating they are chronically sleep deprived (getting six or fewer hours of sleep per night). This exhaustion not only affects physical and emotional well-being but also their ability to make sound financial decisions. Over a third (37%) of tired and stressed parents admitted to regretting financial choices made while sleep deprived. When asked what roadblocks parents face when considering opening a RESP, 32% of parents said they do not have enough money to contribute to one, while 27% fear their financial situation may change, and 19% worry about having to make regular contributions. Additional Findings The survey also found: 32% of parents think Canada-U.S. trade will get a bit better but won't go completely back to normal and 21% believe that things will permanently change for the worse. A little over two-thirds of parents (67%) believe it's difficult to find the time and energy to focus on both their family's current needs and long-term financial goals. With the cost of education steadily increasing, 60% of parents worry they won't be able to afford the rising cost of education. Embark estimates that children born in 2024 are projected to pay 36% more compared to today[i]. Saving for their child's education is a top financial priority for 82% of parents—ranking higher than paying down debt (77%) or saving for retirement (72%). Nearly two-thirds (63%) also say they spend a lot of time thinking about how they'll afford post-secondary education, and 70% wish they had more knowledge about saving and investing for it. Planning Through Stress and Uncertainty While parents overwhelmingly (90%) see value in post-secondary education for their kids, many are not taking advantage of RESPs, leaving valuable government grants untapped. The survey found that only 52% of parents with children under five are actively saving for their child's education using a dedicated account. Lo recommends families consider these four tips to navigate economic uncertainty: Shift from "saving is impossible" to "every little bit counts." Starting early, even with small contributions, can unlock a world of opportunity and ensure that every child has a chance to pursue their dreams. Learn more about how your savings can grow by using our free online RESP calculator. Don't miss out on free money. While it's a natural reaction to pull back in a challenging economic environment, this is exactly the time when parents should maximize valuable years of government grants and compound interest to add more to their savings. Opening a RESP online takes just 8 minutes. Treat RESP as a long-term savings vehicle. It can be easy to get overwhelmed by a volatile market but a well-designed RESP should be resilient through short-term market fluctuations, maximize growth potential in the early years and reduce risk as school approaches. Learn more about our Glidepath strategy here. Now is the time when risk matters. In uncertain markets, risk matters. Think about how you can strike a balance between growth and protection. RESPs offer exceptional value—you get up to an additional 20% on your savings before factoring in investment returns. Regularly saving can also smooth risk over time through dollar-cost averaging. To learn more about how Embark can help you save for your child's education, go to About Embark Student Corp. Embark is Canada's education savings and planning company. With $6.6 billion in assets under management, the company is committed to empowering families along their post-secondary journeys, giving them the resources and tools they need to better save for all that comes with an education. Registered as a Scholarship Plan Dealer across Canada, the company manages almost 600,000 RESPs. Last year students withdrew over $663 million to help pay for their education with an Embark plan. Burson used the Leger Opinion online panel to survey 1,000 Canadian parents with children under the age of five. The survey was completed between April 30 and May 6, 2025. No margin of error can be associated with a non-probability sample (i.e., a web panel in this case). For comparative purposes, a probability sample of 1,000 respondents would have a margin of error of ±3%, 19 times out of 20.
San Francisco Chronicle
27-05-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Is your money in good hands with an AI financial adviser?
The global market turbulence of the past few months sparked by President Donald Trump's shifting tariff policies has provoked anxiety for many people worried about their 401(k)s and other savings but perhaps lacking the expertise to understand their options to keep their money safe and their investments growing. Financial advisers are the traditional source of that expertise, but it carries a price tag that some personal investors might not feel they can afford. As artificial intelligence becomes smarter and more human-like, could a machine potentially take on the role of a financial adviser — at little or no cost? 'One of the biggest challenges that we face in finance is financial advice,' said Andrew Lo, professor of finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. 'How do we deal with various different investors' needs to manage their portfolio to achieve certain objectives?' I spoke to AI and financial experts, as well as founders of some Bay Area-based companies that say their AI-powered products can offer users personalized financial advice. What I found is that AI is getting close to being able to do the job of a financial adviser, but the technology is not quite there yet. Welcome to Hella Expensive, a column designed to help readers navigate the financial aspects of living in the Bay Area. I'll be keeping an eye on current issues, trends and what's going on with the overall economic outlook — but I also want to hear from you. Send your financial questions and concerns to me through the survey below, or email me at Financial advisers are hired to help their clients plan their financial futures and manage their money. The decision to hire a financial adviser is a very personal one. It can be motivated by concerns about your money and investments during periods of market volatility or economic uncertainty. It can often come during a major life event, such as buying a home, saving up for your children's college tuition or planning for retirement. You may be someone looking to increase their financial literacy, or you're a high-net-worth individual. The fees for a financial adviser can vary. Some are paid only from the services they provide, while others receive client fees as well as commissions from the products they sell. According to a report from advisery HQ, the average financial adviser fee was 1.02% of a client's assets in 2023. So if you have $300,000 in an account, you can expect to pay about $3,060 in fees. How much can an AI chatbot tell me? AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot continue to undergo refinements to make them more accurate and sophisticated. So how far have they gotten in the realm of dispensing financial advice? Lo is also director of the MIT Laboratory for Financial Engineering, and has been researching this very question with a team of five students, using large language models (LLMs) or AI programs that can understand and generate human language. Their research has identified three primary challenges for LLMs to act as financial advisers. The easiest to overcome is ensuring that LLMs have the body of knowledge required for the task. They are already about 90% of the way there, Lo said. The second hurdle, according to Lo, is 'can large language models take information from a human and use that information to customize financial advice so that it is suitable for them?' He said providing such individually appropriate advice is part of an adviser's responsibility, and if they don't do that, they could have their license revoked or perhaps even be prosecuted criminally. LLMs can currently take a person's circumstances such as their income, savings and financial goals, and come up with a relatively solid financial plan, according to Lo. He said his team has been training LLMs on a database of individual financial circumstances, and it's in the testing phase now. But there is more to refine, and Lo said the researchers are about 80% done. 'The third and I think the most challenging problem is the issue of ethics and morality when it comes to providing advice to a human client,' Lo said. In the financial realm, this is known as fiduciary duty. A financial adviser is required by law to put the interest of their clients ahead of their own, Lo said. While they can certainly charge them a fee for their services, it 'has to be secondary to the client's best interest.' 'You and I know what that means, but how do you explain that to a machine?' Lo said. 'So we have been working on the whole notion of ethical behavior, both human and ultimately AI, and try to understand what kind of guardrails we need, what kind of intelligence are we talking about in terms of the artificial.' He said his team is in the very early stages of solving this issue, working with 'large amounts of historical information regarding various kinds of ethical dilemmas that have plagued financial advisers.' With that information, Lo believes his team can create an ethics and fiduciary model to ensure the advice given is in the best interest of the client. Brian Stormont, managing partner and financial adviser for Insight Wealth Strategies in San Ramon, said AI could be 'very beneficial' to a do-it-yourself type person. As a user of AI, he said, sometimes answers to financial issues are 'quite precise.' But overall he's found 'interactions to be all over the map in terms of satisfaction.' 'For many people, the financial landscape is still so multi-faceted,' he wrote in an email. 'People will need someone who can translate their personal situation and objectives into actionable task items and set them on the right path.' Personalizing financial advice The financial world has been embracing AI in a number of ways, with many large institutions now offering customers access to AI assistants and robo-advisers. Some Bay Area-based startups market themselves as the alternative to hiring a pricey financial adviser. Users connect their brokerage and bank accounts to the platform, and can receive some basic services. If they upgrade to a membership fee, they can get customized financial and investment recommendations. Mezzi, a financial management app, is described by CEO and co-founder Manish Jain as 'an AI wealth copilot.' It currently offers only a paid annual membership to build wealth, but Jain said a free plan is in the works. 'Mezzi provides proactive, real-time insights and 24/7 answers for portfolio management, diversification, risk reduction, and tax savings on demand to build and manage wealth,' Jain wrote in an email. 'One of our core offerings is like a private ChatGPT for your portfolio that leverages your background and goals to provide you with personalized insights.' Jain said Mezzi 'leverages AI' to educate and inform users, and offer ideas and suggestions, 'but the user remains in control and makes all final decisions about their investments. He said using AI alone, such as through a chatbot, could be susceptible to hallucinations, and doesn't provide live financial markets data. 'We've done a lot of heavy lifting to leverage brokerage and market data to deliver insights in a deterministic and accurate way, so we don't have to rely on an LLM like ChatGPT to deliver what could be a potentially inaccurate answer,' he said. Mezzi uses a hybrid approach of blending LLMs with conventional data and information systems to increase accuracy, he said. According to Jain, Mezzi offers information and suggestions with 'complete transparency' and doesn't recommend any financial products for a commission, therefore avoiding conflicts of interest. 'Mezzi is best for people who want to be the final decision maker, but looking to be better informed while saving time and money,' he said. In 2021 Alexander Harmsen sold his previous company, Iris Automation. He bought a home in the Bay Area and started his family, and figured it was time to find a financial adviser. But he felt like they were salespeople with too many clients, trying to sell him expensive funds. 'I wanted an adviser in the true sense of the word adviser,' he said, who could help him with everything from estate planning to managing his net worth. So he built his own platform instead called PortfolioPilot, which uses a complex hybrid AI approach. It incorporates many different models including LLMs as well as a dynamic factor model, which the 'Fed uses to model our interest rates, credit conditions, GDP and inflation,' according to Harmsen. 'As people interact with the product, it becomes more and more personalized,' he said. Users answer 10 onboarding questions about their goals and preferences, then connect their investment accounts. Harmsen said they can get a financial report card for free, and if they want more personalized financial advice, they can sign up for a membership. PortfolioPilot services include investment recommendations, tax impacts, access to an AI assistant and estate planning. He said the advice can range from the medium term of what to do over the next year, to the very long term and how to get yourself set up for retirement. But for these financial service platforms to be useful, users need to have accumulated some wealth. Jain said Mezzi's average user tends to be someone who has 'started to accumulate some complexity' with multiple accounts and growing wealth — generally Millennials and Gen-Xers with $100,000 to $5 million in net worth. And while the platforms can be helpful for financial literacy and recommendations, professional help is likely still needed for more complex matters. Jain said Mezzi's insights are 'restricted to personal wealth management of liquid assets,' and doesn't handle tax filing, estate planning or business tax analysis. 'We suggest users consult a tax expert or financial planner if they want insights beyond Mezzi's current scope or if they want someone else to make the decisions and take action,' he said, such as investing or moving money. Harmsen said while their offerings are 'pretty robust,' they are also 'very clear about the limitations and by no means promise certain returns,' he said, adding that the company has a compliance program to ensure it adheres to applicable laws, regulations and ethical standards. He wants to eventually build an entire ecosystem that includes partner CPAs, lawyers and other professionals to make wealth building more seamless for users. What's on the horizon Jain at Mezzi said some processes take a lot of engineering resources, which can be time-consuming and costly. 'Right now we can't rely on an AI agent to reliably recall and process information to produce high-level insights on its own with high accuracy,' he said. 'We spend a significant amount of time building processing and insights manually using conventional data science.' His hope is that systems will eventually be developed that eliminate the need for manual coding of processing and insight generation. Lo said after his team solves the three main challenges, their ultimate goal is to develop a financial adviser using an LLM and offer it for free to the public. It would benefit individuals who need it the most, particularly low-income people who can't afford to pay for financial advice. 'It won't do everything,' he said. 'Certainly it won't dispense the kind of advice that a high-net worth individual would need and like access to, but our view is that they're already being well served by financial institutions, so we don't need to solve that problem.' The LLMs would be trained similarly to how a junior financial adviser would be, Lo explained. A big obstacle is avoiding AI hallucinations. And once the software is complete, another major challenge would be getting regulators to sign off on it. The whole process could take three to five years. In the meantime, Lo's team plans to post a list of ideal prompts to use when asking AI chatbots for financial advice, which he hopes to do by year-end. Lo encourages people to spend time with an AI chatbot and 'get to know it.' Use different ones, as they each have their own 'quirks, strengths and weaknesses.' Ask it a lot of questions, starting with topics you are most familiar with such as your profession, to get a sense of how much the LLM actually knows. Then start asking financial questions to gauge accuracy and temperament.
