Predictika · Mutual fund share-class purchase orders

An AI sales agent's fund purchase order, checked before it goes out

An AI sales agent prepares a purchase of mutual fund shares, with a fund, a share class, an account type, a channel and an amount. Before it goes out, the agent sends it to Predictika, which checks it against a declarative model of the share classes and sales charge schedules and returns a verdict and every reason.

Scope: Share-class purchase orders for the Franklin DynaTech, Growth, Income, U.S. Government Securities and Utilities Funds: Class A, A1, C, R, R6 and Advisor Class, with sales charges, minimums, waivers and letters of intent. See everything this validator covers

This validator models purchases of these five Franklin funds, not just the scenarios shown below.

  • Share classes and eligibility — Class A, A1, C, R, R6 and Advisor Class, the account types each one accepts (individual, IRA, employer plan, advisory fee program, institution, tax-exempt entity, platform client and insider), and the channel they are bought through.
  • Sales charges and breakpoints — the Class A sales charge schedule of the equity-type and income-type funds, quantity discounts from existing holdings, the 13-month letter of intent, the waivers for direct, plan, advisory and platform purchases, and the 1 percent deferred sales charge windows.
  • Minimums, stated charge and reviews — the minimum initial investment of each class and account type, the sales charge stated on the order against the computed one, and the reviews that large Class C, very large and insider orders need.

Any purchase order for these funds that touches these rules is in scope — not only the scenarios pictured here. Not covered: other Franklin Templeton funds and ETFs, separately managed accounts, exchanges, redemptions and intermediary-specific waivers. Fund names, share classes, sales charge schedules, deferred charge rules, minimums and the letter of intent follow the public prospectus; a few review thresholds and eligibility checks are modeled, not published by Franklin Templeton.

The AI sales agentBuilds the fund purchase order from the conversation and says it is ready.
Predictika validatorChecks every rule at once and returns the verdict, each finding, and the computed figures.

6 scenarios in 3 groups · each group runs from the agent’s first attempt to the outcome · click one to switch

What the agent proposes

The AI sales agent says

Illustrative agent statement. The validator receives the structured request below.

Proposing agent: AI sales agent (scripted)

Before sending, the agent must call Recorded run

Predictika validator


      
Waiting for the call.

Where rules-based CPQ gets it wrong

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Our assessment of what a typical rules-based CPQ (product rules, price rules and validation rules, as in Salesforce CPQ) does with the same cases. It is a judgment about effort and reliability, not a claim that nothing can be built.

What the validator caughtTypical rules-based CPQPredictika
Share classes open to some accounts onlyOnly with care
Each of the six classes needs its own list of eligible account types and channels, and Class A1 is closed to new investors.
The class, account type and channel are in one request and checked together on every call.
Sales charge breakpoints by fund typeOnly with care
The equity-type and income-type funds have different breakpoint tables, and the rate follows the amount bought plus holdings.
The fund, amount and holdings are checked together, and the charge is computed on every call.
Letters of intent and existing holdingsOnly with workarounds
A letter of intent applies to Class A only, cannot be smaller than the purchase, and can lift the order to a lower rate.
The letter of intent, the amount and the class are checked together on every call.
Minimums that depend on class and accountOnly with care
The minimum changes with the class and the account type, and some accounts have none.
The class, account type and amount are in one request, so the right minimum is applied each time.
Stated sales charge, deferred charges and reviews of large ordersOnly with workarounds
The stated charge has to be recomputed whenever the class, amount or letter of intent changes, and each review depends on a threshold that differs by fund type.
The stated charge is a field of the request and is compared with the computed one, and every review comes back with the blocks.
Every problem returned in one answerOnly with workarounds
Rules tend to fire as a step is completed, so a rep often fixes one error and meets the next.
All findings come back together, whatever order the choices arrived in.

What this validator catches: findings from its test cases

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Every rule is checked on every call, in any order the choices arrive; one problem never hides another. Blocking findings stop the order; approval findings need a person to sign off; everything else is computed.

1A letter of intent applies only to Class A and Class A1 purchases.
2The letter of intent states 40,000 dollars, which is less than this 50,000 dollar purchase.
3Class A1 shares have been closed to new investors since September 7, 2,018; only accounts open and funded by that date can buy them.
4Class A1 shares are not offered by the Growth fund; only Class A, C, R, R6 and Advisor Class are.
5A Class C purchase of 500,000 dollars is at or above the level where Class A carries no initial sales charge; a person should confirm the share class choice.
6A Class C purchase of 1,000,000 dollars is at or above the level where Class A carries no initial sales charge; a person should confirm the share class choice.
7Class R is for employer sponsored retirement plans and IRAs on approved intermediary platforms; this account type or channel does not qualify.
8An initial investment of 999,999 dollars is below the minimum of 1,000,000 dollars for this share class and account type.
9Class R6 is for employer sponsored retirement plans, institutional investors and advisory fee programs; this account type does not qualify.
10An initial investment of 99,999 dollars is below the minimum of 100,000 dollars for this share class and account type.
11Advisor Class is for advisory fee programs, retirement plans, tax-exempt entities, qualifying employees and approved platform clients; this account type does not qualify.
12An initial investment of 999 dollars is below the minimum of 1,000 dollars for this share class and account type.
13An initial investment of 249 dollars is below the minimum of 250 dollars for this share class and account type.
14Advisory fee program and platform purchases are made through a financial intermediary, not directly from the fund.
15Employee and board-member purchase privileges follow the internal policy of each firm; a person should verify eligibility.
16An order of 5,000,000 dollars is large enough that a person should confirm it with the distributor before it is released.
17The quote states a sales charge of 187,499 cents; the prospectus schedule gives 187,500 cents.
18The quote states a sales charge of 157,600 cents; the prospectus schedule gives 157,500 cents.
19The letter of intent states 100 dollars, which is less than this 500 dollar purchase.
20The quote states a sales charge of 5 cents; the prospectus schedule gives 0 cents.
21A Class C purchase of 600,000 dollars is at or above the level where Class A carries no initial sales charge; a person should confirm the share class choice.

Scenarios and results

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The recorded result of the validator for each scenario on this page: the request the AI agent sent, the verdict, and every finding, in the order they appear above.

1. Advisor Class for an individual: A purchase of Advisor Class shares for an individual, with a letter of intent

The agent's request. Please quote a purchase of $800 of Franklin Income Fund Advisor Class shares for an individual investor, bought through a financial intermediary, under a $50,000 letter of intent. The quote states a sales charge of $50.00. It is ready to send.

Verdict: Blocked.

  • Advisor Class not available to this account. Advisor Class is for advisory fee programs, retirement plans, tax-exempt entities, qualifying employees and approved platform clients; this account type does not qualify.
  • Below the minimum initial investment. An initial investment of 800 dollars is below the minimum of 1,000 dollars for this share class and account type.
  • Letter of intent only for Class A. A letter of intent applies only to Class A and Class A1 purchases.
  • Stated sales charge does not match. The quote states a sales charge of 5,000 cents; the prospectus schedule gives 0 cents.

2. Advisor Class for an individual: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

The agent's request. Please quote a purchase of $50,000 of Franklin Income Fund Class A shares for an individual investor, bought through a financial intermediary, under a $100,000 letter of intent. The quote states a sales charge of $1,625.00. It is ready to send.

Verdict: Allowed.

  • Order summary. Sales charge rate 325 basis points on 50,000 dollars is 162,500 cents; net invested 4,837,500 cents; expense ratio 71 basis points, about 34,346 cents a year; CDSC window 0 months.

3. Class R in an IRA: A Class R purchase for an IRA, bought directly

The agent's request. Please quote a purchase of $200 of Franklin Income Fund Class R shares for an IRA, bought directly from the fund. The quote states a sales charge of $10.00. It is ready to send.

Verdict: Blocked.

  • Class R not available to this account. Class R is for employer sponsored retirement plans and IRAs on approved intermediary platforms; this account type or channel does not qualify.
  • Below the minimum initial investment. An initial investment of 200 dollars is below the minimum of 250 dollars for this share class and account type.
  • Stated sales charge does not match. The quote states a sales charge of 1,000 cents; the prospectus schedule gives 0 cents.

4. Class R in an IRA: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

The agent's request. Please quote a purchase of $5,000 of Franklin Income Fund Class R shares for an IRA, bought through a financial intermediary. The quote states no sales charge. It is ready to send.

Verdict: Allowed.

  • Order summary. Sales charge rate 0 basis points on 5,000 dollars is 0 cents; net invested 500,000 cents; expense ratio 96 basis points, about 4,800 cents a year; CDSC window 0 months.

5. Large institutional purchase: A $5,000,000 Class C purchase for an institution

The agent's request. Please quote a purchase of $5,000,000 of Franklin U.S. Government Securities Fund Class C shares for an institutional investor, bought through a financial intermediary, under a $300,000 letter of intent. The quote states a sales charge of $1.00. It is ready to send.

Verdict: Blocked.

  • Letter of intent only for Class A. A letter of intent applies only to Class A and Class A1 purchases.
  • Letter of intent below this purchase. The letter of intent states 300,000 dollars, which is less than this 5,000,000 dollar purchase.
  • Stated sales charge does not match. The quote states a sales charge of 100 cents; the prospectus schedule gives 0 cents.
  • Large Class C order. A Class C purchase of 5,000,000 dollars is at or above the level where Class A carries no initial sales charge; a person should confirm the share class choice.
  • Very large order. An order of 5,000,000 dollars is large enough that a person should confirm it with the distributor before it is released.

6. Large institutional purchase: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

The agent's request. Please quote a purchase of $5,000,000 of Franklin U.S. Government Securities Fund Class A shares for an institutional investor, bought through a financial intermediary. The quote states no sales charge. It is ready to send.

Verdict: Needs approval.

  • Very large order. An order of 5,000,000 dollars is large enough that a person should confirm it with the distributor before it is released.
  • Order summary. Sales charge rate 0 basis points on 5,000,000 dollars is 0 cents; net invested 500,000,000 cents; expense ratio 86 basis points, about 4,300,000 cents a year; CDSC window 18 months.

Narration transcript

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The text of the narrated walkthrough, step by step.

  1. Welcome to a demo of Predictika's Validator. An AI sales agent prepares a purchase of mutual fund shares, with a fund, a share class, an account type, a channel and an amount. Before it goes out, the agent sends it to Predictika, which checks it against a declarative model of the share classes and sales charge schedules and returns a verdict and every reason.
  2. I will start with the first request by the agent.
  3. The agent says. Please quote a purchase of $800 of Franklin Income Fund Advisor Class shares for an individual investor, bought through a financial intermediary, under a $50,000 letter of intent. The quote states a sales charge of $50.00. The rest of the request is on screen.
  4. Before it goes out, the agent calls the validator.
  5. Blocked, with four findings, all in one answer. Advisor Class is for advisory fee programs, retirement plans, tax-exempt entities, qualifying employees and approved platform clients; this account type does not qualify. An initial investment of 800 dollars is below the minimum of 1,000 dollars for this share class and account type. A letter of intent applies only to Class A and Class A1 purchases. The other one is on screen.
  6. The validator returned four blocking findings in one answer. A check that reads one field at a time would pass most of this; it shows only when the choices in the order are checked against each other.
  7. What this shows: for minimums that depend on class and account, a rules-based CPQ is error-prone for this.
  8. Now the agent resubmits.
  9. The corrected request. It changes the share class to Class A, the purchase amount to $50,000, the letter of intent to $100,000 and the stated sales charge to $1,625.00 (162,500 cents).
  10. It calls the validator again.
  11. This time the validator clears it.
  12. All four earlier findings are cleared.
  13. Four problems caught in one call, fixed in one pass, and a clean order. That is the value of Predictika's validator: catching mistakes before they reach the customer. Now you can try the other scenarios yourself.