In the financial market, professional credentials carry real weight; they define what someone can do, how they operate, and what value they deliver. That is why the AIS (Autonomous Investment Structurer) designation created by BlockBR is so important.
If you currently work with—or plan to work with—an asset tokenization infrastructure for the regulated financial market, understanding this model is essential, and this content will guide you on that journey.
What is an AIS (Autonomous Investment Structurer), and how did this model come about?
An AIS (Autonomous Investment Structurer) is an independent financial professional who does not merely distribute products created by third parties. They originate transactions, structure assets, and bring them to market within a regulated environment, maintaining true autonomy over the process and a revenue model commensurate with the value they generate at each stage of the transaction.
In the international context, the term was coined to address a specific communication problem.
The EAI (Autonomous Investment Structurer) model, which is well-established in Brazil, has no direct equivalent in English that is immediately recognizable to global market professionals, since the acronym is easily confused with “broker-dealer”—a term used in the U.S. to refer to financial intermediaries that operate under a different model: they distribute and act as intermediaries, but do not necessarily structure the transaction from scratch.
AIS formalizes a broader model using international terminology.
How has the role of the independent financial professional evolved into the AIS model?
For years, the independent financial professional was associated with the role of investment advisor—someone positioned between the investor and the off-the-shelf products offered by third parties. Their income depended on the commissions generated from distribution, and their autonomy was, in practice, limited to the portfolio made available by the partner institution.
The EAI model emerged in Brazil with BlockBR as an evolution of that role.
The Independent Investment Structurer began to originate transactions, negotiate structures, and allocate assets while taking a direct stake in the transaction—not just earning a sales commission.
AIS is the international designation for this same model, with a scope that is recognized in the global market.
What does an AIS (Autonomous Investment Structurer) actually do?
To understand what an AIS does, it is necessary to distinguish between the traditional distribution model and the autonomous structuring model. The difference determines who controls the process, who captures the value, and how the operation is structured from start to finish.
How does AIS originate, structure, and distribute assets within the regulated market?
The operational cycle of an AIS consists of three integrated stages:
- Origination: AIS identifies the opportunity, assesses its economic feasibility, and matches the asset with the appropriate investor profile before any structure is put in place.
- Structuring: models the financial transaction, defines collateral, payment flows, governance, and the legal structure best suited to the asset and the target investor.
- Distribution: brings the asset to market within a regulated environment, assuming responsibility for the process and receiving a structured share of the revenue generated.
This model requires infrastructure. It is not possible to operate under this standard in isolation; it requires integrated layers of technology, legal, compliance, and regulated entities.
This is exactly where BlockBR’s infrastructure comes in as the operational foundation for AIS: it delivers these layers in an integrated manner, allowing professionals to operate according to institutional standards without having to build each component from scratch.
What is the difference between distributing a product and setting up an operation?
Distributing a product means selecting, from a product lineup already curated by a third party, the item that best fits the customer’s profile. The professional acts as an intermediary; their role ends with the recommendation or the execution of the order.
Structuring an operation is a process that differs in both nature and responsibility.
AIS defines what will be offered, how it will be structured legally, what guarantees will underpin the transaction, and how the cash flow will be organized. Its revenue comes from its equity stake, not from a distribution commission on a product created by someone else.
This distinction is at the heart of the AIS model and is what sets it apart from a traditional broker-dealer or a conventional financial advisor.
Why is the AIS (Autonomous Investment Structurer) model important to the market?
Asset management firms, family offices, and sophisticated corporate structures have needs that go beyond asset allocation recommendations. They require professionals capable of establishing operations with a solid legal framework, appropriate governance, and distribution capabilities within the regulated market. AIS directly addresses this need.
For the market, having an AIS means having access to a professional who understands the asset from its inception, who helped design the transaction, and whose incentives are aligned with the success of the structure—not with the sale of an off-the-shelf product.
This changes the nature of the relationship and the level of technical responsibility involved.
In this context, asset tokenization ceases to be an abstract concept and becomes a concrete operational tool: AIS uses the available infrastructure to structure and distribute digital assets with traceability, efficiency, and scale within the regulated environment.
This is particularly relevant in a scenario where the CVM’s agenda for tokenization is redefining the rules governing market operations.
The result is a model in which the AIS operates with true autonomy, supported by an institutional infrastructure that enables scalability without resorting to ad hoc regulation.
To understand how the future of the capital markets is taking shape, the AIS model is one of the most concrete answers available today.
Frequently Asked Questions About the AIS (Autonomous Investment Structurer) Model
What is an AIS (Autonomous Investment Structurer)?
An AIS is an independent financial professional who originates transactions, structures assets, and distributes them within the regulated market, with genuine autonomy and a revenue model based on a structural share of the transaction, rather than on commissions from the distribution of third-party products.
It is the international designation for the EAI model established in Brazil, created to accurately convey the scope of this role to markets that are familiar with the broker-dealer industry but do not have a direct equivalent for the independent structurer.
Are AIS and broker-dealer the same thing?
No. U.S. broker-dealers distribute and facilitate financial transactions within a regulated environment, but they do not necessarily originate or structure the assets they distribute.
AIS goes a step further: it is involved in the process from the moment an opportunity is identified, designs the operation, and only then distributes it, assuming technical responsibility and financial participation at every stage. These are models with points of contact, but with distinct scopes and revenue models.
Can an AIS create and structure assets, rather than just distribute them?
Yes, and that is precisely the key distinction of the model. AIS does not operate based on a portfolio of products created by third parties. It identifies opportunities, assesses feasibility, structures the financial and legal framework of the transaction, and offers it to qualified investors within the regulated market.
To operate under this model, AIS relies on integrated infrastructure—such as that offered by BlockBR—which provides technology, compliance, legal services, and regulated agents within a single operational architecture.
