Schroders, the UK-based investment house, has joined the vanguard of companies using a piece of cutting-edge new mobile technology to make its advertisements more interactive.

Aurasma, which works via a free Android or iPhone app, uses image and pattern recognition to recognise images in the real world, before delivering interactive content such as videos or 3D animations. Through Aurasma, viewers holding a smartphone or tablet towards a Schroders advertisement will see a video appear on the device, such as of a fund manager explaining their latest investment views.

Exponents of Aurasma hail it as ushering in a new age of interactive advertising, and James Cardew, Schroders’ global head of marketing, said in a statement that the technology would change the way the firm communicates with investors.

“The Aurasma-enabled ads will allow readers to hear from the fund managers directly – it is an incredibly immediate campaign and looks set to lead the way in terms of how financial institutions engage with consumers,” said Martina King, Aurasma’s managing director.

The proliferation of mobile technology apps in the wealth and asset management space has been one of the big trends of the past year or so. However, the research firm MyPrivateBanking has said from its research that the vast majority of financial institutions still have a long way to go in keeping pace with other sectors, like consumer goods, which are investing significantly in mobile technologies.

For example, last week, UBS’s wealth management arm in the Americas said it is embracing the trend of mobile technology, equipping its roster of more than 6,000 financial advisors with tools and applications. Meanwhile, JP Morgan Asset Management has launched similar apps for advisors, and SunGard, the tech firm, has launched a range of mobile solutions for wealth managers.