Robo Advisor Comparison: Can A.I. Take You To Financial Success?

Before the internet, the cost of investing in the stock market was significant. If people wanted to invest, they would have to go through traditional brokerage firms, talk to “their guy (or gal)” and pay exorbitantly high commissions and fees for others to manage their money.

Robo advisors are software platforms that use digital algorithms and automation to offer financial planning and investment services to investors without direct human supervision.

Betterment

Betterment was one of the earliest robo-advisors, founded in 2008. This option provides investors with the ability to invest in a variety of different exchange-traded funds or ETFs of stocks and bonds. They offer taxable investment accounts, trusts, and traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, and SEP IRAs. As of Aug. 2019, Betterment had more than $18 billion in assets under management.

Wealthfront

Wealthfront was founded in 2008 in Palo Alto, California, and had $20 billion in assets under management as of Sept. 2019. Wealthfront offers ETFs in 11 different asset classes. In large accounts, individual stocks are also supported. However, it does not offer fractional shares.

Personal Capital

As of July 2019, the company had more than $10 billion in assets under management. It’s an online investment and financial advising platform that combines robo advisory services with access to human financial advisors. They provide access to investing in individual securities and offer tax optimization strategies. It is better for high-net-worth investors who do not want to have to actively manage their accounts.

Blooom was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Leawood, Kansas. It is a robo advisor service that offers independent management of 401(k), 403(b), TSP, and other employer-sponsored retirement plans. Investors can link their employer-sponsored plans to Blooom to receive advice about optimization.

Blooom

Fidelity Go

Next up in our robo advisor comparison is Fidelity Go, which was launched by Fidelity in 2016 and is aimed at young and newer investors. It is the introductory account in Fidelity’s suite of managed investment options and is all digital. Opening an account is pretty simple, and Fidelity Go recently dropped its minimum account balance from $5,000 to $0.

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