How risky are robo-advisors?
On the surface, robo-advising is just as safe as working with a human financial advisor. A robo-advisor's platform may include biases or errors that prevent it from achieving the best investment returns, but then again, humans are also subject to mistakes.
Robo-advisors are as safe as traditional investment services. All investing carries risks. You could choose bad investments and lose your money.
The generic cons of Robo Advisors are that they don't offer many options for investor flexibility. They tend to not follow traditional advisory services, since there is a lack of human interaction.
The problem is that most robo-advisors do not offer comprehensive exposure to these assets. This means that investors must either open separate accounts elsewhere in order to gain exposure to these asset classes, or else capitulate to accepting a portfolio consisting only of stocks and bonds.
High-net-worth investors exited robo-advisor arrangements at the highest rates. Here's how the data broke down along asset levels: $50,000 or less: A drop from 23.6% to 20.6% in 2022, which translates to a decrease of 3 percentage points.
Limited Flexibility. If you want to sell call options on an existing portfolio or buy individual stocks, most robo-advisors won't be able to help you. There are sound investment strategies that go beyond an investing algorithm.
Five-year returns from most robo-advisors range from 2%–5% per year. * And the performance of these automated investment services can vary based on asset allocation, market conditions, and other factors.
This will vary significantly depending on the risk profile of the portfolio, broader market conditions, and the specific robo-advisor used. Some robo-advisor portfolios may outperform the S&P 500 in certain years or under specific conditions, while in others, they underperform.
Robo-advisors often build portfolios using a mix of various index funds. But depending on the asset class mix and the particular index funds selected, a robo-advisor may underperform or outperform a broad equity index like the S&P 500.
The return on investment will vary by portfolio, and not everyone will have the same investment mix. Most robo-advisors don't have a long track record. But according to the Robo Report, the five-year returns (2017 to 2022) from most robo-advisors range from 2% to 5% per year.
Should retirees use robo-advisors?
When it's time to tap your retirement investments for income, a robo-advisor can help you figure out how much you can afford to withdraw without depleting your savings too soon.
Last year, roughly 30 million Americans used robo-advisors to grow their assets. Statista expects another 20 million people in the US to start using their services in the next four years, pushing the total user count to nearly 50 million.
For core investing and planning advice, a robo-advisor is a great solution because it automates much of the work that a human advisor does. And it charges less for doing so – potential savings for you. Plus, the ease of starting and managing the account can't be overstated.
Learn more about how we review products and read our advertiser disclosure for how we make money. According to our research, Wealthfront is the best overall robo-advisor due to its vast customization options, fee-free stock investing, low-interest rate borrowing, dynamic tax-loss harvesting, and other key features.
- Betterment.
- Schwab Intelligent Portfolios.
- Wealthfront.
- Fidelity Go.
- Interactive Advisors.
- M1 Finance.
- SoFi Automated Investing.
Robo-advisors cost less than traditional financial advisors. These electronic advisors typically impose annual fees of around 0.5% of assets under management, compared with 1% to 2% charged by many human advisors.
You can withdraw your balance at any time, subject to minimum account requirements. Typically, the withdrawal process takes between 3-5 business days to be completed. If you wish to keep your Robo-Advisor account active, you'll be unable to withdraw any amount that would result in your balance dropping below $100.
As with many other financial advisors, fees are paid as a percentage of your assets under the robo-advisor's care. For an account balance of $10,000, you might pay as little as $25 a year. The fee typically is swept from your account, prorated and charged monthly or quarterly.
The jury's still out on whether robo-advisors are the future. But as a financial professional, you may need to be able to articulate why and how financial planning requires a human element that robo-advisors may not deliver, as well as why prospective clients should choose you.
Because there isn't an advisor's salary to pay, robo-advisors charge a fraction of the management fee of traditional financial advisors. By nature, most robo-advisors are appropriate for beginners.
What is the largest robo-advisor?
- Vanguard Personal and Digital Advisor Services. $118.99 billion. 348,113. 12/31/2022.
- Empower (Formerly Personal Capital) $99.8 billion. 188,081. 6/14/2023.
- Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. $66.08 billion. 495,347. 12/31/2022.
- Betterment. $36.63 billion. 1,023,431. 05/01/2023.
- Wealthfront.
Target Demographic
For robo-advisors, these include Millennial and Generation Z investors who are technology-savvy and still accumulating their investable assets.
Putting Your Money in the S&P 500 Will Make You More Money
Simply putting all of your money into the S&P 500 index ETF, SPY, and forgetting about it will almost always yield higher returns than paying a financial advisor for advice. The S&P 500 beats most financial advisor portfolios most of the time.
The assets under management in the Robo-Advisors market in the United States are projected to reach US$1,459.00bn in 2024. This market segment is expected to show an annual growth rate of 7.75% from 2024 to 2027, resulting in a projected total amount of US$1,825.00bn by 2027.
Suppose you're starting from scratch and have no savings. You'd need to invest around $13,000 per month to save a million dollars in five years, assuming a 7% annual rate of return and 3% inflation rate. For a rate of return of 5%, you'd need to save around $14,700 per month.
