Best Robo-Advisors - [ 2020 Performance, Fees, & Features ]

Finding the best robo advisor to help you manage your investments isn’t that easy. Tracking financial investments can be very tasking for individuals, regardless of long-term expertise and systematic study of the market or other areas of financial interest. Sometimes, you would have to keep up with real time market analysis, manage your capital base, develop a foolproof financial target and at the same time respond swiftly to unexpected changes in investment indices that can greatly affect your financial goals. The technicalities involved in ensuring that your investments yield the target interest are quite much, and can be hard to track.

Enter Robo-Advisors- technology solutions that provide a digital platform and an automated financial planning service with almost no supervision from a human. What this means is that, you can now manage your capital effectively without worrying about the task of making the right investment decisions or tracking your investment returns daily. Robo-Advisors do the works for you while you relax and spend time on other important engagements.

In this article, we’ve reviewed the top-rated Robo-Advisor accounts that help optimize your investments and provide an automated management system for your capital. Let’s check them out!

Compare the Top Robo Advisors in 2020

Here’s a list of the best robo-advisors to help you automate your investing and manage your portfolio more efficiently in 2020.

M1 Finance

M1 finance is regarded by many as the best player in the Robo-Advisor’s competition of tactics, strategy and client satisfaction. This Robo-Advisor boasts of a smart money management system where you can actively control your investments should you decide to decrease the level of automation on your investments. An M1 finance Robo-Advisor account thus gives you a combination of automation and customized human inputs to efficiently manage your investment. Many investors choose this Robo-Advisor as it also doubles as a registered broker. Retirement investment account holders can also create investment portfolios that are specifically customized to achieve a planned financial plan.

Account Features

A customizable M1 Smart Money Management that give clients an option for human management intelligence
A Low interest rate borrowing option
A fluid money transfer system between stocks and investments
Guaranteed account protection and insured investment up to $500,000 based on account type
Subscription level features with useful financial info packs as rewards

Fees and Pricing

M1 finance Robo Advisor offers all its features with no trading fees or management fees. Commission fees are also no deducted on any transaction or investment made. However, a minimum of $100 is required to start investing. For retirement accounts, the minimum amount required is $500

Pros

A free investing platform
An hybrid of human financial intelligence and automated services
Clients can build their own portfolios and also choose their investments
Clients earn more and by trading fractional shares with no excess cash

Cons

Dormant accounts with little or no financial activities for up to 90 consecutive days are charged an account management fee.
M1 finance accounts with less than $20 are also charged
Unlike other Robo-Advisors, M1 finance offers no online platform chats features yet
Account holders have complained severally on inadequate help in setting an optimized financial goal
Currently, the digital platform offers no account consolidation tool.

Bottom Line

M1 finance is by all measures a great financial management platform when the features available are compared with other Robo-Advisors. It is specially recommended for DIY investors and beginners in the investment clime.

Betterment

This Robo-Advisor has gained relevance in the investment game with its easy-to-use features and an excellent platform-client interface. Regarded as a pioneer in the automated investing niche, Betterment offers a range of portfolios you can invest in as a client. There is also an option to create customized portfolios for your investments. The financial advice algorithm on this platform has been adjudged severally by many reviews as the bet so far, mainly as a result of the different tools available for use on the account options provided.

Account Features

A synchronization features that seamlessly connect all multiple financial accounts an provide a projection of a clients’ current assets
An online chat option that makes communication easy and fast
A range of diversified portfolios that suits various investors
A tax-saving strategy including asset location and tax loss harvesting

Fees and Pricing

If you decide to invest with Betterment Robo-Advisor, the minimum fund expected in the account is $0. Betterment also charges all digital plan account holders an annual fee of 0.25% while premium plan account holders are charged 0.40% annually. Account holders with asset worth over $2 million are compensated with a discounted management charge on the asset’s excess balance.

Pros

Betterment also offer a quick and easy account setup
A goal-based platform with real time investment tracking and portfolio risk assessment system
Fluid portfolio system that are transparent, and can be easily swapped or modified
Financial goal creation is not limited to any time frame and can be done anytime

Cons

Betterment offers no direct indexing
This Robo-Advisor also offers no borrowing option for clients
A betterment standard plan is expensive to manage
Account holders have complained of a constant nudge to fund the account especially when fund is low

Bottom Line

Betterment is by a large extent the Robo-Advisor of choice if you have decided to invest a large sum of money. The goal-based system will no doubt help you keep focus on your returns and financial projections. The advice system if offers can also be a great advantage to investors with a prior knowledge of the capital market and investment areas of interest.

Wealthfront

Wealthfront is ranked highly on many automated investing reviews and investment blogs. This Robo Advisor is particularly selected by professional investors due to its acclaimed easy of goal setting, zero difficulty in use, portfolio transparency and an optimized account management system. Offering a full digital plan, this platform has also announced plans to provide clients with non-investment services ranging from third party bills settlement, emergency fund saving and automated portfolio modifications.

Account Features

A Software-only investment platform
Passive investing that involves a globally diversified portfolio of low cost index funds
An algorithm that performs low-tax investment executions and help accumulate savings
An optimized risk management system
A high interest cash account designed specifically for short-term savings

Fees and Pricing

Wealthfront charges no trading commission on any investment or withdrawal made. Fund transfers are also done with no charge. However, this platform charges an annual advisory fee of 0.25%, a 0.06-0.13% low fund fees, and a charge range of 0.42% – 0.46% for 529 college savings accounts. A Wealthfront account is expected to hold a minimum fund of $500.

Pros

Wealthfront provides you with the one of the best automated planning and goal-setting technology.
The free financial tool offered by this platform can be assessed by investors without opening an account.
Stock-level Tax-loss harvesting systems that automatically help you reduce taxes payable on investments made.
Credits are allowed on portfolios

Cons

Insurance coverage on investments made is limited, depending on account type and investment volume.
There is no online chat feature for investors, website guests and account holders
Risk-settings customization are limited in scope to only accounts with funds larger than $100,000

Bottom Line

Wealthfront will be a particularly helpful platform for you, if you are a big fan of multiple investments approach to increasing capital yield. Taxes are known to significantly determine the level of return yield of some investments; this Robo-Advisor has a quite efficient system to minimizing tax payable on taxable investments. In all, Wealthfront has a great system-user interface with a full-system range mobile app available on native iOS and Android platform. You would definitely love this Robo-Advisor.

Ally Invest

Ally Invest is the investing branch of Charlotte-based Ally Financial Inc. Holding an estimated $157million in third party investment funds as at 2016, Ally Invest is a popular Robo-Advisor that gives account holders the opportunity to own a designed portfolio that will be professionally managed. Portfolios created on these accounts are customizable and are equipped with investment options and advice that channeled towards achieving a preset financial goal. Through its Robo-Advisor technology, Ally Invest set aside about 30% of users’ portfolio to be used as cash buffer to protect against unfavorable market trends. For new investor with Ally invest, this Robo Advisor recommends account types based on your financial data and goal. New account holders can sign up for the Income, Core, Tax-optimized and the Socially Responsible portfolios.

Account Features

Ally invest boast of a high tech, fully digital service based on the Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT)
A hands-off investment technique featuring algorithm-based intelligent tools making decisions when user is busy.
A real time update and tracking of investment performance with a range of digital tools
Users can also open personal taxable, joint taxable and traditional IRA accounts.

Fees and Pricing

All Ally invest accounts are comes with no advisory fee, however, this Robo-Advisor charges 0.30% of assets in active accounts for low cash allocations. This fee is however free for portfolios that has a 30% cash structure. Minimum investing balance for this Robo-Advisor is also pegged at $100

Pros

Ally Invest is an investment-focused branch of a highly reputable financial institution.
Accounts are relatively less expensive to maintain with no advisory fee
The 30% cash buffer set aside as an investment buffer yields interest at a rate of 1.6%
Account holders enjoy a customer support and enquiries feature with telephones and live support.
It is easy and fast to open an Ally Invest account.

Cons

Unlike other popular Robo Advisors, Ally invest has no tax-loss harvesting system
Financial planning tools are few and not entirely reliable
The goal-setting tools are inadequate compared with competitors.
Account holders are also unable to get in touch with a financial advisor when the need arises.

Bottom Line

On the bright side, Ally Invest offers a competitive fee and pricing structure for account maintenance and investments made regardless of investment volume or account types. This alone has Ally Invest a pick of many potential investors. Several ratings and surveys has however recommended that investors willing to choose this Robo-Advisor must have a prior knowledge of financial trading systems as the goal planning system on Ally Invest is considered weak. In all, with the guidance of a seasoned financial advisor, clients can make the best of this platform.

Acorns

In the automated investing industry, Acorn is definitely a force to reckon with. This Robo-Advisor boasts of a combined financial system of automated investing and a micro-savings platform through the popular Acorn app. The Acorn Spend also enables users to own a checking account capable of a global payment service with a debit card.

The Acorn Robo-Advisor appeals to user by investing spare money change made from several purchases into a preselected Acorn portfolio. Ultimately, investment funds can be channeled into portfolios that combines bond with exchange-traded funds (ETF). Investments are digitally made on portfolios after a few days based on the exchange-traded funds active market hours. If would consider a combo digital payment method, automated investing on low-cost diversified portfolios and savings, then the Acorns Robo Advisor is your current best bet.

Account Features

This Robo-Advisor combines a payment platform with savings and an option for automated investing
Portfolios can be managed with a checking account or a Traditional IRA account.
A round up feature that invest extra cash on preset portfolios
Scheduled deposit into the accounts
Acorns Gift cards

Fees and Pricing

The Acorns fee and pricing structure is based on users’ choice of portfolio. The Acorns Core charges $1/month for investments under $1million and 0.25%/year for investments over $1million. This feature is however free for college users under 24. IRAs attract additional charges. The Acorns Core + Acorns Later account is charged at $2 monthly. The Acorns Core + Acorns Later + Acorns Spend account is charged at $3 monthly.

Pros

This Robo-Advisor combines a payment platform with savings and an option for automated investing
Your extra pennies are accounted for, and smartly invested
Users have access to a $5 sign up bonus
Assess to range of customizable financial tools
Investment yields can be track easily with Mobile app interphase

Cons

The fee and pricing structure can be a burden on users that operate a low balance combines account
Investments portfolios are small, making the Robo-Advisor the wrong choice for high value investments.

Bottom Line

It is definitely fun to use the Robo Advisor. In essence, the investment method is modern but the rationale is an age-long practice of saving and investing spare change. Acorns definitely offer you the thrill of making all financial activities on one same platform that offer automated monitoring and fund management. What about the option for a checking account and a debit card? This is all what a modern investor craves for.

Wealthsimple

With a service front based in Canada, Wealthsimple is classified by many investors as an elite class investment platform. Also available in United Kingdom and the United states, this Robo-Advisor provides automated investing with an option for human intelligence input. With an asset worth of $4 billion, Wealthsimple offers long-term investment management in diversified portfolios with low-cost index funds.

Portfolios are of Exchange-traded funds and can be traded in many companies. The range of services offered by this Robo-Advisor is particularly impressive. Right from collaborations with expert financial advisors and a team of top-class software engineers constantly improving the user interface and investment algorithm, Wealthsimple simply has it all.

Account Features

Combination of automated investing with the option for human modifications
An autopilot investing system
Accounts range available include TAXABLE, Joint, IRA, Rollover, SEP IRA, and Traditional IRA.
Funds are secured with a two-factor authentication and data encryption
The Wealthsimple Save offer a new technique in Savings
An exceptional modern technology input

Fees and Pricing

Account minimum are pegged at $0, regardless of users’ location (Canada, US, UK). Management fee is charged based on fund volume. Wealthsimple charges 0.5% on a $0 – $100,000 account per year and 0.4% on a $100,00+ account annually.

Pros

Wealthsimple offer a dividend reinvesting and tax-loss harvesting service
Users also granted quick aces to financial advisors whenever the need arises
An exceptional Customer service through phone and emails for enquiries and account-related operations
This Robo-Advisor also offer a free portfolio review service for non-Wealthsimple financial accounts
An option for smart savings service
Canadian users can also invest in stock trading by using the user-friendly Wealthsimple Trade app.

Cons

Management fees are on the high side when compared with other Robo-Advisors offering same service range.
Finance tools are essential in automated investing, however, Wealthsimple offers limited personal finance tools

Bottom Line

With the range of services offered, Wealthsimple is on the right course to becoming the biggest Robo-Advisor in Europe, and you would definitely be lucky to join this company now. The experience exceeds the reach of just automated investing, especially with the portfolio review service and the smart service. Wealthsimple also notably offers Sharia-compliant portfolios in a bid to make something available to everyone irrespective of religious or cultural perspective about automated investing. Investment technique is bsed on the Modern Portfolio Theory and the features option of stock trading makes this Robo-Advisor a recommended partner for beginners and high-volume investors.

Personal Capital

Living up to its name, Personal Capital is a Robo Advisor with focused interest in personal finance investment. Judging by the range of services offered, Personal Capital is better classified as a digital asset management provider. Using the basis of automated investing like other Robo-Advisors, Personal Capital analyzes financial data from users, offer a personalized financial advice, set a financial goal and make investment under a customizable portfolio.

The automated investment algorithm also provides an option for human intelligence in modifying investment patterns and making necessary changes with regards to investment trends. As a subsidiary of Personal Capital Corporation, Personal Capital currently serves over 21,000 families with $10billion assets under management.

Account Features

Automated investing with option for human input
An mobile interface tracking of both banking and investment accounts
A retirement planning feature
Personal Capital boast of a combined service of wealth management, cash management, and financial tools for investment plans.

Fees and Pricing

The fee structure of Personal Capital is simple enough when the range of Fintech services it offers is considered. This asset management outfit charge a 0.89% account management fee, with the rate discounted to 0.49% for accounts over $1 million. Notably, the minimum account value is pegged at $100,000.

Pros

The retirement planning feature in incredible
Human financial advisors are readily available for users
Tax burden is kept at a bearable minimum regardless of investment volume
The available tools are comprehensive enough and easy to use for financial projections
By all measure, Wealthsimple provide a user with the best investment strategies for personal funds

Cons

The management fees are expensive, especially on new accounts for fresh account holders
Account minimum of $100,000
Wealthsimple is not a popular option for beginners and Low fund investors

Bottom Line

When compared to other Robo-Advisors, Wealthsimple offer flexibility in its asset management strategies. Users can made necessary modification to their investment indices while using the available financial tools. High net worth investors also have an unrestricted access to a private financial advisor. Since new investors always consider fund security settings and plans before committing huge sums to an asset management outfit, Wealthsimple fills their need by offering FDCI-insured accounts up to a balance of $1,250,000.

FutureAdvisor

FutureAdvisor has become wildly popular in the automated investing niche with its reputation at increasing yields on existing investments and its free retirement planning tool. This Robo-Advisor is currently integrated with Fidelity and TD Ameritrade as financial institutions holding client’s funds. In essence, cash deposit of funds needed to boost an investment already in session can be deposited directly through this financial institution.

The automated investing algorithm used by FutureAdvisor collects users’ financial information and recommend an asset allocation plan compatible with users’ portfolio and financial goals. The algorithm also tracks investment returns and performance.

Account Features

A detailed retirement plan that features recommendations and a software-based modification.
Tax-loss harvesting system
Access to financial advisors and service specialists
Accounts ranges include Taxable, Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, Rollover, SEP IRA, Coverdell, and 401 Guidance.
Portfolio rebalancing

Fees and Pricing

For all account types, this Robo-Advisor charges a flat annual fee of 0.5% of all assets directly managed. This charge is however not applicable to accounts with investment funds not directly managed by FutureAdvisor. Users also incur no advisory charge. Minimum account fund is pegged at $5,000.

Pros

Backed up by top-tier financial institutions that makes account management processes easy for users
The Tax-loss harvesting system decrease tax burden on account holders
Account interface is easy to open and use.
Users can also traded in a range of selected stocks and bonds

Cons

Asset allocation is limited to mutual funds ad Exchange traded funds unlike other Robo-Advisors
Account management fee is higher when compared to other Robo-Advisors

Bottom Line

Future advisor will easily gain more traction with new investors with its range of services. The integration with a brokerage account enables users to perfume trade easily with an automated asset allocation algorithm. For investors and beginners who would prefer a flexible automated investing account with little or technicalities, Future advisor is definitely the right choice.

Vanguard

Vanguard offers a long-term partnership for clients seeking to effectively manage and invest personal funds with the help of a financial advisor. The service offered here is hinged largely on the expertise of the financial advisor at increasing returns yield o invested funds. With a client-advisor interface, the user supplies information on personal financial situation, investment choice and financial projections.

The Vanguard advisor then formulates a customized financial plan, manages the client’s portfolio, track and modifies investments, and expertly grow the investment. The Vanguard Personal Advisory services currently holds over $140billion in assets.

Account Features

A combination of Human and algorithmic investment advice
A client-financial advisor interface for optimum goal planning
The planned Vanguard Digital Advisor provide a range of financial tools
An elaborate goal planning procedure

Fees and Pricing

Vanguard charges a 0.3% management fee on all account, with no separate charge for advisory fee. However, the account minimum is pegged at $50,000.

Pros

Unrestricted free access to Financial advisors
The management fee on the accounts is notably low
Suitable for large-volume investments
Investments can be made separately and target towards personal needs

Cons

The minimum account fund is high at $50,000
Account set up and goal planning protocols with the Financial advisor is elaborate and cumbersome

Bottom Line

Vanguard belongs to the elite group of Robo-Advisors. With the exemption of the high account minimum, this Robo-Advisor will qualify as the choice of many investors with its diversified investment approach to fund management.

Common Robo Advisor Investment Questions

Here are some of the most commonly asked investing questions about Robo-Advisors and how to use them in your investing strategy.

What is a Robo-Advisor?

Robo-Advisors are digital financial platforms that provide its users with a range of professional financial planning services using a possible combination of automated investing technology and human intelligence. Some Robo-Advisors can however use a full digital interface with no option for human input.

Basically, all you have to do is supply relevant financial information and the Robo-Advisor proceeds to offer financial advice based on a preset goal, creates a portfolio and invest your assets. They also offer customized financial tools to help users manage investments better.

How Do Robo Advisors Work?

It is simple and interesting to use. A Robo-Advisor account offers you a lot of services that can be difficult to complete on your own without a financial consulting firm. It collects and analyses your financial situation based on the answers you supply to an online questionnaire. Using these answers, the platform then uses an algorithm-driven investment service to offer you financial advice, set investment goals, invest your assets and consistently modify the investment parameters as the market determinants consistently changes.

Pros of Investing with Robo-Advisors

Robo-Advisors help track your investment digitally and make the tasking decisions using a range of Fintech algorithm purposely developed for asset management. Essentially, one of the biggest advantages of hiring a Robo-Advisor is that, the burden of making investment plans falls on the algorithm and a team of expert financial advisors who use reliable investment models depending on the Robo-Advisor of your choice.

Robo-Advisor services are also relatively cheaper when compared with human financial advisors. Some advisors can take on clients who have as low as $10,000 while also providing a round-the-clock accessibility for clients.

Cons of Investing with Robo-Advisors

The automated investing approach to asset management is just developing. The services are not fully personalized yet, and the technicalities involved can be hard to comprehend for some clients. Most investors still prefer hiring a financial advisor as Robo-Advisor services are without the face-to-face meetings some clients prefer.

Are Robo Advisors good for Beginner Investors?

Beginner investors can certainly invest with Robo-Advisors. However, it is recommended that beginners make extensive enquiries about the Robo-Advisors available to provide the needed service for the selected investment.

Robo-Advisors good for beginner investors should have an excellent user interface, simple features, easy-to-use apps, low account minimums and good financial tools for investment monitoring.

Who should use a Robo-Advisor?

Investors generally can use Robo-Advisors as an asset management approach, as long as they understand the technicalities involved. However, Robo-Advisors are particularly good for tech-savvy entry level beginners with a low investment fund.

What are the Robo Advisor fees?

For the services rendered, Robo-Advisors charges a range of fees including account management fees, advisory fees and commissions on investment made. The fee and pricing structures for Robo-Advisors are however different and sometimes depend on the type of account opened.

Investments are no doubt daring to the heart of any successful business outfit or a personal project. With roboadvisors, the technicalities of financial investment and budgeting are solved with reliable technology. Real-time market updates, fluctuations in investment trends, analysis of market indicators and large volume trading with fluid currency are all provided by these digital platforms to help manage your investment and track returns. Should you decide to hire one, it is recommended that you make proper enquiries and consult financial analysts with updated information to recommend the best roboadvisor for your investment type.

Contents

1 Compare the Top Robo Advisors in 2020
2 Common Robo Advisor Investment Questions