The days of having to handle your own portfolio of investments, or to hand this over to a flesh and blood expert to make important decisions for you, are over.
In the 21st century, investment bots allow for the buying and selling of all sorts of assets to be handled automatically, with algorithms making picks and predicting trends.
So which of the many investment bots, also known as robo-advisors, are worth using, and what features do they offer to customers?
SoFi
As well as offering customers an
active investing account which they can manage themselves, respected brand SoFi also has its Automated Investing solution available for those who are happy to offload the legwork to artificially intelligent systems instead.
There are several advantages to this particular service, including the fact that theres no management fee to pay, and you dont have to meet any minimum deposit requirements to set it up. Instead, you can just add whatever cash youre willing to invest, and let the algorithms get to work.
You can set goals, plan for the future, and benefit from a portfolio thats appropriately diversified to hedge against
fluctuations in the market. This also means that theres a good deal of customization available for those that need it.
Wealthfront
Another big player in this space, Welthfront benefits from added flexibility and personalization of goals in particular.
Most people who invest do so with a target in mind. That might be to set aside a nest egg to support them when they retire. It might be to eventually afford a major purchase, such as a home, or to splurge
on a wedding or other life event.
Whatever the case, Wealthfront allows for personal goals to be reached. Better yet, the planning tools it offers let you work out when you are likely to hit your targets. And with in-depth tracking capabilities, you can keep tabs on your portfolio at a glance, without being overwhelmed.
Interactive Advisors
More and more new investors are entering the market at the moment, many of whom are concerned about the ethics and sustainability of their portfolio.
If you fall into this category, then opening an automated investing account with Interactive Advisors is a good move.
It may come with higher management fees than some of its rivals, but it takes the cake in terms of social responsibility, as well as overall portfolio-building prowess.
There are a plethora of investment strategies to pick between, which also means you can match your choice to the level of risk youd like to take. And of course you can also invest in other areas outside of your stock portfolio, whether thats
in property or anything else.
Betterment
If you are looking for a no-nonsense automated investing experience, then Betterment is perhaps the pick of the litter. Few of its rivals are able to equal it in terms of the intuitiveness of its interface. It also offers a large array of resources geared toward informing and educating its users on all sorts of money-management topics.
Another perk is that like SoFi, theres no minimum amount to place in your account. Low management fees of as little as 0.25% further sweeten the deal, although more will be charged if you pick a higher end account from its range of offerings.
Personal Capital
If youve got a lot of money to invest and you still want the convenience of using a bot to manage this, Personal Capital is worth considering.
At least $100,000 needs to be added to open an account, and management fees drop if youre handing over $1 million or more. So as you can see, there are robo advisors out there for people at all stages of their investing journey, giving you choice and control.