Robo-advisors are taking the investment realm by storm. Assets managed in this market are expected to reach US$1,802.00bn this year and US$2,334.00bn by 2028. In the same year, robo-advisor users are estimated to hit 34.130m.
Also known as an automated investment advisor, a robo-advisor platform digitally offers investment services driven by algorithmic strategies requiring minimal human supervision. The usual digital advice platform of this kind has an online survey about your goals and finances.
The robo-advisor platforms that will give you your money’s worth provide portfolio management, comprehensive goal planning, and straightforward account setup. They should also offer reasonable fees, extensive education, and robust security features. If you prefer using mobile gadgets, the proficiency of their mobile app is also critical in deciding which platform to choose.
This article provides five of the best robo-advisors for mobile devices to help you decide.
1. SoFi Automated Investing
SoFi is a versatile platform that allows you to take out loans and trade options online, among others. It also offers one of the best robo-advisors for mobile devices. The mobile app is intuitive and gives you access to everything you need to keep track of your investments.
SoFi’s robo-advisor automatically rebalances your portfolio quarterly, so you don’t have to worry about adjusting your bond and stock funds. Plus, it diversifies your investments across different types of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to limit the risks to your portfolio.
SoFi’s minimum balance requirement is just $1, and they don’t charge an annual management fee.
2. E*Trade Core Portfolios
The E*Trade Core Portfolios robo-advisor offers the best experience for mobile users. Their mobile app is user-friendly. You can use it to make transfers and open accounts. It also allows you to implement various investment strategies such as smart beta, environmental, social, and governance (ESG), core, and income.
To use this robo-advisor, you need a minimum balance of $500, and the provider charges an annual management fee of 0.3%. The minimum balance is relatively high compared to some of the other platforms on this list, which is the biggest downside of E*Trade Core Portfolios.
As with many robo-advisor services, your investment journey starts with a questionnaire. They use this to discover your goals, time horizon, liquidity needs, and risk tolerance. You’ll then receive a recommended core investment portfolio that aligns with your requirements.
3. Wealthfront
Wealthfront’s robo-advisor mobile app has a sleek user interface (UI) that’s beginner-proof and easy to navigate.
If this list were ranked purely on portfolio construction, then Wealthfront would easily take the top spot. It’s because it uses management research like modern portfolio theory (MPT) to build portfolios for investors.
These portfolios consist of 17 different asset classes, such as bonds, stocks, and inflation assets, for a high level of diversification. Contingent on your risk tolerance, you can view other more or less risky portfolios.
You can customize your holdings to include a selection from hundreds of ETFs. These can be:
- Tech
- Sustainable Investing
- Growth
- Crypto funds
- Value
Wealthfront’s robo-advisor has the same account minimum as E*Trade at $500. Its annual fees are 0.25%. This platform’s most significant negative feature is that investors don’t have access to a human financial advisor if they experience any issues with the automated service.
4. M1 Finance
M1 Finance’s robo-advisor mobile app is about as easy to use as Wealthfront’s and SoFi’s. However, the platform requires more prior knowledge of investments than the other robo-advisor services we’ve covered.
The portfolios they offer have theme-focused strategies. You can customize these with your choice of ETFs and stocks. Their pre-made portfolios are called “Pies” and they include:
- Responsible Investing: One pie comprises socially responsible U.S. funds and another of international and U.S. ESG ETFs.
- General Investing: This includes seven bond and stock ETF portfolios that are diversified and risk-adjusted. The portfolios range from highly conservative to highly aggressive.
- Plan for Retirement: This plan comes with ten bond/stock portfolios that are risk-adjusted and designed for investors planning to build up a retirement fund.
- Income Earners: These consist of six different pies with dividend yields between 2.012% and 3.69%. The portfolios contain bond or stock ETFs.
M1 Finance’s robo-advisor has a minimum balance requirement of $100 unless you open a retirement account, which has $500. It has no annual fees but costs $95 to upgrade to M1 Plus.
5. Betterment
The Betterment Robo-advisor mobile app is highly convenient and has many different features. These include:
- Portfolio selection
- Automated deposits
- Transaction management
- Financial overview
- Performance tracking
It’s an excellent platform for novice and experienced investors, which allows you to track multiple goals. Its initial questionnaire is brief but establishes your time horizon, investment goals, and risk tolerance. You’ll then get several portfolio choices, such as Socially Responsible Investment (SRI), smart beta, crypto, and income.
Opening an account has no required minimum balance, but you need to deposit $10 before you can start investing. The main downside of Betterment’s robo-advisor is that the annual fees are complicated.
We will only get into some of the details here (as you’ll be here all day), but the most basic annual fee is $4 monthly if you have less than $20,000 in your investment account.
Final Thoughts
Regarding their mobile apps, there is little to split apart the five robo-advisor providers on our list. They all have intuitive, easy-to-use UIs that make the automated investing process as simple as possible. To choose the right one for you, pay attention to all the details we’ve given about each platform and base your decision on your specific investment goals.
