The robots are just getting their metallic feet wet in the investment advisory business.
Well, they're not really robots of course, just software that automatically invests and rebalances according to clients' goals and risk tolerances. But it sure is a lot more fun to think of these "robo advisor" products as actual robots like this one or this one. Unless, of course, you are a flesh-and- blood registered investment advisor, then you probably think of scarier robots like this one and this one.
Either way you imagine them, these robots are swarming into the industry. (Here's a good Peggy Collins piece that lays out how some of the old guard in the industry like Vanguard and Charles Schwab Corp. are jumping in the robo game.)
Their popularity is going to explode even more, if new projections from consulting firm A.T. Kearney are in the right ballpark. Assets under management by robo advisors are estimated to increase 68 percent annually to about $2.2 trillion in five years, according to a forecast from the firm. About half of that is expected to come from money that's already invested and the rest from non-invested assets.
Here's how A.T. Kearney explained what robo advisors are to 4,000 Americans in a survey:
"`Robo-advisors' were defined as providers that offer automated, low-cost, investment advisory services through web- based and/or mobile platforms. The service was explained to survey takers as follows: once you enroll for the service, you enter your risk profile and, using advanced algorithms, the platform offers alternative personalized investment portfolios for you to choose from (this is different than investing in a mutual funds or ETFs that are not personalized) and continues to rebalance your portfolio as required. This is all done digitally (online or mobile), without you having to talk to a live person."
That last clause "without you having to talk to a live person" is pretty amusing. It makes you wonder how bad the jokes have gotten among the armies of RIAs out there if not having to talk to them anymore becomes a factor in investment decisions. Of course, like the robots that we've empowered to build our cars and clean our floors, cheapness is often the most important thing. From A.T. Kearney:
The robots may prove to be even better than humans at one of the most important tasks required of an investment advisor: knowing how to dodge taxes.
"The dramatic collapse of commission prices and the rise of automation means that institutional-grade tax-loss harvesting is now within the reach of all investors," reads a blog post from robo-advisor pioneer Wealthfront, whose claim to fame is programming a robot with all the wisdom of professor Burt Malkiel.
Like any new trend involving computers that scares the bejeezus out of us older folks, we of course have the millennials to blame ... er ... thank for the growth of robo advisors, according to the research firm Hearts & Wallets, which attempted to, ahem, assess "the robo phenomenon through the prism of trend-setting Millennials."