Robo advisors are increasinglygrowing in popularity, and these automated servicesare threatening to take hugeamounts of business away from traditional financial advisors.Multiple different segments of the investing public have already taken advantage of robo advisors for a variety of reasons. Many traditional financial advisorshave decided to work cooperatively with robo advisors rather than try to compete with them directly, and this strategy has helped streamline the process and reduce costs.Millennials use robo advisors because theyremove the perceived "guess work" out of investing, which provides a measure of comfort to hesitantmillennial investors. And often, robo advisors offer cheaper fees than human advisors, which also makes them attractive to this group.And retirees and high net worth individuals can often test robo advisors because they have more disposable income.But which robo advisor should you use'To help you narrow down the choices, BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has decided to review some of the most popular robo advisors on the market to help you make the most informed decision.In this article, we'll cover WiseBanyan.WiseBanyanReview SummaryFees & PricingAUM, Returns, & Portfolio PerformanceServices ProvidedCompetitorsMore InformationWiseBanyan Review SummaryWiseBanyan touts itself as "The World's First Free Financial Advisor," and that is true to some extent. The robo advisor's $1 minimum account balance and 0% annual fee makes it a terrific entry point for investors who might be unfamiliar with automated financial advisors. But more seasoned investors, or those who focus on taxable accounts, would find little value in what WiseBanyan has to offer.Assets Under Management (AUM):$49 millionMinimum Account Balance:$1Fee Range: 0%Account Types: IndividualAccounts, IRA Accounts, Roth IRA Accounts, SEP IRA Accounts, Rollover 401KServices: Tax-loss Harvesting, Fractional Shares, Portfolio Rebalancing, Automatic Deposits, Mobile AppWiseBanyanFees & PricingArguably WiseBanyan's biggest strength is its almost nonexistent barrier to entry. The company requires that you simply put a single dollar into your account to get started, which is a major selling point on its own. But couple that with the 0% management fee, and WiseBanyan is arguably the best robo advisor for younger or skittish investors.However, the lack of a fee could cause some problems for WiseBanyan's business model. After all, how can the company make money if it doesn't charge its customers to manage their portfolios'WiseBanyan's latest SEC filing from March 29, 2016 revealed that the company had $49 million in assets under management and approximately 9,400 customers. For perspective, consider that Betterment (arguably the biggest and best robo advisor on the market) has about $6 billion in AUM. So WiseBanyan hardly stacks up in terms of sheer volume, and it might be difficult to grow that volume with the 0% fee.But to offset this, the company does offer some paid premium services. These customized portfolio management tools have a fee range of 0.5% and 1%.WiseBanyanAUM, Returns, & Portfolio PerformanceAs stated in the previous section, WiseBanyan has $49 million in AUM, which is a paltry amount compared to its peers. In fact, some individual human advisors manage more than that on their own.As for returns, WiseBanyan seems to perform well, as users on InvestmentJunkie have reported positive returns thus far. One user opened an account in September of 2015 and reported 5% returns as of Spring 2016, while another reported 3.5% returns from July 2014 to June 2015.WiseBanyan ServicesWiseBanyan may be essentially free, but that freedom comes with a bit of a price. The robo advisor has a handful of decent features, but the full menu is not robust enough for more seasoned investors. Again, WiseBanyan could use this to its advantage by targeting new investors rather than experienced ones.Here's a basic outlineof what WiseBanyan has to offer:Investing Milestone Tracker:You set your financial goals and timeframe, and WiseBanyan will track and rebalance your portfolio as necessary. It will also automate your deposits. The robo advisor lets you select from the following options: Retirement, Rainy Day, Build Wealth, and Custom.Two-Factor Authentication:WiseBanyan provides increased security by sending a verification code to your mobile phone whenever you want to access or update your personal information. This is an optional feature, not mandatory.Automatic Deposits:The robo advisor allows for weekly, monthly, and quarterly automated deposits.WiseBanyan CompetitorsWiseBanyan has enough features up front to attract customers, but the robo advisor quickly falls behind its competitors in several other categories.The minimum account requirement of $1 is essentially equal to Betterment and Hedegable's $0minimum.Wealthfront and TradeKing Advisors, meanwhile, have a $500 minimum, while SigFig requires $2,000. And other companies have even higher minimums, such as FutureAdvisor ($3,000), Schwab Intelligent Portfolio ($5,000), Personal Capital ($25,000), and Vanguard ($50,000).With regard to management fees, WiseBanyan also shines. SigFig carries a0.25% fee.Betterment has a range of 0.15% to 0.35% for their non-Plus and non-Premium accounts. And FutureAdvisor, which is on the higher end of the list of major robo advisors, charges a flat 0.5% fee. Schwab Intelligent Portfolio, which charges 0.08% for conservative portfolios, 0.19% for moderate-risk portfolios, and 0.24% for aggressive portfolios.More to LearnWiseBanyanis justone of the many robo advisors on the market, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses.That's why BI Intelligence spentmonths putting togetherthe greatestand most exhaustiveguide on robo advisorsentitled The Robo-Advising Report: Market forecasts, key growth drivers, and how automated asset management will change the advisory industry.To get your copy of this invaluable guide to the payments industry, choose one of these options:Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIPPurchase the Complete Robo-Advisor Research Collection, which contains 5 in-depth reports, slide decks, and appendices. >> BUY THE BUNDLEPurchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORTThe choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, youve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the fast-moving world of robo advisors.Join the conversation about this story
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