The Robust Potential of Robo-Advisors

When the New York Stock Exchange closed its doors on its physical trading floors in March of 2020, the immediate future of investing looked fraught with trepidation. The Dow Jones Index had plunged nearly 3,000 points on March 16 – the largest point drop in its history – and many saw this as a grim indicator of the months to come.

Others saw an opportunity.

During the second quarter of 2020, at the onslaught of the pandemic, Apex Clearing’s Next Investor Outlook Report saw a 27.5% increase in volume of trades as compared to the first quarter. A Charles Schwab study found that 15% of U.S. investors entered the market for the first time during 2020. Robinhood claimed 13 million users by the end 2020, a number some now believe to be near 20 million, according to the news publication CNBC.

Interest in investing has arguably never been more popular, and this trend has no signs of slowing down. CB Insights’ State of Wealth Tech Q1’21 reported that the wealth tech sector raised $5.6 billion in capital in the first quarter of 2021, surpassing the total amount raised during all of 2020 ($5.2 billion). Investors plowed the most money into retail investing, with $4.2 billion raised during the first quarter.

Consumers, specifically new individual investors, are showing that they want in on the action. And banks are in a prime position to introduce their customers to all types of services associated with wealth management via robo-advising technology.

Implementing robo-advising capabilities is an affordable way for banks to provide personalized financial advice to a broad segment of customers. There is typically no asset minimum, and services are available at any time. Also worth noting, banks don’t have to pull professionals away from their high net worth clients and accounts.

Robo-advisors aren’t strictly rooted in investment capabilities. Robinhood and other similar retail investment technology platforms get a lot of press, but there are hundreds of wealth management companies around the world that offer retirement, personal finance management, savings, onboarding, back office automation, reporting, portfolio analytics and aggregation, as well as automated trade execution services.

ABAKA, for example, is a London-based fintech that uses its artificial intelligence technology to offer bank customers retirement, wealth management, banking, workplace and mortgage advice, among other services. Their technology isn’t limited to one sector of wealth management, and customers are in control of what type of advice they seek out depending on their current needs.

Bambu takes a similar stance when it comes to offering individuals specific financial advice at specific moments in time. “Everybody wants a better financial life,” says Ned Phillips, CEO and founder of the Singaporean digital wealth management technology developer. And while this is a universal want, the path to financial security is as unique as snowflakes are.

Phillips points out that the banks that will succeed in keeping customer accounts will be the ones that understand their goals and desires, and subsequently provide personal and actionable advice, as well as recommended next steps. “You need a smaller, nimble company to provide that tech,” he adds. And currently, he thinks fintechs are much better positioned than a bank to understand how to make this attainable for each individual user.

While robo-advisors are an incredible way to both democratize and personalize financial advice, they do not diminish the importance of professional advisor and management services a bank may offer. There will be customers whose needs surpass the services a robo-advisor can offer, and should be transferred to a physical advisor when the time comes.

There isn’t enough time in the world for each individual person to sit down with a financial advisor, but wealth techs with robo-advice capabilities can at least offer it as an option to bank customers. For many, this may be the first time they ever receive financial advice that is tailored to their wants and needs.

Making these services accessible to all will be what sets a bank apart from the rest. And Phillips believes that we’ve barely scratched the surface regarding robo-advising technology and its potential impact on consumer financial wellness. “Today, we’re not even at the beginning.”