Investment Robo-Advisors are still waiting for the Revolution, …Are traditional banks ready to strike back? I think, yes. Banks just have to start to adopt what works in Robo-advisors business, like what we did for Nedgroup Robo investments in South Africa.

We know that banks have a trustworthy relationship with their clients, and also access to technology which implements Robo-advisory functions. So where is the problem? We see that most of the retail banks are stuck in this classic pattern of just wanting to sell black-box mutual funds to their clients. Unfortunately, banks do not teach us the how’s and why’s of investment. Instead, they simply educate us on how to buy products. However, for the next generation of young investors, it may no longer be enough. They want more, they would like to get more for their money, and know what they are investing in. It seems that the motivation behind the banks, maybe the issue of why they struggle with these old school patterns. It’s understandable, why fix something that isn’t broken? It doesn’t make sense for a bank to invest in new technology and accept the risk of failure.

On the other hand, a new Robo Advisor platforms are much closer to small investors needs, but while Robo-Advisors have come a long way, they are far from the mainstream, (see this article).

What is Robo-adviser?

Investing can seem hard but with Robo Investing it is easy to get a low cost, professionally designed portfolio of assets, from stocks to bonds and more, that matches your goals and risk tolerance.

The term robo-adviser sounds really high-tech, but it’s actually much simpler than you might think. A robo-adviser is a financial adviser that uses an investment program, an algorithm, to automatically select investments for you.

The investment choices are based on things such as:

• How much risk you’re willing to bear
• What level of returns you want
• When you need the money

Based on these factors and others, the Robo-adviser selects a portfolio of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) using sound investment management. For example, the Robo-adviser creates a diversified portfolio of ETFs, rather than just investing it all into one fund. Extensive research has shown that diversification reduces your risk and can actually increase your returns.

Top 10 Robo-Advisors by Assets Under Management

Assets under management, in millions, as of June 30, 2019.

How can Bell & Hurry assist you?

Bell & Hurry is already working with a number of banks and private wealth companies and therefore we can help you adopt a new UX centric principle for your current investment products and help you to build your own Robo-Advisor Investment platform.