Tag: SRI
Posted on April 28, 2020
In the not so distant past, professional financial advice and investment management were only available to households with sufficient wealth. This began to change a decade ago, when startup financial firms digitally automated the investment management process, enabling them to offer professionally managed portfolios at low costs and low to no minimums. Fast forward 10 years and nearly every major financial institution in the United States either offers or owns a stake in a robo advisor. The individual who previously had no access to such investments is now overwhelmed with choices. Below, we provide insight into the most important factors one should consider when selecting a robo advisor. If you are unfamiliar with robo advisors or how they work, we suggest you first read our post, What is a Robo Advisor?
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Posted on February 25, 2020
Investing with a focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG), also known as socially responsible investing (SRI), has increased rapidly in popularity as of late. Morningstar reported that ESG/SRI funds had a net inflow of $20.6 billion dollars in 2019. This is a 300% increase from net flows in 2018. But how is ESG/SRI performance?
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Posted on November 8, 2019
Consumer demand has prompted digital advisors to offer socially responsible investing (SRI) portfolio options over the past few years. We have opened and now have eight pairs of portfolios (regular and SRI) included in our report, including six pairs with a year or more of performance reported. The SRI robo portfolios included in our analysis are offered by Betterment, E*Trade, Ellevest, Merrill Edge, Morgan Stanley, TD Ameritrade, TIAA, and Wealthsimple.
Posted on October 28, 2019
Betterment and Wealthfront—the pioneers of the robo-advice industry—are the two largest independent advisors today. Both were founded a decade ago and have helped bring a revolution to the financial advice industry by making professional money management available to and affordable for everyone. We break out the differences between the two to see which one is better for you. Our performance figures are accurate and based on real accounts that we have open with both providers.
Posted on September 6, 2019
In recent years, socially responsible investing (SRI) – also commonly categorized as environmental, social, and governance investing (ESG) – has gained popularity with retail investors and investment managers alike. Between 2016 and 2018, assets invested in ESG-themed mutual funds grew 34%, while assets in ESG-themed ETF funds more than doubled. Driven by consumer demand, a natural expansion has been undertaken by digital advisors to offer separate SRI portfolio options. Within the past few years we have opened and funded SRI accounts at each of the providers that offer sustainable investing options. With a year of performance to review, we have assessed the risk and return statistics of SRI portfolios offered compared to their standard offerings. While today’s focus is on performance, we will publish a full report on the composition of SRI portfolios, including costs and sustainability scores, later this month.
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Posted on May 23, 2019
Cash management products spread across direct-to-consumer fintech platforms
The digital advice industry continues to evolve in 2019. Cash management apps, linked debit cards, and high-yield savings accounts are sweeping across direct-to-consumer fintech companies. Wealthfront announced their high-yield savings account this quarter, following Betterment’s cash management program announcement late last year. Meanwhile, Robinhood released their high interest account last December, although it was quickly shelved after regulagatory pushback.
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