Robo-advice alert issued in the US

Financial regulators in the US are warning investors and advisers to beware the limitations of automated investment tools.

Generic economic assumptions, framed questions and de-personalized recommendations that do not properly take into account changing circumstances or investment time horizons are among the concerns identified in an alert issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Automated investment platforms are part of the ‘robo-advice` sector in the US, though they are also being used by client-facing advisers as supplementary tools to guard against losing business to the traditional robo-advice giants, such as Betterment and Wealthfront.

Robo-advisers, described as a ‘class of financial adviser that provides portfolio management online with minimal human intervention’ is a growing and not insignificant industry in the US, with the likes of Wealth front running more than $2bn of investors` money.

Online simplified advice propositions such as Wealth Horizon, which uses Parmenion`s Interact software, have come to market, but Interact is still otherwise at the pilot stage and is yet to be made widely available to adviser firms.

Moreover, wealth managers Investec Wealth & Investment and Towry have indicated forays into the space.

However, analysts have suggested uncertainty remains in the UK around offering simplified advice, and downplayed the impact it could have on larger wealth management propositions should it ever take hold.

Numis, for example, said it ‘implausible’ that UK robo-advice will have any operational impact on incumbents such as Hargreaves Lansdown and St James’s Place.