Category: News
Posted on November 11, 2019
Cash Products Attract Assets
Wealthfront and Betterment have both hit $20 billion worth of assets on their platform. On its website, Wealthfront boasts that its “clients trust [it] with more than $21 billion” as of November 2019. However, regulatory filings suggest that most of this growth has been the result of cash moving into high-yield savings accounts.
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Posted on November 4, 2019
With the release of its latest ADV filing yesterday, one thing is for certain: Wealthfront has had no trouble gathering cash deposits.
Posted on October 31, 2019
JP Morgan Enters the Fray, Vanguard Expands
All hands are on deck for automated investing. Shortly after closing Finn, its millennial-focused banking app, JP Morgan launched You Invest Portfolios—its new digital advisor with a minimum account balance of $2,500 and 0.35% advisory fee. With JP Morgan’s entrance into the digital advice space, there are only a few large U.S. banks that have yet to offer or buy a stake in a digital advisor.
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Posted on October 9, 2019
Vanguard Expands its Robo Offering
Vanguard is piloting and is expected to soon release a new digital planning and automated-investing product called Vanguard Digital Advisor, according to a document filed with the SEC. Vanguard Digital Advisor will have a $3,000 minimum and an all-in fee—management and underlying fund fees—of 0.20%, placing it in direct competition with providers targeting less affluent investors. In doing so, Vanguard will undercut incumbents Fidelity and JP Morgan, who both have all-in costs of 0.35% and independents Wealthfront and Betterment, who have all-in costs of around 0.33% and 0.36%, respectively, depending on the portfolio chosen.
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Posted on October 4, 2019
Schwab Cuts Commissions, TD Ameritrade Follows
Decades ago, Schwab led the revolution of reducing commissions on trades. High-tech startups, led by Robinhood, are now eliminating commissions altogether. Interactive Brokers slashed commissions on U.S. stocks and ETFs to zero last week. Schwab has responded in kind by announcing that it will cut all commissions on trades of U.S. stocks, ETFs, and options on October 7. TD Ameritrade and ETrade have both followed suit and cut the same commissions. The move rattled the prices of these companies’ shares. Schwab’s and Interactive Brokers’ share prices both fell over 9%, and TD Ameritrade’s, which relies more heavily on commission revenue, fell 25.8%. ETrade, who has kept commissions steady, saw its share price drop 17% on the day of the Schwab announcement.
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Posted on September 24, 2019
Vanguard is piloting and is expected to soon release a new digital planning and automated-investing product called Vanguard Digital Advisor, according to a document filed with the SEC. Vanguard Digital Advisor will have a $3,000 minimum and an all-in fee of 0.20%, placing it in direct competition with providers targeting less affluent investors. In doing so, Vanguard will undercut incumbents Fidelity and JP Morgan, who both have all-in costs—management and underlying fund fees— of 0.35% and independents Wealthfront and Betterment, who have all-in costs of around 0.33% and 0.36%, respectively depending on the portfolio chosen.
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