Vanguard Is Way Ahead in the Robo Race

Vanguard's robo platform differs from its competition in several other ways: Its minimum account size is $50,000 (only Personal Capital has a higher one, at $100,000); its onboarding of new clients requires a conversation with a live financial planner, but it doesn't offer automated tax loss harvesting, which is a common feature among many other robos.

Vanguard's Personal Advisor Services charges an annual 0.30% on the first $5 million, in line with that of many other robos, including E-Trade, TD Ameritrade, Fidelity Go and Betterment, but it's more expensive than no-fee platforms like Schwab's and SigFig's (for the first $10,000).

The latest Robo Report, which is based on actual accounts opened by Schapiro to get a real-life, real-time understanding about how different robos service clients and evolve, also highlighted the growth of the industry in the U.S. and expansion beyond the U.S., into Canada, the U.K. and Western Europe.

In late June BlackRock, which bought FutureAdvisor in 2015 to serve U.S. clients, acquired a significant stake in Scalable Capital, which has clients throughout Western Europe. The first half also saw the debut of Fundrise, a robo focusing exclusively on real estate.

The second half is expected to include introductions of robos from Morgan Stanley, Cetera and Wells Fargo, according to the Robo Report.

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• 4 Ways Robo-Advisors Improve Client Onboarding
• Raymond James Is Ready to Robo
• LPL Launching Robo-Advisor This Month
• TIAA Launches Robo-Advisor With Socially Responsible Options