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October 29, 2018 at 10:13 AM
Wealthfront is opening up its current financial planning service to anyone for free.
By year end, anyone will be able to download the Wealthfront app, connect all of their financial accounts, build a personalized financial plan and receive recommendations powered by Wealthfront’s automated financial advice engine, Path.
Using a combination of a client’s financial information and third-party data, Path uses AI techniques like machine learning to provide answers to more than 10,000 financial questions.
According to Wealthfront, financial planning and advice does not need to be delivered through a person.
“By keeping our focus on building technology-based solutions we can deliver our financial planning free, to everyone,” Wealthfront said in a statement.
The “freemium” offering is currently in beta and will be available by the end of this year.
State Street Launches 3 ‘New Economy’ SPDR ETFs
State Street Global Advisors announced the expansion of its New Economy sector ETF lineup with the launch of the SPDR Kensho New Economies Composite ETF (KOMP), SPDR Kensho Clean Power ETF (XKCP) and SPDR Kensho Final Frontiers ETF (XKFF).
The new ETFs, which track proprietary indexes developed by machine intelligence company Kensho Technologies, are designed to provide investors with cost-efficient, diversified access to the potential growth of innovative companies considered to be driving what State Street calls the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
KOMP seeks to track an index that combines 16 qualifying New Economy industries, including 3D printing and genetic engineering.
XKFF seeks to provide exposure to the commercialization of space and deep sea travel and exploration, while XKCP seeks to provide exposure to the clean power industry both in terms of generation and the underlying technology driving it.
“Today’s technological innovations are not only changing the way we live and work, but are also creating actionable growth opportunities for investors, much like how the rise of personal computers spawned a new era of disruption,” said Noel Archard, global head of SPDR Product at State Street Global Advisors, in a statement. “With the addition of KOMP, XKCP and XKFF to SPDR’s suite of sector and industry ETFs, investors can access the potential for dynamic growth and economic disruption across infrastructure, transportation, cybersecurity, defense, energy, space exploration and more, all in a single trade.”
Kensho Technologies leverages alternative data and artificial intelligence to identify and analyze large amounts of data, from companies that are developing the products and services driving the new economy, including those in the entire ecosystem, such as suppliers and service providers, in addition to the pure play companies.
State Street Global Advisors first worked with Kensho Technologies in December 2017, when it launched three ETFs tracking indexes developed by the firm: the SPDR Kensho Intelligent Structures ETF (XKII), SPDR Kensho Smart Mobility ETF (XKST) and SPDR Kensho Future Security ETF (XKFS).
Oranj, Vestmark Partner to Expand Access to Third-Party Investment Models
Vestmark announced a partnership with financial technology firm Oranj.
Vestmark Advisory Solutions will give Oranj advisors access to the more than 500 third-party strategies as models in the Vestmark Manager Marketplace. Vestmark Advisory Solutions also will perform the trading and related services required to implement the models selected by Oranj advisors for their clients, which can include both ETF strategist models and traditional equity strategies.
This partnership makes it possible for Oranj to expand the investment options available to advisors to serve their clients’ needs. It also will enable advisors to allocate their clients’ assets to one or multiple third-party strategies in a single account, with a process as simple as setting up one dual-contract separately managed account.
