10 Best Robo-Advisors: Q2 2023

Large, independent robo-advisors continue to log strong growth and offer innovative features, while robo-advice technology sees wider adoption by banks, brokerages and other traditional advice firms, Condor Capital Wealth Management noted in its latest Robo Report, released Tuesday.

“Robo advisors have taken the advice industry by storm,” the report said. “Robo-advice providers are proving attractive to individual investors in large part due to their significantly lower minimums and costs.”

The firm, for its second-quarter 2023 Robo Report and accompanying Robo Ranking, has tracked 42 accounts opened years ago at 27 providers in an effort to bring transparency to the digital advice industry.

The Robo Ranking measures 45 metrics that fall under several broad categories, including performance, expenses, financial planning, customer experience, product features, access to live advisors, account minimums and transparency.

“While robo advice products are now a permanent part of the financial advice landscape, recent years have witnessed a consolidation across this industry, with most start-ups either being acquired or shut down,” the report said.

The past year has seen continued turmoil in the 15-year-old industry, with BlackRock’s announcing plans to sell its FutureAdvisor direct-to-consumer business to Ritholtz Wealth Management, and the sudden shutdown of 401(k)-focused robo-advisor Blooom, among other developments, it noted.

The pace of innovation has slowed as the industry matures, according to the report, which questioned how artificial intelligence might change robo-advisors.

Vanguard, Financial Engines and Schwab hold almost two-thirds of the total robo-advice assets under management, according to the Robo Report, which noted that new client acquisitions kept independent robo-advisors’ platforms growing through last year’s market volatility.

In addition to ranking the top robo-advisors overall, Condor named winners in individual categories, including:

Best Robo for Performance at a Low Cost: Wealthfront
Best Robo for First-Time Investors: SoFi
Best Robo for Digital Financial Planning: Empower
Best Robo for Complex Financial Planning: Vanguard
Year-to-Date Total Performance: Stash Smart Portfolio
One-Year Total Performance: Fidelity Go
Three-Year Total Performance: Schwab Domestic Focus
Five-Year Total Performance: Zacks Advantage

See the top-ranked robo-advisors for the second quarter of 2023 in the gallery. The performance period used for the ranking covers June 30, 2020 to June 30, 2023.