A weekly roundup of robo-advice news from around the world
Robo-advice news wrap: news from around the world, summarised weekly.
Will Goldman Sachs join robo?
Goldman Sachs wants to make an app to support its expansion into retail banking, suggests a job ad on the company’s website. The ad calls for financial technology consultants with expertise in digital banking and robo-advice. Goldman already has an app for its rich private banking customers and its employees, but to date has no retail banking app.
HSBC and Investec roll out offering
Financial giants HSBC and Investec have joined the robo-advice ranks, offering their services to investors with under £15,000. But what kind of services will they offer? Investec is offering active management – which is unusual as most robo-advisors throw their clients into ETFs. HSBC, by contrast, will recommend its own products – but it is unclear whether it will advise on third party products at all.
Most online-only robos will die off
Online-only robo-advisors will either die off completely or consolidate, found a conference hosted by Scalable Capital. Acquiring customers is expensive and the average investment is small, which creates a huge barrier to entry for start-ups. The most attractive option going forward, conference attendees thought, is the hybrid model. This would allow poor investors to be on-boarded but also allow rich investors to keep their personal advisors, keeping everyone happy.
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