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  • msf August 2017
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Barry Ritholtz: Rating The Robo-Advisors

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  • msf
    edited August 2017
    Apparently Barron's (the source of the scorecard table) is offering its article free, via google:
    https://www.google.com/search?q=Barrons+rating+robo+advisors&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

    The article with the table is "Rating the Robo Advisors" (first non-ad link in search).
    There's a companion piece as well: Which Robo is Best for Your Portfolio?

    Unfortunately the table (with only 1 year and YTD data) is undated, so we don't know what timeframes the data represent. The Barron's article does cite the ultimate source of the data - Backend Benchmarking. You can get the full report there for free, but you have to register (I haven't done this, at least yet):
    https://theroboreport.com/

    There's an informative graphic in the Barron's article that shows the asset allocations of three of the test portfolios (Vanguard, Betterment, and Schwab). That image seems not to be firewalled:
    http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/ON-CF390_Cov3Po_16U_20170728221049.jpg

    The companion piece points out that there's more to deciding among systems than raw performance. It notes, for example, that Schwab is achieving its performance by relying on EM bonds ("not exactly a risk-free strategy"). More generally, it observes a "general bias toward value investing and a significant exposure to international markets."

    Finally, from the table I see that TradeKing was acquired by Ally. I missed that completely when it happened last year:
    https://media.ally.com/2016-04-05-Ally-Financial-Announces-Acquisition-of-TradeKing-Group
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