Banks are watching wealthy clients flirt with robo-advisors, and that's one reason the lenders are racing to release their own versions of the automated investing technology this year, according to a consultant.
Millennials and small investors aren't the only ones using robo-advisors, a group that includes pioneers Wealthfront Inc. and Betterment LLC and services provided by mutual-fund giants, said Kendra Thompson, an Accenture Plc managing director. At Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW), about 15 percent of those in automated portfolios have at least $1 million at the company.
"It's real money moving," Thompson said in an interview. "You're seeing experimentation from people with much larger portfolios, where they're taking a portion of their money and putting them in these offerings to try them out."
"Now that they're starting to see the money move, it's not taking very long for them to connect the dots and say, 'Whatever I offer for a fee better be better than what they're offering for almost nothing,"' Thompson said. Technology will "make advisers look smarter, better, stronger and more on top of the ball."
Keeping Humans