Zacks Investment Management has launched an actively managed robo-advisor that uses the Zacks' own research, ETFs and a technology platform developed by Charles Schwab.
The Zacks Advantage program targets investors with $100,000 and up to invest; these accounts have a 0.35% fee. But accounts can be opened with as little as $5,000 with a 0.5% fee.
The company currently offers new clients a 30% discount on these fees for the life of the account as part of the rollout, according to Scott Schneider, the platform's president.
"Zacks may be the newest entrant to the digital-advice marketplace, [but] it is no stranger to investors," Schneider said in an interview.
Zacks Investment Management, which went into business as an RIA in 1992, has some $3.3 billion in asset under management. Its investment models are used to manage another $1 billion at the wirehouses and other firms.
The typical Zacks Advantage portfolio will include about a dozen ETFs picked by from about 450 exchange-traded funds in 14 asset classes that are tracked by the research firm.
