Wealthfront, SoFi and Fidelity top latest robo-advisor rankings

The latest breakdown of the industry's top performing robo-advisors has arrived, and the new winners look a lot like the old winners. 

The 10th edition of the Robo Ranking, published this week by Condor Capital Wealth Management, once again gives top honors to SoFi, Wealthfront and Fidelity Investments for the depth of their offerings and for their solid long-term performance. 

If that top three sounds familiar, that is because they're the same robos that dominated the ranking in the prior edition. Wealthfront and SoFi swapped spots at the top, but things change more significantly as soon as the analysis moves beyond bronze, silver and gold. 

(Scroll down to see a list of the latest rankings)

According to the report, 2022 was dominated by the economic aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Government spending, household savings and pent-up demand faced off with disrupted supply chains to ignite inflation in 2021. 

"Waking up late to reality, in 2022, the Federal Reserve lurched into action, embarking on a historic rate-rising campaign," the report said. "The rapid rise in rates drove current values of future cash flows downwards, decimating valuations of low profit, high growth companies and driving asset prices of value companies lower.

"Thankfully," the report added, "inflation has, at last, shown signs of easing, and the Fed appears to be approaching the end of its rate hiking cycle. Bonds are delivering truly attractive yields for the first time in many years, and equity markets have risen from their lows, reflecting investors' optimism for 2023."

Importantly, the report said that the pace of change in the robo-advisor market has slowed as most major banks, discount brokers, and wirehouses have launched a digital advice or hybrid advice offering. 

Wealthfront topped the list and was praised for delivering "a top-tier digital experience." SoFi came in at a very close number two by offering more products and access to human advisors.

"The digital experience offered by Wealthfront is top-tier and strikes an impressive balance between simplicity, functionality, and customization," David Goldstone, the manager of investment research at Condor Capital Wealth Management, in Martinsville, New Jersey. "Wealthfront has had a strong platform that has been a leader in innovation since its founding over a decade ago.

He noted that SoFi has greatly expanded the types of financial products it offers over the past few years "as it ambitiously looks to compete with national banks for retail investing and banking business. All SoFi members get free access to live financial planning services, which is one reason we like the investing platform."

The biggest robo news of 2022 was the collapse of the massive $1.4 billion UBS and Wealthfront deal for reasons still unacknowledged by both companies, according to the report.

"When the merger between Wealthfront and UBS was announced, it was unclear what that would mean for the existing robo-advice product, Advice Advantage, which is backed by SigFig," the report said. "Regardless, Wealthfront will remain independent for the time being after the tie-up was abandoned last year."

Other major robo happenings in 2022 included a recently downsized Betterment announcing its transition to a subscription-based monthly fee of $4 for those with less than $20,000 platform assets or without monthly recurring deposits of $250; and Vanguard working to incrementally improve its platform with the expansion of automated tax loss harvesting for its digital-only product Digital Advisor. 

The Condor Capital ranking grades robo-advisors across more than 45 metrics. Each robo is then scored in the categories of features; financial planning; customer experience; access to live advisors; transparency and conflicts of interest; size and tenure; account minimums; costs; and performance to earn a total score out of 100.

The ranking was part of the 26th Robo Report, which covers the fourth quarter of 2022 in an ongoing study that keeps tabs on the most well-known robo-advisors in the industry. The latest report tracks 57 accounts at 32 different providers and finds 2022 will go down as one of the worst periods for the 60/40 investor.

"The year serves as a unique stress test of what can happen to investment returns when the Federal Reserve increases the Federal Funds' target rate from near-zero levels to over 4% in a single calendar year," the report said.

Scroll down to see how the top 15 robos fared in the overall rankings, followed by the top performers in the categories of best low-cost robo; best robo for first-timers; best robo for digital financial planning; and best robo for complex financial planning.

15. Acorns

Thumbnail for Video: Acorns grows up (full session)
Noah Kerner, CEO of Acorns
Access to advisors: 0 (out of 10)
Financial planning: 3 (out of 15)
Transparency and conflicts: 5 (out of 10)
Features: 6.8 (out of 10)
Customer experience: 6.7 (out of 10) 
Minimum: 3 (out of 3)
Size and tenure: 1.8  (out of 2)
Costs: 14.9 (out of 15)
Performance: 6.1 (out of 25)
Total score: 47.3 (out of 100)

14. Ally Invest Robo Portfolios

Ally
Access to advisors: 0
Financial planning: 9
Transparency and conflicts: 8 
Features: 4.8
Customer experience: 6.8 
Minimum: 3
Size and tenure: 1.6 
Costs: 11.7
Performance: 9.3
Total score: 54.2

13. Wells Fargo Intuitive Investor

Wells Fargo V3 by Bloomberg News
Access to advisors: 7 
Financial planning: 12
Transparency and conflicts: 5 
Features: 6
Customer experience: 6.1 
Minimum: 3
Size and tenure: 1
Costs: 10.3
Performance: 8.7
Total score: 59.1

12. JP Morgan Chase Automated Investing

jpmorgan-bloomberg-12-20
Access to advisors: 6  
Financial planning: 15
Transparency and conflicts: 6 
Features: 3.6
Customer experience: 7 
Minimum: 3
Size and tenure: 0.5
Costs: 12
Performance: 7.5
Total score: 60.6

11. US Bank Automated Investor

U.S. Bank signage
Access to advisors: 7
Financial planning: 9
Transparency and conflicts: 7 
Features: 4.5
Customer experience: 6.9 
Minimum: 2.4
Size and tenure: 0.8 
Costs: 12.6
Performance: 15.7
Total score: 66

10. ETrade Core Portfolios

E-trade financial cellphone IAG
Access to advisors: 6
Financial planning: 13.5
Transparency and conflicts: 7 
Features: 4.8
Customer experience: 7.6 
Minimum: 3
Size and tenure: 2 
Costs: 12.5
Performance: 10.7
Total score: 67.1

9. SigFig

Mike Sha, co-founder and CEO of SigFig, says banks mistakenly position robos as an "island" separate from other wealth management offerings.
Mike Sha, CEO and co-Founder at SigFig
Access to advisors: 8
Financial planning: 10.5
Transparency and conflicts: 8
Features: 3.8
Customer experience: 6.5
Minimum: 2.4
Size and tenure: 1.6
Costs: 12.8
Performance: 15.8
Total score: 69.3

8. Betterment 

Betterment IAG
Access to advisors: 6
Financial planning: 13.5
Transparency and conflicts: 8 
Features: 9.2
Customer experience: 6.5 
Minimum: 3
Size and tenure: 2 
Costs: 12.5
Performance: 11.6
Total score: 72.3

7. Vanguard 

vanguard-real-estate-logo
Access to advisors: 6.5
Financial planning: 15
Transparency and conflicts: 1
Features: 5.8
Customer experience: 7
Minimum: 2.4
Size and tenure: 2 
Costs: 14
Performance: 19
Total score: 72.7

6. Personal Capital

Bill Harris, former CEO of Personal Capital, PayPal and Intuit TurboTax
Bill Harris, founder of Personal Capital
Access to advisors: 6.5         
Financial planning: 15
Transparency and conflicts:10
Features: 7
Customer experience: 7
Minimum: 0
Size and tenure: 2
Costs: 5.8
Performance: 19.5
Total score: 72.8

5. Schwab

schwab-bloomberg-news-slide7.png
Access to advisors: 6.5         
Financial planning: 12
Transparency and conflicts: 8
Features: 4.7
Customer experience: 9.1
Minimum: 2.4
Size and tenure: 2
Costs: 11.3
Performance: 17.1
Total score: 73.1

4. Merrill Edge Guided Investing

Merrill-Lynch-sign-Bloomberg-News
Access to advisors: 8
Financial planning: 12
Transparency and conflicts: 9 
Features: 4.8
Customer experience: 6.4 
Minimum: 2.4
Size and tenure: 1
Costs: 10.5
Performance: 19.1
Total score: 73.2

3. Fidelity Go

fidelity-investments-window-bloomberg
Access to advisors: 6 
Financial planning: 13.5
Transparency and conflicts: 7 
Features: 4.6
Customer experience: 7.1 
Minimum: 3
Size and tenure: 1.8 
Costs: 12.4
Performance: 21.6
Total score: 77

2. SoFi

SoFi
Access to advisors: 8
Financial planning: 15
Transparency and conflicts: 4 
Features: 5.3
Customer experience: 6.2 
Minimum: 3
Size and tenure: 1.4
Costs: 15
Performance: 19.3
Total score: 77.1

1. Wealthfront

Andy rachleff Wealthfront IAG
Andy Rachleff, CEO of Wealthfront
Access to advisors: 0 (out of 10)
Financial planning: 15 (out of 15)
Transparency and conflicts: 6 (out of 10)
Features: 7.6 (out of 10)
Customer experience: 7 (out of 10)
Minimum: 3 (out of 3)
Size and tenure: 2 (out of 2)
Costs: 12.5 (out of 15)
Performance: 24.8 (out of 25)
Total score: 77.9 (out of 100)

Best robo for performance at a low cost

InVest West 2019 - San Francisco
Andy Rachleff, CEO of Wealthfront
Winner: Wealthfront

Runner-up: Fidelity Go 

Why they won: "The driving force behind Wealthfront's equity outperformance was notable investments in the energy sector, proving valuable during recent inflationary times," the report said.

Best robo for first-time investors

SoFi
Winner: SoFi

Runner-up: Fidelity Go

Honorable mention: Betterment

Why they won: "SoFi is a great option for first-time investors. One reality for many young Americans is the investing journey really starts on a path to paying down student loans or other debt," the report said. "SoFi is a platform where student borrowers can explore options to consolidate debt as a first step and work their way towards saving for long-term goals over time."

Best robo for digital financial planning

Harris-Bill-Personal-Capital-Bloomberg
Bill Harris, founder of Personal Capital
Winner: Personal Capital

Runner-up: Wealthfront

Honorable mention: Schwab

Why they won: "One area where these tools stand out is they not only can bring in data on outside accounts, but they can combine multiple goals into a single, holistic financial plan. The capability to build in future events, such as Social Security, pension or other retirement income, windfalls, and other custom inputs, aids in their ability to plan effectively," the report said. "The three winners take these tools and present them in a digestible, easy-to-use manner."

Best robo for complex financial planning

crp16c-077.jpg
Winner: Vanguard

Runner-up: Personal Capital (now Empower)

Why they won: "Vanguard Personal Advisor championed the "hybrid" advice model and remains our top choice for those with complex planning needs. While Personal Advisor still leaves something to be desired on the digital interface, it provides tremendous value as it costs just 0.30% in management fees," the report said.
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