Automated investing

When the product was announced a number of customers took to social media to voice questions and concerns.

Listen up, advisors — chatbots are talking their way into wealth management. Some see them as part of a low-cost, entirely automated option that commoditizes financial advice even further.

The hiring plans coincide with the firm's rollout of its digital advice offering, UBS Advice Advantage, which is offered through its call center.

By focusing on the relationship, RIAs can outdo automated investors — and charge accordingly, says CEO Joe Duran.

The WiseBanyan platform currently has $153 million in assets under management and 32,000 clients.

BMO Wealth Management aims to modernize its investment service and give planners better equipment. Others offering automated advice solutions include UBS, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan.

Bill Capuzzi has had a first-hand view of wealth management’s disruption. He details the key innovations winners will bring to the industry.

The bank aims to have a total of 4,000 representatives by year-end in Merrill Edge, which now has 2.4 million accounts and $184.5 billion in assets.

After the digital advice firm reportedly saw its valuation drop $200 million, industry executives ask if independent robo advisors are on borrowed time.

The digital advice firm acknowledges RIAs using its institutional platform "needed more control."