Mass affluent

The investment bank is poised to join the competition for digital mass-affluent clients.

Learn the key characteristics for the type of investors that find robo advice appealing.

Clear goals, an informed focus and effective execution equals better performance.

The fiduciary rule, combined with technological advances, will create pressure to compress fees to a degree that could threaten advisers’ lifestyles.

In the near future, an adviser's role will partly be providing help desk support to clients, says Uday Singh, a partner with A.T. Kearney, at SourceMedia's In|Vest conference.

One bank executive says "the beauty of the digital wealth management platform is that it can be offered at a very low cost."

Can FlexScore provide a "hand-on-your-shoulder" experience online by focusing on a client's life, rather than investment strategy?

Just when you thought all you had to worry about was Betterment.

Blog: Betterment Institutional's Tom Kimberly says robo advisors are changing the industry — but it’s clients who are driving the change.

The firm could resurrect its U.S. brokerage business online, analysts say. However, Deutsche executives have said they were unsure about their U.S. plans for automated advice.

The outlook is “scary” for wealth managers who will deal with the newest generation of clients, says David Wilson, head of Capgemini Financial Services strategic analysis.

U.S. Bank, Bank of the West and Bremer Bank have introduced new initiatives that assign the mass-affluent not just an advisor but a banker too – despite intense price competition from robos.

"There's a plethora of [private equity firms] sniffing around, and I think all the big firms are being pursued," says Brent Brodeski, CEO of Savant Capital Management.

In a bid to attract more mass-affluent clients, the bank is calling on bankers and advisors to work in teams.

The giant asset management company said it was acquiring robo advisor FutureAdvisor.

People just want to spend their money. Show them how to do it better without making it feel like accounting. That's all consumers really want out of PFM, says the president of mobile banking service Moven.

Concerns about China and turmoil in Greece, along with growing speculation about the Federal Reserve were leading factors in the decline in investor confidence, according to a Spectrem Group report.

We're a long way from building strong, interpersonal relationships with computers (the movie "Her" notwithstanding), which gives banks an advantage.

Robo startups are expected to reach $452 billion in AUM in five years, but incumbent firms will possess over $1 trillion in assets in the digital automated advice space.

Betterment CEO Jon Stein says his firm is adding 1,000 accounts a week to the tune of about 94,000 with a total of $2.3 billion AUM. Over 30% of assets come from clients age 50 and up, he adds.