EDITION 26
e Robo Report(R)
Fourth Quarter 2022
Condor Capital Wealth Management is proud to publish the 26th
edition of the Robo Report(R), covering the fourth quarter of 2022, and
the tenth edition of the Robo Ranking(R). is Report is a continuation of
an ongoing study that monitors well-known robo advisors. We strive to
provide a reliable resource for both investors and professionals
interested in the digital advice industry.
Highlights:
e Winner of Best Overall Robo, Wealthfront, provides a top-tier digital experience
and strikes an impressive balance between simplicity, functionality, and
customization. (pg. 7)
SoFi;s budgeting, career coaching, live planning, low fees, and ability to manage many
areas of one;s financial life on a single platform combine to make SoFi the winner for
Best Robo for First-Time Investors. (pg. 8)
Wealthfront, Schwab’s Domestic Focus, and Morgan Stanley Inflation Conscious were
the decisive winning accounts for the year. (pg. 15)
e major driver of fixed income performance over the last three years has been the
allocation to municipal bonds. (pg. 16)
Betterment announced it was transitioning to a subscription-based fee of $4 a month
for smaller accounts without recurring contributions, significantly raising costs for
many clients. (pg. 9)Table of Contents
Executive Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Robo Ranking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Robo Ranking Scores. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Award Winners. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Top Performers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Performance Commentary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Total Portfolio Performance Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Terms of Use and Disclosures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
All supporting data can be found online at theroboreport/data
AUM Tables
Total Portfolio Returns
Equity & Fixed Income Returns
Fees, Minimums, and Allocations
Risk Statistics
Normalized Benchmarks
International Allocation
Disclosures
2 Executive Summary
This edition of the Robo Report, published by demand facing o against disrupted supply chains
Condor Capital Wealth Management, tracks 57 ignited in ation in 2021. Waking up late to
accounts at 32 diferent providers. The Robo reality, in 2022, the Federal Reserve lurched into
Report continues to evolve, and this quarter, we action, embarking on a historic rate-rising
bring you our usual data, which can be found campaign. The rapid rise in rates drove current
online at theroboreport/data, values of future cash ows downwards,
as well as performance commentary for the decimating valuations of low pro t, high growth
quarter. This quarter, we publish our Robo companies and driving asset prices of value
Ranking Winter Edition, providing an in-depth companies lower. Rising rates also hurt
look at both the qualitative factors of robo-advice bondholders by providing a painful ride for both
platforms, as well as the performance of our equity and xed-income investors. Thankfully,
underlying accounts. in ation has, at last, shown signs of easing, and
the Fed appears to be approaching the end of its
Wealthfront and SoFi have topped our ranking rate hiking cycle. Bonds are delivering truly
for Best Overall Robo this year. Full details and attractive yields for the rst time in many years,
scores for our ranking can be found in the Robo and equity markets have risen from their lows,
Ranking section of this report.re ecting investors; optimism for 2023.
Please note that the Wealthfront account The pace of change in the robo-advice industry
originally invested in 2016 has held a dedicated has recently slackened as the market has
allocation to an energy holding since inception. consolidated the winners, and most major banks,
According to portfolio allocations posted on the discount brokers, and wirehouses have launched a
Wealthfront website, new accounts opened at digital advice or hybrid advice o ering. The most
Wealthfront do not have this “natural resources” notable news of 2022 was the unraveling of the
allocation. Our main account is in a legacy UBS-Wealthfront merger. UBS has long struggled
portfolio model. We also track an account that with its robo strategy, both closing its European
was opened and invested in 2018. This account’s robo, SmartWealth, and opening the Advice
allocation appears closer to the current models Advantage robo product in the U.S. within
ofered at Wealthfront. Starting this quarter, we months of each other in 2018. When the merger
will publish the performance of both of the between Wealthfront and UBS was announced, it
accounts we track and label them by the years in was unclear what that would mean for the
which they were frst invested. The Robo Ranking existing robo-advice product, Advice Advantage,
scores the performance of our account as part of which is backed by SigFig. Regardless,
the ranking metrics. The ranking score is based Wealthfront will remain independent for the time
on our legacy 2016 account to be consistent with being after the tie-up was abandoned last year.
prior rankings.
In other news, Betterment announced it was
2022 was dominated by the economic aftershocks transitioning to a subscription-based fee of $4 a
of the Covid-19 pandemic. Government month for those with less than $20,000 platform
spending, household savings, and pent-up assets or those without monthly recurring
3deposits of $250 or more. Perhaps nally advice tiers: Digital Advisor, Personal Advisor,
admitting that serving small-asset clients is not and Personal Advisor Select. Personal Advisor is a
pro table with an annual fee of just 0.25%. hybrid-advice product with a team of advisors
Unfortunately, it has also not raised its minimum. approach, while those with $500,000 or above get
This means without recurring deposits, someone a dedicated advisor with Personal Advisor Select.
who opens an account with just $500 can expect While we believe dedicated advisors have long
to pay the equivalent of a nearly 10% been available to those with $500,000 or more,
management fee.this highest tier of services is now clearly
marketed as a separate service.
The behemoth Vanguard continues to
incrementally improve its platform. Announcing For our performance and market commentary
the expansion of automated tax loss harvesting for and our newest ranking winners, please read-on.
its digital-only product Digital Advisor. Vanguard We look forward to another exciting year in the
is now also clearly marketing its three distinct robo-advice industry.
4 WINTER 2023 EDITION
e Robo Ranking(R)
Bringing Transparency to Robo Investing
Condor Capital Wealth Management is excited to publish the 10th edition
of the Robo Ranking(R). e Robo Ranking is the only comprehensive ranking
of robo advisors. It examines not only the features and services but also
portfolio performance that is sourced from real accounts tracked by the
Robo Report. Robo advisors have taken the advice industry by storm, with
the larger independent providers continuing to show strong growth and
innovative features, and robo advice technology being adopted across
banks, brokerages, and other traditional advice firms. Robo-advice
providers are proving attracti