Robo-Advisers Take Over the Task of Financial Planning, Find out If You ALSO INSIDE
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THE ECONOMIC TIMES wealthwww.wealth.economictimes.com | Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune | July 13-19, 2015 | 32 pages | `7 10 STOCKS Why you should worry about China A threat of funds outflow looks real as the Chinese government's efforts to stem the freefall only leads to more panic. 13 FINANCIAL PLANNING Lessons for investors from Greece You can't get away by borrowing more than you can repay is lesson number one. Also, don't cancel that Greek holiday just yet. 14 INSURANCE Don't let the premium decide your health cover The lowest premium and an array of benefits may look tempting when buying health insurance, but you need to consider more. As robo-advisers take over the task of financial planning, find out if you ALSO INSIDE should shift to the new option or Learn and Keep PAGE 16 stick with the traditional adviser. Tax optimiser PAGE 29 PAGE 2 Tech PAGE 30 PLUS The week’s best stocks, mutual funds, loans and deposits. The Economic Times Wealth is available at an invitation price of `7/issue. To book your copy*, contact your newspaper vendor or call 022-39898090; Email: [email protected]; SMS ETWS to 58888 02 The Economic Times Wealth, July 13-19, 2015 Cover Story As robo-advisers—online, automated platforms—take over the task of financial planning, find out if you should shift to the new option or stick with your traditional adviser. SANKET DHANORKAR for their money. According to Corpo- rate Insight, a financial research and his invasion can’t be consulting firm, robo-advisers were stopped. They are every- managing assets worth $19 billion in where, these tech trojans, December 2014, a 21% increase since throbbing with the Net July the same year. By 2020, this figure Tpower and taking over eve- is estimated to grow to $2 trillion in the ry aspect of our lives. Smartphones and US, as per a report by global consulting watches, computers and cameras, all firm A.T. Kearney. are driven by technology that threatens While companies like Wealthfront, to overwhelm us, but at the same time Betterment and FutureAdvisor are at provides unmatched comfort and con- the forefront of this activity, it has also venience. Our financial lives are not forced industry titans, Vanguard and untouched either. From Net banking to Charles Schwab, to foray into the robo- mobile wallets, online bill payments to advisory space. booking tickets, monetary transactions However, when it comes to India, have undergone a sea change. Little can you rely on these robo-advisers to wonder then that robo-advisers are provide sound financial advice? Or is stomping in, vying for a chance to the friendly neighbourhood planner shape our personal finances as well. still your best bet to steer your finances What exactly are robo-advisers? in the right direction? We shall try to These are online wealth management find an answer to these questions by re- services that provide automated, algo- vealing how these platforms work and rithm-based advice without human in- whether they suit your needs when tervention. While such advisory servic- compared with human planners. es are still in a nascent stage in India, they have become popular across the TYPES OF ROBO-ADVISERS world, giving traditional advisers a run Currently, there are three types of advi- Cover Story The Economic Times Wealth, July 13-19, 2015 03 sory services available in the country—basic, relevant numbers to identify the best funds. advanced and evolved. Arthayantra, BigDe- Scripbox offers a ready basket of funds on TYPES OF ROBO-ADVISERS IN INDIA cisions, FundsIndia, Scripbox and MyUni- the basis of the user’s investing horizon. So, Being in a nascent stage, most robo-advisers in the country offer basic services, but verse are the prominent players in this arena. an investor with a longer time frame will be others are beginning to evolve and provide a wider range of advice. directed to a basket of four preselected equi- Basic: The first type is not a full-fledged ty funds, while a shorter time frame will robo-advisory service since it only assists in throw up a portfolio of debt schemes. It also designing a portfolio of mutual funds. has a separate basket of funds for those who Simply put, these portals use algorithms to want to invest just to save tax. The baskets recommend a basket of mutual funds and are reviewed once a year and changes sug- BASIC ADVANCED EVOLVED enable you to start investing through them. gested, if required. These schemes are recommended on the basis of internal models that crunch Advanced: Under this category, the services WHAT IT OFFERS WHAT IT OFFERS WHAT IT OFFERS Customised mutual fund portfolio construction. Customised mutual fund Customised mutual fund portfolio construction, portfolio construction. Goal-based advice. with a ready basket of Goal-based advice. Basic life and health insurance preselected funds. coverage advice. Comprehensive financial Risk profiling and counselling (telephonic). Tax optimisation. customisation is minimal Extensive risk profiling and Expense restructuring. or not at all. customisation. Extensive risk profiling and customisation. COST COST COST FREE FREE `1,000* * This is the fee for services provided by Arthayantra. 04 The Economic Times Wealth, July 13-19, 2015 Cover Story FundsIndia also offers Smart Solu- tions, a tool that helps you identify ROBOT VS HUMAN the money you need to invest per We asked a 29-year-old investor to try out the services of both, a robo-adviser and a traditional financial planner. month to achieve each goal. It also Here’s the degree of difficulty and ease he experienced at various levels of the entire financial planning process. recommends a portfolio of funds to achieve this goal and helps set up an SIP mandate for this objective. It monitors this portfolio continuous- ly and recommends changes as ACCESS ACCESS needed. Apart from this, the advi- sory provides comprehensive fi- From a computer at home. Easy to Difficult to identify a trustworthy planner, who locate advisory firms as there aren’t will give good advice, not just sell products. nancial planning services, which too many in India. Can start planning Spend time and effort to contact the planner. are not algorithm-based and in- instantly. Cost is minimal or free. Actual start to planning may take a couple of volve one-on-one interaction with a meetings. Cost is relatively high. dedicated planner just like a tradi- tional advisory service. BigDecisions.com is another unique portal that offers interactive ASSESSMENT ASSESSMENT tools powered by sophisticated al- gorithms, which help you make Sign up and register. Select the service you You fill up forms, but also discuss your life more informed decisions. These want. Fill up financial details. These help situation, goals, liabilities, risk coverage, enable users to accurately identify specify your risk profile, spending-saving financial habits and biases. The planner the sum needed to invest for a par- pattern, investment horizon and goals. takes a call on the basis of both inputs. ticular goal, the life and health in- surance required, even figure out the problem of buying or renting a house . However, it facilitates the ANALYSIS ANALYSIS execution of advice through other service providers. A completely objective and detailed The analysis can be subjective and cater to break-up of each aspect of your investor’s biases, not always what is right for him. Evolved: This final category of finances and financial patterns, without It is, however, able to factor in complex scenarios robo-adviser assists in the online hidden agendas or sales pitches. and lifestage complications in the portfolio. creation of a comprehensive finan- cial plan, not merely a customised portfolio of mutual funds. Arthay- antra is a prime players here. To generate a financial plan, the ADVICE ADVICE portal asks for relevant financial and personal details, such as age, It is cut-and-dry, but will lay out a clear The advice for starters is comparable with that of marital status, income, expenses, path to reach objectives, with specific asset the robo-adviser. However, the human interface existing assets and liabilities, and allocation and tools to invest in. It also eases the execution and offers stronger motivation. so on. It then provides a question- offers advice on tax, insurance and ways to Also, it’s easier for a person to factor in sudden naire to assess the user’s risk toler- improve cash flow. You can start execution changes in life situation or handle more ance level, specify important life and investment online, but need to be complicated portfolios. goals, identify time frames to disciplined to carry it through on your own. achieve the goals, and helps ascer- tain the corpus needed to achieve them. Based on the inputs, the pro- gram identifies the optimum asset PORTFOLIO COMPARISON allocation, recommends invest- For person aged 29, time horizon of more than 10 years and a moderate risk profile. ments across asset classes, and sug- gests life and health insurance cov- CURRENT ASSET ALLOCATION RECOMMENDED ASSET ALLOCATION ers as well. It also helps in linking the user’s existing investments with 1% different goals and points out if he 5% 5% is on the right track to achieve each 20% goal. Apart from this, it provides tax planning tips and suggests changes in budget to save more. EQUITY ROBO- ROBO- Given the apparent ease of finan- 41% FINANCIAL DEBT ADVISER 35% ADVISER 35% cial management, should you opt PLANNER 58% COMMODITY NO. 1 NO. 2 for robo-advisers? Before you ar- (BALANCED 20% 60% 60% 60% rive at a decision, consider these FUND FOR benefits and drawbacks.