Tag Archives: robo-advisers

Aman Raina’s mid-year ROBO advisor review

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By Aman Raina, SageInvestors.ca

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

We have passed the half-year mark and so I thought it would be a good time to check back into my ROBO portfolio to see how it’s doing and if there is anything interesting going on.

I was all good to go on writing a very pedestrian update as the portfolio had not undergone any significant changes in over a year. Then I got a couple of emails.

Snippets of Email from my ROBO informing me of “changes” in my portfolio.

 

About a month later I received a follow-up email with some more explanations.

 

 

Follow up email from my Robo Advisor

 

The emails paint a picture of some minor changes and tinkering.

Changes? Lordy there were a few.

After remaining static for about a year and a half, the ROBO made some very significant changes in the portfolio. The asset mix of 85 per cent stocks and 15% bonds remained, but the allocations were altered quite dramatically. Here’s the breakdown along with the allocations in the past.

 

Caption: Asset allocation of my ROBO portfolio since inception

Allocation to US stocks fell from 32.5% to 26.5%

  • Allocation to Canadian stocks fell from 22.5% to 10.5%
  • Allocation to Emerging Market stocks increased from 10% to approximately 16%
  • Allocation to other Foreign Stocks increase from 15% to 32%
  • The bond allocation changed from domestic government and corporate bonds to Government and US bonds.

This marks the 3rd significant change in my portfolio’s asset allocation in the 4 1/2 years I’ve had the portfolio. I think we can clearly say this portfolio has not been passively managed.

The changes are pretty dramatic, but actually welcome. Regular readers of this blog know I’ve been a bit critical on the ROBO’s concentrated exposure to US and Canadian stocks. Prior to this adjustment, almost 55 per cent of the equity component was in US/Canadian stocks, which I thought was pretty high. Granted, it has been a winning move as the results have been quite strong. I have been concerned that the portfolio is pretty exposed if the markets were to take a major downturn. It seems ROBO has gotten the message and re-calibrated the portfolio. This is a good thing to see, although again I wonder why it took so long. I also wonder if this rebalancing was more of a market timing action or an asset reallocation action? Hard to say.

The other change involved the rotation of ETF products. ROBO decided to use different ETF products. Here’s the summary.

Bonds

  • Sold BMO Mid Fed Bond Index (ZFM) and bought Mackenzie US Government Bond ETF (QTIP)
  • Sold iShares Core Canadian Bond ETF  and bought BMO Long Fed Bond ETF (ZFL) .

This is ROBO’s latest tinkering of the Bond component of the portfolio. Continue Reading…

 How to improve the financial wellness of the Canadian workforce 

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By Jean-Philippe Provost, Mercer Canada 

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

For Canadians, wealth management and financial decisions can represent an endless source of stress: whether putting money aside for an important purchase, paying off debt, or saving for retirement. Increasingly, this stress is interfering with workplace health and productivity. 

A company’s most productive asset is their people: when employees are unhealthy, financially or physically, the organization as a whole suffers. Helping employees feel confident about wealth management matters and guiding them towards financial wellness is not just a nice to have: it is a need to have. A healthy workforce means a healthy company: and a healthy bottom line. 

The impacts of financial stress on the workforce 

At Mercer, we have spent years studying the workplace trends, the evolving realities and the challenges faced by workers in Canada. Our most recent research into Canadians’ financial wellness found that if employers help employees achieve financial wellness, they too will reap the rewards, in terms of increased productivity, reduced absenteeism and improved morale. 

For example, our study showed that financial and physical health are tightly intertwined. With only 39% of employees with a low level of financial wellness reporting being in excellent or very good health (compared to 81% at the highest level), it is easy to see how this impacts entire organizations. 

Additionally, employees who don’t feel financially confident also often spend much of their time worrying, including while at work and are also less likely to pay attention to the features of their workplace benefits and the importance of their employee compensation package. 

Employers can and should help their employees successfully manage the steps towards achieving financial confidence. Providing easy-to-access resources to help to their workforce secure retirement savings and manage investments can lead to greater employee satisfaction. It can also strengthen their employee value proposition and help to attract and retain talents. 

Reducing employees’ financial stresses 

The most effective resources should be flexible enough to help all levels of employees meet their financial goals and milestones throughout their careers. Continue Reading…

Why customizing a personal investment portfolio matters

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By David Miller, CFP, RFP

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

As we say goodbye to a tumultuous 2018 and hello to 2019, it is time for you to review your investment portfolio strategy to ensure it is set up for success in the New Year and for the long-term.

Below are some questions you should ask yourself as you review your investment portfolio:

  • Is your portfolio suitable for your personal situation?
  • What is your overall investment strategy and has it changed given the level of volatility you likely have experienced?
  • Did you receive individualized investment advice from a qualified professional?
    • Is that qualified professional a portfolio manager or a salesperson?
  • Do you or your advisor look at the whole picture when it comes to managing your money?
  • Are your investments held in a ‘cookie cutter’ investment portfolio?

To ensure your portfolio is suitable, reliable, and catered to your situation, a customized investment portfolio, built by a portfolio manager, may be what you need.

The trend towards a ‘Model Portfolio’

Computers and the use of algorithms have made it easier for banks, institutions and, more recently, Robo-advisors to automate the investment process for the masses. Model portfolios are now common place because of the economies of scale; it’s just cheaper and easier to do. For some people this approach might help save on fees, but for someone with more unique financial planning and investment needs, a cookie-cutter portfolio just doesn’t cut it. You need a portfolio that is customized to your situation.

Why Custom Portfolio Management?

Let’s look at high-income earner John. John has saved faithfully through his big bank over the years, and along with his defined contribution pension/stock plan through his work, he has maximized his RRSP and TFSA. He has no debt and there are very few places he can now allocate his savings without having to worry about the tax implications. He’s in the prime of his earning years and has 10+ years until he’d like to retire.

John is increasingly aware of the high fees his bank is having him pay. He’s seen the advertising on the importance of keeping his fees low *there seems to be a race to the bottom for investment fees1*. He’s looked at the Robo-options and even at managing his own investments, but he’s not sure and a little stuck. It’s not his expertise.

Here are five big reasons why John may want a tailor-made portfolio: Continue Reading…

Which Robo Advisor differs from the other?

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By Dale Roberts

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

I recently penned the blog What and who are the Canadian Robo Advisors? That blog outlined how, true to the moniker, a robo advisor is an online financial advisor without the human.

Well, let’s say that at times there is no human present. In actuality the robo advisors are all quite human and they all have a unique personality. Think Star Wars and the loveable tin cans known as R2-D2 and C-3PO. They are very different in voice and personality.

Above left is R2 …

And to the right is my robo mascot …

The answer to the question posed in the headline is that all of the robo advisors are different, at times very different from one another. That’s why it’s important to know and understand these differences so that you might be able to find the robo that’s right for you. Getting in the ‘right robo’ might make a difference of thousands to tens of thousands of dollars or more over an investment lifetime.

The ‘robots’ don’t think in a pure sense. In most cases, this is not artificial intelligence at work. The process involves investment concepts and approach(es) and then mountains of computer programming applied so that the robo platforms can follow the direction of the human financial gurus who set the course for each robo advisor.

The Chief Investment Officers and their teams can and do also make adjustments on the fly. Some may react to market conditions. That may seem ironic given that the robo advisors will mostly embrace and use mostly passive Exchange Traded Funds, but they will then get a little more active with regards to asset allocation and types of funds used based on changing market conditions. All said, that will be one of the factors that I track moving forward as we compare the performance of the Canadian robos.

Robos can be passive or active

Some robos are more passive, some robos are very active.

One of the robo advisors, responsive, is considered AI-based as the platform will automatically change the asset allocation (mix of stocks and bonds) based on many market and economic indicators. Continue Reading…

What and Who are the Canadian Robo Advisors?

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By Dale Roberts

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Most investors want or need investment advice. I learned after many decades in and around the industry, including over 5 years as an advisor on lower-fee index-based portfolios, that Canadians are not all that interested in their investments. We’d call that a low interest category.

Nope, folks are more interested in making money and well, living. So most need, or seek advice. Now unfortunately most Canadians by force of habit simply line up at their big bank or mutual fund sales office and sign up to pay some of the highest investment fees in the world. Those fees are crippling, I know, I saw the results when Canadians showed me how they were invested.

But just because you might need an advisor does not mean you have to pay some of the highest investment fees in the world. And yes the fees are important. We know that the fees typically and greatly impact the returns. From Justwealth the chart at the top is a comparison of the potential portfolio returns impact over longer periods, based on an initial $100,000 investment.

We can see that the effect of high fees paid can become exaggerated over time. Remember you pay investment fees every year, throughout the year, and as your portfolio grows over time you pay more in fees as the fees are based on your portfolio value. That’s a nasty kind of negative compounding.

So just what is a robo advisor?

Yup, just as per the image, a robo advisor is an investment advisor that’s well, not human. But don’t be scared. If you want to talk to a human the companies that offer robo advisory services can also put you in touch with real flesh and blood advisor types.

So if a robo advisor is not human, just what is “it”? A robo advisor is simply an online platform that asks you questions to help you get into the right investment portfolio. A robo advisor will ask the same type of questions as would a human advisor. Based on your answers the robo advisor will put you in the appropriate portfolio.

So what type of questions will the robo advisor ask you?

The robo advisor platform may try and gauge your investment knowledge. There may be questions on your net worth and salary and employment status, basic personal details. Each robo advisor offering has its own nuances and I will dig deeper into that in future articles. But most importantly a robo advisor wants to know …

  1. Your time horizon for the monies that you are about to invest.
  2. Your tolerance for risk (the amount or percentage that the portfolio could decline).
  3. Your objectives for the investment, whether you’re looking for more growth, a more balanced approach or a very conservative approach that might include a lot of bonds and fixed income.

And once again, each robo advisor will have its own methods (robo personality?) for asking those questions and discovering your investment personality and needs. If you want to ‘play around’ with a basic robo question and answer process have a look at Tangerine Investments’ Portfolio Selector Tool. Continue Reading…