Looking For A Robo-advisor? Here's How To Go About…
Aug 16, 2018

Author: PersonalFN Content & Research Team

analysis

About two years ago Avanish earned a promotion as Zonal head.

Since then, he travels to different locations for at least two weeks in a month.

When he is in the town, he spends around 12 hours in the office.

When he returns home, he’s too tired to do anything else.

Fortunately, Sushma, his wife who teaches science in a school, manages the home exceptionally well.

There’s just one area the couple struggled with—personal finances.

Sushma had told Avanish that she’ll manage everything but investments.

Up until a few weeks ago, managing their investment portfolio was a tough exercise.

But now the couple feels it has become super easy

So what has changed so drastically for them?

Read his story…

About 4-5 years ago, Avanish started investing in mutual funds. Until then, he was on a mission of getting his loans down to manageable levels. Four years ago he paid off his car loan and pre-paid a part of his housing loan.

As soon as he got some breathing space, he started investing his savings.

Initially, he trusted every mutual fund broker and investment advisor he met.

No wonder, until recently, he held a portfolio of around 25-30 mutual fund schemes. Out of this, more than half underperformed their benchmark indices. Some were sector and thematic funds. The performing schemes were minimal and his investments in such schemes, nominal.

As they say, Avanish was once beaten, twice shy.

He couldn't trust another investment adviser.

“I can trust animals and aliens but mutual fund advisers”, he said one day.

But he’s aware not everybody’s alike. He knew he had to make a decision.

Sushma agreed with him on this and he managed to break the deadlock.

Finally, they reached to a conclusion that they will  go with the recommendations of a robo-advisor from this point onwards.

Initially, it was difficult for both of them to believe that a robo advisor can be more effective than human investment advisers.

It’s too early to call it a success, but they are delighted with their initial robo-advisory experience.

Is their story relevant to you?

Yes, if you can’t handle your investments efficiently and need expert help on this.

For young and mid-aged investors, managing the investment portfolio and fulfilling their financial goals becomes difficult because they can’t dedicate the necessary time. And, many a times they lack skills too.

Robo advisors might address all their worries about mutual fund investing.

What is a robo-advisor?

Robo-advisory platforms enable you to save and invest in mutual funds in an automated manner. What’s more, there is no need to visit a branch or send physical documents to enact transactions. Everything can be done online through the internet. 

The Robo advisory business can offer scale, comfort, and economies of scale to all parties involved — mutual funds, investors, and the robo-advisors themselves.

Benefits of investing with a robo-advisory platform…

No behavioural biases

It is quite possible that a human investment adviser would be biased in his/her recommendations. Robo advisors on the other hand, act pragmatically and help you create a financial plan to achieve your goals.

Easy-to-use and time-saving

Robo-advisors offer a user-friendly interface and provide a world of convenience. There is no need to set up an appointment with a financial planner each time you need to review your goals. All you need is to share the correct information to get customised advice.

Additionally, you can track your investments over a single platform, which is accessible at any time. 

You can manage your mutual fund investments from the comfort of your home or even on the go through a mobile application.

Everything from KYC to redemption of mutual fund units is possible online.

Offer reach and speed

Robo-advisors are likely to deliver plans, faster as they are based on mathematical algorithms.

If you have a high-speed internet connection and mid-range computer/laptop, you are halfway there.

Everything is possible with one click.

Cost efficient

When planning your finances or investments, you may tend to ignore costs. Especially, when costs are mentioned in percentage terms, it may seem small and insignificant.

However, it might cost you a big amount if you compound the benefit over the long-term.

Thanks to technology, robo-advisors can lower their costs. They are relatively cheaper than traditional financial planners.

Now that you know the benefits of online investing, let us look at how robo advisors are better than traditional planners.

But beware!

Not all robo advisory platforms are trustworthy though. In India, many of them are promoted by tech-startups that have no prior experience of mutual fund research and investing. While a few others are funded by brokerage houses or by a group of mutual fund intermediaries offering biased advice.

You should avoid investing through all such platforms.

But then whom to trust?

Any technologically sound robo advisory platform founded by a company or a group of people with proven track record in investment planning, are unbiased and ethical, do your risk profiling before recommending mutual fund schemes, offer Direct Plans, and back recommendations with thorough research are good for you.

Do such platforms exist?

Yes, certainly they do. And PersonalFN Direct is one of them.

PersonalFN Direct will help you;

Investing on PersonalFN Direct is an easy 5-step process…

  1. Complete the registration

  2. Submit necessary documents to activate your investment account

  3. Assess your risk profile

  4. Get a recommended portfolio based on your inputs

  5. Invest with a single click

More reasons why you should invest through PersonalFN’s robo advisory platform

  • It can help you reap you extra returns of as much as Rs 30 lakhs in 30 years. It recommends direct plans only.

  • It brings outstanding research experience of over 15 years. (Outperforming the BSE-200 index by 80 percent!).

  • It comes at a pocket-friendly price.

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Are you all set to sign up and keep all your financial worries at bay?



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