Highlights
Community Rating	Rating not yet determined
Minimum Initial Investment	$500
Management Fee	0.25%

Wealthfront Investment Advisor Review

Wealthfront Investment Advisor is founded in 2011 and based in Palo Alto, CA.

Wealthfront Investment Advisor Pros & Cons

The Good	The Bad
Broad selection of account types. Competitive investment expense ratios.	Does not offer low-cost ETFs. Does not give access to human finance advisors. Tax-loss harvesting not available. Limited investment options.

Wealthfront Investment Advisor FAQ

What fees does Wealthfront Investment Advisor charge?

Wealthfront Investment Advisor uses a fee-only model.

This means Wealthfront Investment Advisor gets paid a flat fee regardless of what financial products or services you use. It also means they have a fiduciary responsibility to their clients. Instead of making money on trades commissions or selling products, they recommend an asset allocation and get paid a flat-fee or a percentage of the assets under administration. That requires that they act in their client’s financial best interest at all times.

Wealthfront Investment Advisor Fees
Description
Account Termination Fee	$0
Account Transfer Fee	$0
Annual Fee	$0
Fee Based?
Investment Expense Ratios	0.07% - 0.16%
Monthly Fee	$0
Management Fee	0.25%

What management fees does Wealthfront Investment Advisor charge?

Wealthfront Investment Advisor charges an annual management fee that starts at 0.25% and ranges up to 0.25%.

Many financial advisors charge based on how much money they oversee by using a fee-structure called “assets under management,” or AUM. For instance, a 0.40% fee translates to $4 per year for every $1,000 an investment advisor manages. Management fees, also known as maintenance fees, cover the operating costs of investment advisors and are typically deducted from your account every month or quarter. The management fee does not cover the underlying expense ratios of the investment vehicles purchased by investment advisors.

What are the investment expense ratios of Wealthfront Investment Advisor?

Hiring an investment advisor with competitive investment fees is one of the most important steps to maximizing your portfolio's performance. Investment expense ratios can vary drastically depending on the types of accounts and assets involved. A survey by the ICI puts the average expense ratio for actively managed funds at 0.76% and indexed funds at 0.08%. The investment expense ratios of an investment advisor will vary depending on the type of assets they invest in and whether they attach additional charges to fund fees.

Wealthfront Investment Advisor charges an investment expense ratio that starts at 0.07% and ranges up to 0.16%.

What type of investment accounts and asset classes does Wealthfront Investment Advisor support?

Wealthfront offers the following types of assets and account types.

Accounts Supported Options
Supported Options	Unsupported Options
Individual Non-Retirement Accounts Joint Non-Retirement Accounts Roth IRA Traditional IRA Rollover IRA SEP IRA Trusts 529 College Savings Plans	Employer Sponsored Plans Custodial Accounts

Wealthfront does not offer any of the investment vehicles that we track.

What is the minimum amount you have to invest to open an account with Wealthfront Investment Advisor?

The minimum amount to open an account with Wealthfront Investment Advisor is 500.

Wealthfront Investment Advisor Disclosure: Wealthfront’s financial advisory and planning services, provided to investors who become clients pursuant to a written agreement, are designed to aid our clients in preparing for their financial futures and allow them to personalize their assumptions for their portfolios. All investing involves risk, including the possible loss of money you invest, and past performance does not guarantee future performance. Historical returns, expected returns, and probability projections are provided for informational and illustrative purposes, and may not reflect actual future performance.

SuperMoney Disclosure: SuperMoney.com is an independent, advertising-supported service. The owner of this website may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. Read more...

Editorial Disclaimer: Editorial and user-generated content on this page is not provided or commissioned by the issuer. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and have not been approved or otherwise endorsed by any financial institution, including those that are advertising partners.

Message From Wealthfront

Message From Our Editor

What We Love About Wealthfront

Wealthfront is an automated investing service that invests clients’ money based on their risk tolerance and personal preferences. It is a great way to watch your money grow over time without having to hire a financial adviser and without the stress and research associated with making investment decisions for yourself.

What Could Wealthfront Do Better?

Wealthfront is great for investors within a specific range of capital, but outside that range, there may be better options available in terms of fees and management.

Wealthfront provides a competitive option to both financial advisers and other Robo-advisers. But once your assets exceed a certain threshold, the fees increase, and they are no longer as low as other Robo-advisers, such as Betterment and SigFig. Check out Wealthfront’s website for the most up to date information on their fees.

Wealthfront also has a minimum account balance requirement for certain types of accounts. This may be a deal-breaker for those who are just starting to save. This is important because competitors like SigFig and Betterment don’t require a minimum investment.

Depending on your account balance and the fee structure at Wealthfront, there could be better investment options for you.

Wealthfront’s Background Story

Wealthfront was founded in 2008 in Palo Alto, California. They are a company that uses software to automate your choice of investments based on your tolerance to risk tolerance and modern portfolio theory.

Modern portfolio theory states that trying to time the market and pick stocks is a fool’s errand. Software-Based investing is a low-cost and efficient option for most people to make long-term gains in the stock market.

The Verdict

Because of their fee structure and minimum account balance requirements, Wealthfront is not for all investors. However, for most peoples’ investing needs, Wealthfront provides a low-cost way of creating a scientifically diversified portfolio.

Without Wealthfront, that would either cost you a small fortune in financial advisor fees or take hours and hours of your time to set up. The design, ease of use, and special features, such as tax harvesting, make Wealthfront a solid choice.

Contact

Headquarters
541 Cowper St.
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Visit Site

About Wealthfront Investment Advisor

View Wealthfront Profile

Feature Breakdown

Minimum Initial Investment

$500