How it all started: In the year 2008, during the period of the Great Recession in the U.S., Betterment launched the first robo-advisor for their investors to manage passive, buy-and-hold investments through an online interface. Initially, clients had to employ a financial advisor to benefit from this innovation. Fast forward to now, the wealth management industry is poised to enter a disruptive phase; and at the heart of this disruption is robo-advice. The advent of modern-day automated investment advisors in the financial advisory space is witnessing a game-changing trend, which is predicted to grow exponentially in the next few years. …

The U.S. government claims that financial advisors charge about $17 billion in exorbitant fees a year by putting their own interests to earn high commissions over the client’s interest. The government, therefore, wants to regulate these charges by introducing the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule 29 CFR – parts 2509, 2510, and 2550) to stop them from doing so. Crucial concessions were made to the final ruling to make implementation easier for the financial industry. However, the fear of litigation still hangs in the air particularly if financial advisors are unable to prove that their retirement advice is in the client’s …

One of the biggest threats that most Portfolio Managers face is the prevalence of legacy systems. Over the past three decades, investment advisors have been empowered by the advent of technology from simple spreadsheets to complex homegrown systems. From that time to the present, the industry has seen exponential growth and with it, enormous complexity. Challenges include round-the-clock trading in markets from New York to Sydney, varying accounting standards, shortened settlement cycles, and of course, increased regulation and security issues to name a few. As if that were not enough, technology seems to change every day leaving many legacy systems …