Overview
This Canadian robo-advisor giant has crossed the border to attract US investors with investment choices that will make you “feel good” financially and morally. Investors can choose between three low-cost ETF portfolios – a globally diversified, Socially Responsible Investment (SRI), and Halal Investment portfolio. WealthSimple is betting investors are just as green on this side of the border, and across the pond – where it has begun its U.K. expansion.
Wealthsimple is open to investors in these three countries:
- Canada
- The United States
- The United Kingdom
By bundling together a portfolio of ETFs for you from its wide selection of quality funds, Wealthsimple seeks out diversification, and tax and fee reduction opportunities to improve your returns. The digital advisor prefers if you grow your wealth while doing good, so it will be delighted if you choose its low cost Socially Responsible Investment portfolio.
The wide selection of ETFs screen for a range of environmental, social and governance goals, from clean technology to gender diversity. However, the choice is yours – choose between the regular or SRI portfolios.
Founding: 2014
Assets Under Management: C $1 billion
Client Profile: With no minimum investment, Wealthsimple is attracting socially conscious Millennials. Higher net worth Baby Boomers are also signing up.
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Table of Contents
Getting Started
What do you need to start?
A good place to start is WealthSimple’s Portfolio Review. This free portfolio review service of all your non-WealthSimple accounts will seek out inefficiencies such as excessive fees, tax losses, and low diversification.
To receive your free evaluation, submit your latest financial statement for each account and a WealthSimple advisor will call you to discuss your portfolio health. Hopefully, you now have more insight into shortcomings and gaps in your financial plan as you move onto the next step.
What questions do they ask?
In addition to the basic profile questions, you will be asked about your primary reason for investing, estimated savings and investments, total asset value, total debt, investing experience, and time horizon. Finally, you will be asked if you want to invest exclusively in Socially Responsible funds. Yes or No. No pressure. The choice is yours.
Your suggested portfolio will be generated and display the specific funds suggested. As for the asset allocation breakdown, a nifty tool is the ability to adjust the risk profile from 1 to 10 and see your asset allocation change in real time.
Many robo-advisors focus on conducting a risk assessment only on retirement planning, but may offer goal tracking tools for college, big purchases, and other financial goals. WealthSimple allows you to define any investment objective from the initial assessment stage. A portfolio will then be developed for that specific objective, be it retiring in 20 years or buying your first home.
You also have the option of free phone financial consulting, as the consultants are prepared to discuss your financial goals beyond retirement. If you decide to change your investment goals, you may consult by phone with advisors at anytime.
Platform Features
If for no other reason, you have to visit WealthSimple to find out why it won the Webby award for the Best Financial Services Website two years in a row.
One minimalistic screen provides all the information you need to monitor your portfolio. The balance, earnings and returns percentage are shown on all your taxable and non-taxable accounts. To let you know this robo is working for you, the savings on fees, free trades made, and dividends reinvested are displayed.
This succinct summary page is also easy to read on your mobile screen. To ensure your portfolio is on track to meet your financial goals, one graphic displays the timeline of your portfolio value at future dates.
WealthSimple also syncs with the budgeting tools of one of the most popular personal finance apps, Mint.
WealthSimple Features
| Account Minimums | The minimum deposit is $0. |
| Accounts Supported | Personal, Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, SEP IRA, Joint, Trust |
| Account Management Fees | 0.0% < $5,000, 0.5% < $100,000, 0.4% >$100,000. |
| Investment Expense Fees | The average ETF expense ratio is 0.18%. |
| Asset Allocation | ETFs from various asset classes. |
| Tax Harvesting | Yes. Included with all Wealthsimple plans. |
| Auto Re-balancing | Yes. Free. |
| Dividend Reinvesting | Yes. |
| Mobile App | Yes – You can download the iOS app here and Android app here. |
| Customer Support | Financial Advisors available by phone, text, email. Phone — M-F 11A-8P ET, Email — 24/7 |
Asset Allocation
WealthSimple uses non-proprietary ETFs to provide the optimal diversification strategy for your risk profile.
Fund families include BMO, iShares, Purpose, Vanguard, and a broader selection of sustainable investment ETFs.
WealthSimple portfolios allocate investments across the following investment classes, plus sustainable investing categories:
- US stocks
- Foreign stocks
- Emerging market stocks
- Dividend stocks
- Government bonds
- Short term bonds
- High yield bonds
- Real estate
The below screenshot shows the diversity of Socially Responsible funds offered by WealthSimple.
The Socially-Conscious ETFs offered by WealthSimple
Socially Responsible ETFs
ETF fees are slightly higher on Socially Responsible funds owing to the more sophisticated screening process and tools. Following is the list of SR funds listed by WealthSimple. Many more funds appear in the hypothetical portfolio.
- iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF – stocks with low carbon exposure
- PowerShares Cleantech Portfolio – developed world cleantech innovators
- iShares Jantzi Social Index ETF – Canadian stocks meeting ESG screen
- Vident International Equity Fund – developed/emerging economies sustainable growrh
- BMO Mid Federal Bond Index ETF – fixed income exposure
Halal Investment Portfolio
The Halal Investment Portfolio in the first robo-advisor to invest according to Islamic law. The Halal ETFs avoid haram “forbidden” investments such as alcohol, smoking, gambling, and usury (lending money at unreasonably high-interest rates).
What’s next for the 2016 Fintech 100 company? WealthSimple plans on expanding its low-cost financial service offerings. “Today we do investment management, but we’d like to help our clients be successful across all their financial needs at the same time, and bringing that simplicity and experience is what we do best. We’re just getting started,” says Michael Katchen, WealthSimple’s 29-year-old CEO (Ivy Business Review).
WealthSimple Product Lines
WealthSimple Basic
Minimum Required Account Balance: $0
You may choose a standard diversified portfolio comprised of quality ETF funds or the Socially Responsible ETF portfolio. Automated portfolio rebalancing and dividend reinvesting are free on all accounts. Dividends are reinvested the day after they are credited to your account, rather than quarterly, allowing you to immediately start benefiting from compound earnings.
The annual account management fee is 0% for your first $5,000 under management. Wealthsimple will begin charging 0.5% annually for all assets above $5,000.
If you invest $10,000, you will only pay 0.5% on $5,000.
WealthSimple Black
Account Minimum: $100,000
WealthSimple Black accounts also benefit from the tax savings from tax loss harvesting. The management fee drops to 0.4% annually and you also have access to the WealthSimple financial planning team to discuss your financial goals at any moment.
An added perk is VIP air lounge access to over 1,000 airport lounges across the world.
For account transfers to WealthSimple over $5,000, WealthSimple will cover the fees.
Competitor Comparison
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WealthSimple |
Betterment |
Vanguard Personal Advisor |
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| Review | |||
| Rating |
9.5 |
9.8 |
9.3 |
| Features |
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| Fees |
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| Asset Allocation | Invests in U.S. and International stock and bond ETFs | Invests in U.S. and International stock and bond ETFs | Invests in U.S. and International stock and bond ETFs |
Summary
WealthSimple not only wants to help you make an investment impact but also a social impact with a low-cost ETF portfolio.
WealthSimple’s fast growth proves investors are willing to pay a smidgen of a percent more in advisory and fund expense fees for sustainable investments. Once your account balance hits $100,000 with personal advisory services, the .40% fee is well below other $100,000 plus robo-advisors with personal advisory services such as Betterment (0.40%) and PersonalCapital (.89%). Vanguard at .30% is competitive, but if you are seeking sustainable investments, WealthSimple has carved out an enviable niche.
Pros of WealthSimple
You may like WealthSimple for the following reasons:
- No minimum investment
- No fee on the first $5,000. Low fees of 0.5% < $100,000, 0.4% >$100,000.
- Auto-rebalancing
- A wide selection of quality socially responsible ETFs
- Integration with Mint’s popular budgeting app
- A 2X Webby award-winning website
- VIP air lounge access for WealthSimple Black clients
Cons of WealthSimple
The reasons below might be why you won’t like WealthSimple.
- No access to personal financial advisors for accounts below $100,000
- No daily tax-loss harvesting for accounts below $100,000
Is WealthSimple Right for You?
WealthSimple’s wide selection of sustainable ETFs makes it irresistible to many socially and environmentally conscious investors. Investing in socially-concsious funds with no minimum investment is Wealthsimple’s competitive advantage to attract young investors that might only have $100 to open an account with.
One factor to weigh when deciding on a robo-advisor is when you will need a financial advisor. WealthSimple makes dedicated personal financial advisors available after your assets hit $100,000 (WealthSimple Black). Vanguard and Fidelity Go won’t assign a full-time advisor until your balance reaches $500,000.
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