Robo-advisors. Remove the human and the commission.
It is a product you buy.
It exists to relieve The advisor is paid by someone other than the client. That is the whole reason it is here: nothing enters this map without a human problem behind it.
It could not exist without Smartphones and internet, Capital markets and AI models and inference. These are the quiet preconditions — remove any one and the solution stops working.
9 organisations in this map sell it, 4 of them publicly listed.
Its neighbourhood
Everything this entry connects to directly. Click any point to follow it.
The line back to a human being
4 hops from a person at a phase of life. The further a thing sits from the person, the more abstract it looks — and the more it tends to be mistaken for something that came from nowhere.
- SolutionRobo-advisors
- FrictionThe advisor is paid by someone other than the client
- SolutionFinancial advisors
- FrictionRetirement is now visible and must be funded from what remains
- Life phaseMidlife
- Rooted inScarce resources
- Rooted inUncertainty
Relieves
Requires
Who sells it
| Organisation | Value | Type | Products |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Schwab | $170B | public · SCHW | brokerage, IRAs, Intelligent Portfolios |
| Robinhood Markets | $100B | public · HOOD | commission-free brokerage, crypto, tokenised stocks |
| SoFi Technologies | $20B | public · SOFI | student loan refinancing, personal loans, mortgages |
| PhonePe | $12B | private | UPI payments, insurance, investing |
| Wealthfront | $3B | public · WLTH | automated investing, cash account |
| Acorns | $2B | private | micro-investing, Acorns Early for kids |
| Betterment | $1.3B | private | robo-advisor, IRAs, 401(k) for small business |
| Vanguard | mutual | index funds, target-date funds, 529 plans | |
| Fidelity Investments | private | 401(k) recordkeeping, brokerage, index funds |