Wealthfront Offers Free Automated Financial Planning as Robo Competition Heats Up

A report in the Wall Street Journal says Wealthfront is offering its automated financial planning service free to anyone who downloads its app. Meanwhile, Barron’s reports Betterment, another independent robo-advisor, has introduced a tool that can sweep excess cash from clients’ checking accounts into a low-risk ETF portfolio that returns about 2%. According to Barron’s report, Wealthfront and Betterment are battling giant competitors like Schwab and Vanguard, which manages about $120 billion in its Personal Advisor Services robo, compared with just under $11.5 billion for Wealthfront and approximately $15 billion for Betterment.