Ally Robo Portfolio Review

Ally Robo Portfolio offers automated investing with no advisory fees. But what's the catch? Read on to find out how it compares to other top robo-advisors.

• How Ally Robo Portfolios Work
  
• Who It's Best For
  
• Fees
  
• Portfolio Options
  
• Getting Started
  
• Platform & App
  
• Why We Like
  
• Downsides
  
• How It Compares

How Robo Portfolios Work

Ally Robo Portfolio has no annual advisory fee. The minimum to open an account is only $100.

Based on your goals and risk profile, Ally will create the best portfolio for you. Each portfolio is comprised of about 9 ETFs from 5 different asset classes.

• US Stocks
  
• International Stocks
  
• US Bonds
  
• International Bonds
  
• Cash

Your portfolio will be made up of 30% cash . This cash is set aside and earns the same interest as Ally Online Savings. It's meant to act as a buffer to balance out potential risk should market conditions change. As your investments grows, Ally will continue to rebalance your portfolio so it always remains at 30% cash.

You will not be able to access this cash like a traditional savings account.

Who Is It Best For?

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Ally Invest Robo Portfolios would benefit anyone who wants professional investment guidance without the hefty advisor fees. Those who benefit the most include:

• Beginning investors who don't understand how to invest
  
• Investors who are too busy to manage their portfolios
  
• Current Ally Bank or Ally Invest customers

Robo Portfolio offers options for many types of investors. Whether you want to open a taxable account, IRA, or a custodial account, Ally has you covered. This opens up the possibilities for investors of any magnitude, whether saving for a short-term goal or retirement.

What Are the Fees?

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Robo Portfolios charges no advisory fees for your assets under management.

This includes:

• No annual charges
  
• No trading fees
  
• No transfer or transaction fees
  
• No rebalancing fees

Sounds too good to be true? The catch is that 30% of your portfolio will be in cash. This is how Ally earns money and can provide Robo Portfolio free of advisory fees.

Portfolio Options

You have 4 portfolios to choose from:

Core:
Diversified across domestic, international and fixed-income assets. You can choose your risk level - from conservative to aggressive.

Income:
Designed to generate investment income through dividends. It's more conservative so it's ideal if you are currently near or in retirement.

Tax optimized:
Designed to maximize your earnings if you make after-tax contributions to an IRA. It's best for investors in higher tax brackets.

Socially responsible:
Only invests in businesses that actively practice sustainability, energy efficiency, or other environmentally-friendly initiatives.

Getting Started

Getting started takes just a few minutes. You answer 5 basic questions that help Ally determine your risk level. They then create an investment strategy for you. If you choose to accept it, you open up an account and fund it with a linked checking or savings account.

Ally Robo Portfolio's software then monitors your investments and rebalances them as things change. It's totally hands-off for you. You don't have to worry about trading and managing your own portfolio.

The Platform and App

Ally Robo Portfolio' platform is basic. It's certainly not a standout point for this robo-advisor. The same is true for their mobile app, mostly because they don't have one specifically for automated portfolios.

Reasons We Like Ally Invest

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• Good customer service. Sometimes it's hard to find good customer service with a robo-advisor. Some companies live up to the "robo" part of the name and only offer support online. Ally Robo Portfolio takes it a step further by offering phone and online chat support to help you when you need it.

• Seamlessly integration for Ally Bank customers. For existing Ally Bank customers, you have one dashboard for everything. You can log into one account and view all of your investments and deposit accounts in one place.

  Transferring funds is also easy and instant. You don't have to wait the typical waiting period for funds to be available either to invest or after withdrawing.

• Customize your portfolio. While Robo Portfolio does recommend a specific portfolio based on your risk tolerance, you can customize it. You are free to play with the allocations until you find the right balance between risk and return to help you reach your goals.

• Automatic rebalancing. The market changes often, and your portfolio could get knocked off target with those changes. When that happens, Ally automatically rebalances your allocations to get you back on track to meeting your goals.

• Completely hands-off. If investing overwhelms you or you don't have the time to manage your portfolios, Ally Robo Portfolio does the work for you. Once you set your portfolio, you sit back and let them do the work while you watch your portfolio grow.

• Diversified portfolio. With 9 ETFs in 5 asset classes to choose from, you can diversify your risk and lower your chances of loss. Without all of your eggs in one basket, you lower the risk of experiencing a total loss when one sector of the economy suffers.

• Preview before signing up. You answer Ally's basic questionnaire and let them put a portfolio together before you enter any personal information. This gives you a chance to decide if Ally is right for you before ever signing up.

Reasons You May Want to Look Elsewhere

• No tax loss harvesting. Tax loss harvesting helps minimize your tax liability while offsetting your capital gains with losses. This isn't a service that Ally offers, but one that several other robo-advisors do offer. If taxes are of a concern to you, Ally may not be the right option.

• Large cash buffer. The 30% cash allocation is high. While you do earn interest on it, you may not get as good of a return as investing. Some people may not want this extra cash sitting around uninvested.

• No human advisors. There is no access to human advisors if you need more personalized advice or customization.

How It Compares

Ally Invest vs Betterment:
Betterment was one of the first robo-advisors. It also invests in low-cost ETFs and automatically rebalances your account.

Betterment charges $4 per month for balances under $20,000 so you would have to pay to use the service. For higher balances, you'll be charged 0.25% annual fee for balances of $20,000 or more, or if you set up recurring monthly deposits totaling $250 or more.

However, it offers tax loss harvesting and a bigger variety of portfolio options, which could give them the edge over Ally.

Another possible advantage is that investors with over $100k can choose to upgrade the plan to include unlimited access to human advisors.

	Ally Robo Portfolio	Betterment
	SPECIAL OFFER Automated Investing to Help Save Your Time - Learn More	SPECIAL OFFER Compare Pricing - Learn More
	Benefits and Features
Savings
Annual Fee	0% advisory fee for Robo Portfolio	Digital: 0.25% annual fee for accounts with $20,000 or more or with monthly recurring deposits of $250 or more, $4/month for accounts with less than $20,000 Premium: 0.40% for accounts $100,000 or more
Minimum Deposit	$100	$0
Checking		No-Fee Checking
Phone Support	24/7	Yes
Live Chat Support	24/7	No
Email Support	Yes	Yes
Human Advisors	No	Yes ($100k minimum)
Robo Advisor
Assets Under Management	$4.7 Billion	$40+ Billion
Tax Loss Harvesting	No	Yes
Goal Tracker	Yes	Yes
Automatic Deposits	Yes	Yes
Online Platform	Yes	Yes
iPhone App	Yes	Yes
Android App	Yes	Yes
Mobile App		Yes
Fractional Shares	No	Yes
Taxable Accounts	Yes	Yes
401k Plans	No	Yes
IRA Accounts	Yes	Yes
Roth IRA Accounts	Yes	Yes
SEP IRA Accounts	No	Yes
Trust Accounts	Yes	Yes
529 Plans	No	No
	Learn More	Learn More
	Automated Investing to Help Save Your Time Custom Investment Plans Created for You Don't Have Time to Do Your Own Investing? Ally Invest Can Help	Compare Pricing Betterment Cash Reserve - Earn 4.75% APY** Invest with Automated Portfolios
Blank fields may indicate the information is not available, not applicable, or not known to CreditDonkey. Please visit the product website for details. Ally Robo Portfolio: Pricing information from published website as of 09/18/2019 Betterment: Pricing information from published website as of 04/04/2018

Ally Invest Robo vs Self-Directed
If you prefer to manage your own investments, including buying, selling, and deciding when the time is right, Ally Invest Self-Directed is a better option.

The trading fees are some of the lowest in the industry. And the trading platform is robust and user-friendly. As an extra incentive, all new accounts will receive 90 days of free trades, up to $500 in value.

Ally Invest vs Wealthfront
Wealthfront is another frontrunner when it comes to robo-advisors. Wealthfront offers more diversified asset classes that include real estate and natural resources. It also offers tax loss harvesting to all clients, and more advanced strategies for those with $100k+.

Wealthfront also offers free advanced financial planning tools to help you stay on track with your goals. This includes retirement, mortgage, and education calculators.

	Ally Robo Portfolio	Wealthfront
	SPECIAL OFFER Automated Investing to Help Save Your Time - Learn More	SPECIAL OFFER Wealthfront Cash Account - Learn More
	Benefits and Features
Annual Fee	0% advisory fee for Robo Portfolio	0.25%
Minimum Deposit	$100	$500
Phone Support	24/7	Yes
Live Chat Support	24/7	No
Email Support	Yes	Yes
Human Advisors	No	No
Robo Advisor
Assets Under Management	$4.7 Billion	$10+ Billion
Tax Loss Harvesting	No	Yes
Goal Tracker	Yes	Yes
Automatic Deposits	Yes	Yes
Online Platform	Yes	Yes
iPhone App	Yes	Yes
Android App	Yes	Yes
Mobile App		Yes
Fractional Shares	No	No
Taxable Accounts	Yes	Yes
401k Plans	No	No
IRA Accounts	Yes	Yes
Roth IRA Accounts	Yes	Yes
SEP IRA Accounts	No	Yes
Trust Accounts	Yes	Yes
529 Plans	No	Yes
	Learn More	Learn More
	Automated Investing to Help Save Your Time Custom Investment Plans Created for You Don't Have Time to Do Your Own Investing? Ally Invest Can Help	Wealthfront Cash Account
Blank fields may indicate the information is not available, not applicable, or not known to CreditDonkey. Please visit the product website for details. Ally Robo Portfolio: Pricing information from published website as of 09/18/2019 Wealthfront: Pricing information from published website as of 04/04/2018

Bottom Line

It's hard to beat the 0% advisory fee offered by Ally Invest Robo Portfolio. And with the low $100 minimum, this makes it great for those who want to try a robo-advisor without committing too much money. It's also good for existing Ally customers who to try the service.

There are downsides though, such as the lack of tax loss harvesting and high cash percentage. If these don't sit well with you, there are many options out there. Make sure you weigh the pros and cons of each before choosing the robo-advisor that is right for you.