They say that the robot can advise what to invest in. Is that true?

What happened with the robo-advisors revolution? There are robo-advisers, also known as also robotic advisers which are services that help you choose where to invest money. The most important aspect here is that first, you answer a few questions. Based on them, your “investment profile” is created: how much money are you willing to invest when you plan to get the first results, what level of risk you can withstand, and so on. Then the algorithm finds specific solutions based on this profile. Most robotic advisers invest only in exchange-traded funds - ETFs. Each of these funds is focused on a specific asset - gold, oil or shares of metal producers - or on a country - Russia, China, the USA and so on. Buying ETFs is much easier than a dozen different stocks or physical assets. Is robo advisor something new? Yes, they appeared relatively recently. The first American automatic portfolio creation systems were launched in 2008-2009, and since then more than a dozen new companies have entered the market every year. According to the consulting company Cerulli, the volume of assets by 2020 will amount to $ 500 billion. Can you really trust these robo-advisers inventions? Rob advisors automate many of the techniques that ordinary financial advisors use a long time ago. In particular, they build mathematical models - how much you can invest and lose with a different combination of investment tools. Another argument in favor of robots is that they carry billions: look again at the numbers in the previous card. If you believe the author of the book “Wisdom of the Crowd,” when many unrelated people make the same decision, it is most likely the right one. International Consulting Company A.T. Kearney interviewed 4 thousand Americans and found that 80% of them are not afraid to entrust money to the robot. Since the methods are the same, why not contact an ordinary broker? Using a broker is an expensive service. Roboadvisors, as a rule, take from 0.15 to 1% of the money you earn. The services of a personal broker can be more expensive. In addition, not every broker will agree to work with small (by investment standards) amounts. The commissions are low, and even the person who chooses such instruments does not trade often, but invests for a long time, which again deprives the broker of the main income - commissions. According to Investopedia, robo advisers polls lower entry thresholds, while some do not have them. For example, the market pioneer and the largest American adviser Betterment do not have a minimum investment amount at all. Another plus is saving time: you do not need to go to meetings or call up a consultant. Everything works online.