Wells Fargo Launches Robo-Advisor To Attract Young Investors

In order to attract young investors, Wells Fargo & Company WFC has launched Intuitive Investor — a new digital and low-cost option — aimed to help customers who prefer managing their investments themselves.

This new investment program is a blend of technology and provides access to professional advice from the company's advisory department. It also seeks to target existing customers of Wells Fargo who are yet to open an investment account.

People can start investments under Intuitive Investor with a minimum of $10,000, which will be managed at a minimal annual advisory fee of 50 basis points (bps). The existing customers will be eligible for a discounted advisory fee of 40 bps upon linking their brokerage accounts with Wells Fargo's relationship checking program, Portfolio by Wells Fargo.

The new technology will recommend portfolios based on customers' response to a small questionnaire. Also, the robo-advisor would provide convenient, single-sign-on integration and money movement with Wells Fargo's online and mobile banking services.

Jon Weiss, head of Wealth and Investment Management at Wells Fargo, said "Significant advancements in technology, changing consumer preferences and evolving demographics inspired us to provide this new, compelling investment experience for our clients."

Prior to this, the company had introduced several other services this year. In July, it introduced an artificial intelligence chatbot on Facebook Messenger, which serves customers' query directly on social media. Also, in March, it introduced card-free ATMs across its entire network in the United States.

However, Wells Fargo's Intuitive Investor is not new to the market. Similar products like Charles Schawb's SCHW Intelligent Advisory and Bank of America's BAC Merrill EdgeGuided Investing have existed for some time now and provide services at a cheaper rate.

Amid the pending investigations and legal hassles, Wells Fargo's digital innovations might come as a silver lining and help it get back the reputation it once enjoyed.

Shares of Wells Fargo have gained 2% year to date, underperforming the industry's rally of 13.2%.

Currently, the stock carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

A stock worth considering in the same space is Washington Federal WAFD. The stock witnessed an upward earnings estimate revision of nearly 1% for the current fiscal year, in the last 30 days. Its share price has increased 2.1% in the past six months. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Zacks' Hidden Trades

While we share many recommendations and ideas with the public, certain moves are hidden from everyone but selected members of our portfolio services. Would you like to peek behind the curtain today and view them?

Starting now, for the next month, I invite you to follow all Zacks' private buys and sells in real time from value to momentum...from stocks under $10 to ETF to option movers...from insider trades to companies that are about to report positive earnings surprises (we've called them with 80%+ accuracy). You can even look inside portfolios so exclusive that they are normally closed to new investors.

Click here for Zacks' secret trade>>


Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Wells Fargo & Company WFC: Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Bank of America Corporation BAC: Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Washington Federal, Inc. WAFD: Free Stock Analysis Report
 
The Charles Schwab Corporation SCHW: Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research

Posted In: NewsPersonal FinancecontributorcontributorsRobo-Advisor
We simplify the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!

Loading...