Short Paper: Can Robo-Advisors Replace Traditional Advisors?

Abstract

Investment management was once an exclusivity that was only offered to the wealthy by human advisors. However, robo advisors are now offering low cost, readily accessible, fully automated services to a wider spectrum of users to manage their portfolios. The objective of this paper is to provide an insight on the differences between human and robo advisors, the advantages and trade offs in each advisor type, and the issues faced that are both common and yet unique to each. The author's analysis of robo advisors versus human advisors was conducted with reference to the following paper: "The Economics of Complex Decision Making: The Emergence of the Robo Adviser", published in August 2017.