In addition to the robo-advisors discussed in Part I and Part II of our series, traditional investment companies, including Goldman Sachs, Vanguard, Schwab, and Merrill have developed their own robo-advisory services.

Customer Relationship Summaries, also known as Form CRS, are a key accompaniment to the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest, or Reg BI, which governs the standard of conduct for broker/dealers. As of last year, broker/dealers, Registered Investment Advisors, and dually registered firms must provide each client, or prospective client, with the firm’s Form CRS.

In this piece, I review three additional robos: Albert, Ellevest, and Stash. Overall, each of these robo-advisors provide a distinct experience with the objective of helping individuals in different circumstances save for retirement (and other goals, but we focus primarily on retirement here) through a streamlined and convenient process.

Those who do not have the workplace infrastructure to help save for retirement can benefit from digital advice.

Last November, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a rule that could pave the way for these platform workers—commonly known as gig workers—to receive equity compensation just like employees and other categories of independent contractors.

Robo advisers can be very practical and efficient for investors. While robos generally are beneficial as they often invest in low-cost funds and ETFs, ideally, they should also include quality single-premium immediate annuities (SPIAs) and deferred-income annuities (DIAs) to simplify investment planning and allow retirees to spend more.

Retirees are often faced with the fear of outliving their assets. This fear, also known as longevity risk, has been eased by the availability of annuities, specifically annuities that I’ve termed in my paper as guaranteed income products, or GIPs, that offer fixed payments until death.

Congress has been devoting a lot more attention to annuities lately--and with good reason. As discussed in a recent Morningstar paper, some annuities that we call GIPs, or guaranteed income products, fill a role that is sorely lacking in the retirement investment catalog: They supplement Social Security by providing stable streams of income during retirement.

While political commentators can debate whether the administration is centrist or leftist, the important question for those concerned about policy over politics is what is the most effective and practically feasible way to solve many of the social and economic problems causing and resulting from the tremendous amount of inequality in the US. In some areas, a public option has been suggested as the solution.

In this article, we’ll walk through how regulation can be one of three things for a company’s business: an opportunity; an obstacle; or a risk.

We believe that some policy ramifications of the GameStop/Robinhood uproar are likely. Here's a look at some of the possibilities and trade-offs.

Although they remain drastically underused as a retirement income tool, annuities have the potential to provide important benefits to retirees. High-quality products that guarantee an income stream can greatly improve the stability of people’s retirement by disbursing steady payments over the course of their lifetime. READ MORE

The only way to make an impact on the race economic gap in the US is to understand that it is derived from several factors that comprise the gaps in status across society.

In 2020, the SEC took steps to advance both investor choice and investor protection. Now, the new SEC chair will have to determine if the former has gone too far in hindering the latter.

Fund directors may face several repercussions from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposal regarding fund disclosure, as evidenced by comments sent to the agency from asset managers and industry stakeholders.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering a major proposal that would dramatically change the disclosures that investors receive when investing in a mutual fund.

Action is necessary to mitigate the extreme inequality of economic outcomes across the board between Whites and Blacks and Whites and Hispanics. Baby bonds is one such solution.

The DOL rule is cumbersome for plan sponsors and an opportunity for annuity sponsors, but it could be a lot more.

Given the current polarized political environment, I was thrilled to see a recent example of bipartisanship by the SEC in its announcement of the fund disclosure proposal.

More individuals would likely save for retirement outside of employer-sponsored plans if such saving was automated, access to a match was provided, and lots of time and mental bandwidth were not needed to evaluate investment alternatives.