All independently-owned robo advisors are standalone, but not all standalone robo advisors are independently-owned.
An independently-owned robo advisor is standalone by nature because it operates on its own. In contrast, a standalone robo advisor doesn’t necessarily have to be independently-owned — a robo advisor that a larger financial institution owns could operate as a separate brand or subsidiary, that is, as a standalone. Here, the larger financial institution we refer to is an investment product issuer (such as an ETF issuer), brokerage firm, bank or traditional financial advisory firm.
Our firm QuietGrowth is an independently-owned robo adviser. This is in the context that no investment product issuer (such as an ETF issuer), bank or financial institution has the controlling ownership in our firm. Per the above discussion, our firm is also a standalone robo adviser.
More focused service by an independently-owned robo adviser
A large financial institution that owns a robo advisor offers the robo advice service as an additional service to its existing clients — the robo advice service is not their primary focus. In contrast, an independently-owned robo advisor offers the robo advice service as its central service, thus typically enabling it to provide a superlative offering to its clients.
No potential bias due to affiliations for an independently-owned robo adviser
Unlike a robo advisor owned by a larger financial institution, an independently-owned robo advisor has no affiliations that could potentially influence its investment advice or business strategy.
Related information
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