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FINTECH SERIE BY innovation edge MANAGEMENT FINANCIAL ROBO ADVISORS ENTER THE SCENE How should you manage your fortune? 01 Startups to conquer Wall Street 02 Could we have robots instead financial advisor? 03 04 05 INF0GRAPHIC How they work robo-advisors? INTERVIEW José Diego Alarcón (Serfiex)

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Page 1: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

FINTECH SERIE BY innovation edge

MANAGEMENTFINANCIAL

ROBO ADVISORS

ENTER THE SCENE

How should youmanage yourfortune

01 Startups toconquer Wall Street

02 Could we haverobots insteadfinancial advisor

03

04 05 INF0GRAPHIC

How they workrobo-advisors

INTERVIEW

Joseacute Diego Alarcoacuten (Serfiex)

Startupsto conquerWall Street

01

A walkthrough of the fintech trends looking

to revolutionize financial advice ( )

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

They are young and seek to

change the traditional model

of the financial world

Storming Wall Street A dozen

startups are looking to

compete with long-standing

companies or fill the void of

the traditional models A

pioneer in the United States

Wealthfront has moved more

than $2 billion in managed

assets in only three years with

an average shareholding per

customer of about $115000

Its competitor Betterment

nears $15 billion in assets

These figures are a far cry

from the large banks ndash Bank of

America is close to $1 trillion ndash

although they are attractive to

young people ( ) Dubbed

the Henrys (high earning not

rich yet) by Goldman Sachs

these customers do not plan to

go to a bank branch in their

lives and want to move their

money with just a click The

study by Accenture and

Partnership Fund for New York

City highlights that investment

in Financial technology has

tripled from 2013 to 2014

Fintech companies are

characterized by removing or

replacing banks and financial

institutions as intermediaries

promoting cooperation or

establishing new schemes for

more accessible commissions

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Fintech trends that entice

young customers

Digital Crowfunding Hybrid between Blockchain

technology ndash database that

records transactions with

cryptocurrencies and as the

BBVA Blockchain technology

The ultimate Disruption in The

Financial System report

explains it removes the need

for intermediaries and

significantly reduces costs for

banks ndash and crowdfunding

Companies are making offers of

digital stocks The US company

Ethereum stands out as it

allows developers to create

distributed applications define

custom currencies contracts

and even intelligent

crowdfunding platforms

(collective microfinance) To be

able to run programs in the

network you need to have a

certain amount of Ether the

platforms currency Another

platform is the European

Crowdcube which allows you

to create a portfolio of startups

with a minimum value of ten

euros and then keep track of

what happens to each of them

As explained on its website

many investors contribute

small or large amounts of

money to entrepreneurs and

businessmen to carry out their

project In exchange investors

receive shares in the company

and become its partners

accompanying the company in

its future growth

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Payment services with

low-cost investmentsThe star of services-based

investment is Robinhood the

broker backed by Silicon Valley

investors including Google

The broker with no

commissions or spreads aims to

democratize trading It is very

easy to use and you dont need

to have a minimum capital to

open an account Instead of

charging fees Robin Hood

charges interest on the use of

margins and charges for the

use of leveraging (increasing a

companys level of debt)

Robinhood allows developers to

create trading applications such

as graphics signals or

fundamental analysis Payment

products based on services to

attract the traders who are

most experienced with Robin

Hood

Robo advisor ( )As indicated above

Wealthfront and Betterment

stand out in these types of

services that create automated

low-cost portfolios based on

our profile by eliminating the

commissions of a managed

portfolio A model that prevails

in North America and is

coming to Europe In 2014

about 73000 customers

contracted such services in the

United States

Some trends that confirm that

the growth of startups

continues to increase In 2014

the assets of startups

dedicated to consulting in the

US reached $5 billion And

forecasts suggest that this

figure will have tripled to

exceed $15 billion by the end

of this year

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The rise of so-called robo-advisors is changing the

traditional financial management landscape in the US

and they are slowly being incorporated in Europe ( )

Could we haverobots instead of financial advisors

02

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Could a robot manage my

money Without a financial

advisor acting as an

intermediary Little by little so-

called robo-advisors are

changing the way money is

being moved in the US and

are beginning to reach

Europe This model means

customers do not need

financial advisors They just

have to turn on their

computer and fill out a

questionnaire Customers

report their risk tolerance

goals and investment and

their money is managed

automatically ( )

A model that according to the

consultant from GVC Gaesco

Albert Enguix has

experienced spectacular

growth of around 10 to 15

increase each year in the US

Around 73000 customers

have contracted these services

with a volume of 14 billion

euros in assets under

management at the end of

2014 This figure is expected

to rise further Enguix explains

that the model guarantees

absolute return investments

It sets controlling return and

risks as its goals Through

robo-advisors investment

portfolios of customers who

move amounts of between

$50000 to $100000 can be

controlled The money is

invested in EFTs (Exchange-

Traded Funds) and volatility is

controlled the goal is absolute

return This is about making

portfolios under the famous

VVMSQ - volatility-value-

momentum-size and quality of

the composition of the

holding explains Enguix

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Customer profile ( )

The profile of customers who

opt for this technology to move

their money is around 35 years

old and with a high purchasing

power Enguix explained The

millennial generation uses this

model the most The end

result is similar to what a

traditional consultant would do

for them but at a lower cost

The US consulting firm AT

Kearney said that these

services will become a trend

over a period of three to five

years according to this article

from Bloomberg In 2020

robo-advisors will control 56

of investment assets in the US

The figure is currently around

05

The advisor stressed that the

process is very simple You

access the platform from your

computer in the same way as

if you wanted to make a

transfer Analysts statisticians

and economists have created

financial strategy models

beforehand using thousands of

pieces of data Algorithms and

statistics to design programs

that manage your money

What are the risks The same

as in the traditional market

Machines cannot foresee a

financial crash They cannot

guess the psychological

component that can change

the entire financial picture of a

market in minutes just as

advisors are unable to do so

Its not an exact science

Enguix explained who added

that with this type of platform

companies save costs by not

having to hire financial

advisors

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

According to Adam Nash

CEO of Wealthfront a firm

that manages more than

$24 billion in assets rather

than the investment world

being a sprint it is like a

marathon and robots dont

need to sleep They can

make their calculations and

movements while analyzing

all markets whatever the

time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

A new model that also

confronts the collapse of

commission prices which is

stressed from Wealthfront

The firm is convinced that

future generations and

technology will revolutionize

the financial market The

preferences of younger

consumers have a huge

impact on financial services

and companies will have to

respond quickly to new

trendsrdquo

Arrival in EuropeIn Europe this model is

being incorporated extremely

slowly We are lagging

behind the US which is 10

years ahead on this type of

service says Enguix In

France Germany and

Switzerland some companies

such as the German firm

Vaamo or the French firm

Advize have launched in this

market Although there is

still a long way to go to reach

customers en mass in Spain

and Europe Many

professionals in the sector

have never even heard of

robo-advisors There is a long

road ahead says the

consultant from Gaesco

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Personalized advice is not going to disappear but the

competition from new models is ambitious and greatly

reduces the prices ( )

How should youmanage your fortune

03

Two executives are having

lunch after a conference on

asset management They are

arguing over the recent

emergence of small digital

capital management

companies that focus

primarily on retail investors in

the emerging Business-to-

Consumer (B2C) market

which refers to the strategy

that commercial enterprises

are following to go directly to

the end customer or

consumer One of the

executives is not worried

about these new businesses

at all and does not see them

as a threat he argues that

investors always prefer direct

person-to-person relationships

with their financial advisors

The second strongly

disagrees and notes that all

traditional companies must

understand why these new

companies are emerging

what makes them attractive

to customers and what

capabilities must be

developed in response to this

threat This hypothetical

scenario relating the Deloitte

study Digital disruption

in Wealth Management

illustrates the real debate

taking place in the wealth

management industry on the

relevance of these new digital

companies and their potential

to successfully break into the

market Traditional

companies are trying to

decide whether it is worth

investing time money

and effort to better

understand these emerging

businesses

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The story of the consultant is

fictional but the discussion it

narrates is increasingly real At

the recent Finance20

conference which was held in

Zurich and brings together

technology companies

specialized in finance it was

emphasized that automated

solutions are increasingly

attracting customers In

Switzerland a landmark for

traditional banking a startup

such as True Wealth and the

website Investomachch are

committed to automating their

advisory models with robo-

advisors The question buzzing

round the conference in Zurich

was whether customers would

pay for advice as if they use

automated methods costs are

minimal ndash in the case of robo-

advisors fees are between 30

and 70 bps (03 to 07)

per yearndash Felix Niederer

founder of True Wealth

emphasized that the costs

could decrease even more

And that its moving toward a

model where fortune is

managed completely free

although the most

sophisticated payment services

will remain

Returning to the Deloitte

study startups are definitely a

clear indicator of whats to

come The consultant

examined more than 50 new

digital wealth management

companies in the B2C market

most were founded in the last

ten years The study highlights

that these growth companies

attract retail investors in three

ways by helping them to

connect advising on financial

matters and helping them to

invest ( )

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The keys for the consultant

are ( )

ConnectingAdding investor accounts

Consumers increasingly have

the need to connect different

accounts ndash often accounts

from multiple providers ndash in

order to create a holistic

picture of their wealth and

more easily manage their

finances In addition

investors want to be

connected together to learn

from their peers and to

connect with specialists and

advisors that meet their

needs The new companies

are providing integration of

all these accounts beyond

traditional boundaries

Retail investors are

increasingly frustrated by

having to reconcile multiple

accounts through numerous

banks placements or for

example retirement

accounts They need to have

an accurate real-time view

and if possible an aggregate

of financial assets liabilities

and net worth across multiple

accounts and suppliers

One of the pioneers in this

market was Mintcom a free

online personal financing

service that allows users to see

all their balances and

transactions in one place

Launched in 2007 it currently

has over one million users

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Social networks

Since the financial crisis retail

investors have become

increasingly skeptical about the

advice they receive but have

also realized that they need

this advice more than ever

Investors want to know what

their peers think and how they

invest not only learn from

investment specialists They

also value interactions with

their peers beyond just

meeting their immediate

investment needs Forums

that began as chat groups and

online discussions have rapidly

evolved into fully-blown social

platforms that allow an open

exchange of ideas and the

ability to form groups

People amp Pick founded by

Zacks Investment Research is

an example of a company that

has created a social platform

and online community for

users to interact with each

other The platform allows

users to evaluate any piece of

stock as a purchasesale

Users can share ideas with

other users and track their

stocks

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

SERIE FINTECH middot AGOSTO 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacom

AdvisingFinancial planning New asset

management companies

have entered this market and

successfully attracted

financial planning customers

by creating digital showcases

that have a low learning

curve These companies can

form a complete picture of a

customers financial situation

by taking into account their

personal financial goals risk

tolerance diversification

andor trading strategies An

example is Personal Capital

offering a trading platform

with multiple choices from

investment monitoring and

analysis to financial services

(for investors with more than

$100000 in assets)

Accounts aggregation allows

users to control their finances

as part of a single integrated

control panel that shows the

asset allocation the potential

risks of the holding and how

various product commissions

could affect their goals

InvestingIn the current environment of

low-yield investment

investors are constantly

looking for better riskreturn

opportunities In response to

this new companies have

emerged that provide

customers with access to

sophisticated trading

strategies by copying the

business strategies of

professional management

services (PMS) and thus

allowing these companies to

offer private investors

services to which historically

only certain institutions or

large investors had access

An example of a startup that

offers non-traditional

placements is Covestor

which allows its members to

access view and study the

holdings of professional

management services

Going back to Switzerland a

survey by Axa IM notes that

90 of the Swiss still prefer

personal advice to move their

money It seems that things

are starting to change in the

rest of the planet

Joseacute Diego Alarcoacuten is a partner of the Spanish

SME Serfiex which specializes in Financial Risk

Management software consulting and solutions

Along with a team of financial analysts

econometricians and IT specialists it has

developed a robo advisor with which the

company aims to approach small investors ( )

04INTERVIEW

ldquoRobo-advisorsdemocratize financialadvicerdquo

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What is the difference between

a robo advisor and a financial

advisor

One difference is that thanks

to the Internet a robo advisor

can advise many people while

an individual obviously does

not have the same capacity

What does a robo-advisor

contribute ( )

Our company has

fundamentally developed a

new approach to investing

The robo advisor is the tool

that automates this

methodology The important

thing is the methodology

behind the robo advisor It

must be very detailed very

objective nothing is left to

intuition it is a mathematical

procedure Our robo-advisor is

characterized by both things

On the one hand it builds an

initial portfolio with potential

losses The second feature

which is the most important or

most innovative is it

reconstructs the portfolio

periodically and in an

automated way ie it

rebalances it Each month it

compares the data analyzes

the expected profitability of the

initial portfolio with the real

profitability of the portfolio itself

and based on that difference

and the passage of time it

recomposes and optimizes that

portfolio Without asking the

customer for any new data

Is it better or worse than an

advisor

Its no better or worse

Everything is simplified with

the robo-advisor but it is no

better or worse As it is on the

Internet it can reach many

people and democratizes such

advisory services It may be

cheaper but the important

thing is the methodology

behind it

What logic have you followed

The process that we have

followed after many years in

this field has been to

synthesize it as far as possible

We seek to advise a person

with the smallest amount of

information possible We

create a flow chart and define

it following a methodology

Then the robo-advisor is the

tool that implements it in a

channel such as the Internet

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What minimum information do

you ask the customer

The customer is only asked to

define hisher risk profile There

are two ways to do so One

which is longer is done with a

questionnaire where the

customer has to avoid getting

into a loop as many times

heshe thinks one thing writes

another and then hisher

portfolio is not what heshe

wants has or can be Another

way which is what we use is

more direct we ask what

potential losses the customer

is uncomfortable with using a

certain probability The

customer has hisher risk

profile they say for example

they are uncomfortable with a

3 loss per year and we build

a portfolio from that

information

What customers are you

looking for ( )

We currently have large

customers pension plans

SICAVs etc The robo-advisor

aims to attract customers with

lower equity and who come

through the Internet

Is there interest in this service

In Spain a bank has been

interested in our software

development specifically the

calculation engine part Large

Spanish investors have also

approached us to ask about the

methodology and we are going

to present it in Mexico shortly Its

what were seeing right now

Do you have small customers

No currently only large

customers

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

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BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 2: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

Startupsto conquerWall Street

01

A walkthrough of the fintech trends looking

to revolutionize financial advice ( )

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

They are young and seek to

change the traditional model

of the financial world

Storming Wall Street A dozen

startups are looking to

compete with long-standing

companies or fill the void of

the traditional models A

pioneer in the United States

Wealthfront has moved more

than $2 billion in managed

assets in only three years with

an average shareholding per

customer of about $115000

Its competitor Betterment

nears $15 billion in assets

These figures are a far cry

from the large banks ndash Bank of

America is close to $1 trillion ndash

although they are attractive to

young people ( ) Dubbed

the Henrys (high earning not

rich yet) by Goldman Sachs

these customers do not plan to

go to a bank branch in their

lives and want to move their

money with just a click The

study by Accenture and

Partnership Fund for New York

City highlights that investment

in Financial technology has

tripled from 2013 to 2014

Fintech companies are

characterized by removing or

replacing banks and financial

institutions as intermediaries

promoting cooperation or

establishing new schemes for

more accessible commissions

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Fintech trends that entice

young customers

Digital Crowfunding Hybrid between Blockchain

technology ndash database that

records transactions with

cryptocurrencies and as the

BBVA Blockchain technology

The ultimate Disruption in The

Financial System report

explains it removes the need

for intermediaries and

significantly reduces costs for

banks ndash and crowdfunding

Companies are making offers of

digital stocks The US company

Ethereum stands out as it

allows developers to create

distributed applications define

custom currencies contracts

and even intelligent

crowdfunding platforms

(collective microfinance) To be

able to run programs in the

network you need to have a

certain amount of Ether the

platforms currency Another

platform is the European

Crowdcube which allows you

to create a portfolio of startups

with a minimum value of ten

euros and then keep track of

what happens to each of them

As explained on its website

many investors contribute

small or large amounts of

money to entrepreneurs and

businessmen to carry out their

project In exchange investors

receive shares in the company

and become its partners

accompanying the company in

its future growth

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Payment services with

low-cost investmentsThe star of services-based

investment is Robinhood the

broker backed by Silicon Valley

investors including Google

The broker with no

commissions or spreads aims to

democratize trading It is very

easy to use and you dont need

to have a minimum capital to

open an account Instead of

charging fees Robin Hood

charges interest on the use of

margins and charges for the

use of leveraging (increasing a

companys level of debt)

Robinhood allows developers to

create trading applications such

as graphics signals or

fundamental analysis Payment

products based on services to

attract the traders who are

most experienced with Robin

Hood

Robo advisor ( )As indicated above

Wealthfront and Betterment

stand out in these types of

services that create automated

low-cost portfolios based on

our profile by eliminating the

commissions of a managed

portfolio A model that prevails

in North America and is

coming to Europe In 2014

about 73000 customers

contracted such services in the

United States

Some trends that confirm that

the growth of startups

continues to increase In 2014

the assets of startups

dedicated to consulting in the

US reached $5 billion And

forecasts suggest that this

figure will have tripled to

exceed $15 billion by the end

of this year

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The rise of so-called robo-advisors is changing the

traditional financial management landscape in the US

and they are slowly being incorporated in Europe ( )

Could we haverobots instead of financial advisors

02

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Could a robot manage my

money Without a financial

advisor acting as an

intermediary Little by little so-

called robo-advisors are

changing the way money is

being moved in the US and

are beginning to reach

Europe This model means

customers do not need

financial advisors They just

have to turn on their

computer and fill out a

questionnaire Customers

report their risk tolerance

goals and investment and

their money is managed

automatically ( )

A model that according to the

consultant from GVC Gaesco

Albert Enguix has

experienced spectacular

growth of around 10 to 15

increase each year in the US

Around 73000 customers

have contracted these services

with a volume of 14 billion

euros in assets under

management at the end of

2014 This figure is expected

to rise further Enguix explains

that the model guarantees

absolute return investments

It sets controlling return and

risks as its goals Through

robo-advisors investment

portfolios of customers who

move amounts of between

$50000 to $100000 can be

controlled The money is

invested in EFTs (Exchange-

Traded Funds) and volatility is

controlled the goal is absolute

return This is about making

portfolios under the famous

VVMSQ - volatility-value-

momentum-size and quality of

the composition of the

holding explains Enguix

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Customer profile ( )

The profile of customers who

opt for this technology to move

their money is around 35 years

old and with a high purchasing

power Enguix explained The

millennial generation uses this

model the most The end

result is similar to what a

traditional consultant would do

for them but at a lower cost

The US consulting firm AT

Kearney said that these

services will become a trend

over a period of three to five

years according to this article

from Bloomberg In 2020

robo-advisors will control 56

of investment assets in the US

The figure is currently around

05

The advisor stressed that the

process is very simple You

access the platform from your

computer in the same way as

if you wanted to make a

transfer Analysts statisticians

and economists have created

financial strategy models

beforehand using thousands of

pieces of data Algorithms and

statistics to design programs

that manage your money

What are the risks The same

as in the traditional market

Machines cannot foresee a

financial crash They cannot

guess the psychological

component that can change

the entire financial picture of a

market in minutes just as

advisors are unable to do so

Its not an exact science

Enguix explained who added

that with this type of platform

companies save costs by not

having to hire financial

advisors

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

According to Adam Nash

CEO of Wealthfront a firm

that manages more than

$24 billion in assets rather

than the investment world

being a sprint it is like a

marathon and robots dont

need to sleep They can

make their calculations and

movements while analyzing

all markets whatever the

time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

A new model that also

confronts the collapse of

commission prices which is

stressed from Wealthfront

The firm is convinced that

future generations and

technology will revolutionize

the financial market The

preferences of younger

consumers have a huge

impact on financial services

and companies will have to

respond quickly to new

trendsrdquo

Arrival in EuropeIn Europe this model is

being incorporated extremely

slowly We are lagging

behind the US which is 10

years ahead on this type of

service says Enguix In

France Germany and

Switzerland some companies

such as the German firm

Vaamo or the French firm

Advize have launched in this

market Although there is

still a long way to go to reach

customers en mass in Spain

and Europe Many

professionals in the sector

have never even heard of

robo-advisors There is a long

road ahead says the

consultant from Gaesco

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Personalized advice is not going to disappear but the

competition from new models is ambitious and greatly

reduces the prices ( )

How should youmanage your fortune

03

Two executives are having

lunch after a conference on

asset management They are

arguing over the recent

emergence of small digital

capital management

companies that focus

primarily on retail investors in

the emerging Business-to-

Consumer (B2C) market

which refers to the strategy

that commercial enterprises

are following to go directly to

the end customer or

consumer One of the

executives is not worried

about these new businesses

at all and does not see them

as a threat he argues that

investors always prefer direct

person-to-person relationships

with their financial advisors

The second strongly

disagrees and notes that all

traditional companies must

understand why these new

companies are emerging

what makes them attractive

to customers and what

capabilities must be

developed in response to this

threat This hypothetical

scenario relating the Deloitte

study Digital disruption

in Wealth Management

illustrates the real debate

taking place in the wealth

management industry on the

relevance of these new digital

companies and their potential

to successfully break into the

market Traditional

companies are trying to

decide whether it is worth

investing time money

and effort to better

understand these emerging

businesses

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The story of the consultant is

fictional but the discussion it

narrates is increasingly real At

the recent Finance20

conference which was held in

Zurich and brings together

technology companies

specialized in finance it was

emphasized that automated

solutions are increasingly

attracting customers In

Switzerland a landmark for

traditional banking a startup

such as True Wealth and the

website Investomachch are

committed to automating their

advisory models with robo-

advisors The question buzzing

round the conference in Zurich

was whether customers would

pay for advice as if they use

automated methods costs are

minimal ndash in the case of robo-

advisors fees are between 30

and 70 bps (03 to 07)

per yearndash Felix Niederer

founder of True Wealth

emphasized that the costs

could decrease even more

And that its moving toward a

model where fortune is

managed completely free

although the most

sophisticated payment services

will remain

Returning to the Deloitte

study startups are definitely a

clear indicator of whats to

come The consultant

examined more than 50 new

digital wealth management

companies in the B2C market

most were founded in the last

ten years The study highlights

that these growth companies

attract retail investors in three

ways by helping them to

connect advising on financial

matters and helping them to

invest ( )

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The keys for the consultant

are ( )

ConnectingAdding investor accounts

Consumers increasingly have

the need to connect different

accounts ndash often accounts

from multiple providers ndash in

order to create a holistic

picture of their wealth and

more easily manage their

finances In addition

investors want to be

connected together to learn

from their peers and to

connect with specialists and

advisors that meet their

needs The new companies

are providing integration of

all these accounts beyond

traditional boundaries

Retail investors are

increasingly frustrated by

having to reconcile multiple

accounts through numerous

banks placements or for

example retirement

accounts They need to have

an accurate real-time view

and if possible an aggregate

of financial assets liabilities

and net worth across multiple

accounts and suppliers

One of the pioneers in this

market was Mintcom a free

online personal financing

service that allows users to see

all their balances and

transactions in one place

Launched in 2007 it currently

has over one million users

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Social networks

Since the financial crisis retail

investors have become

increasingly skeptical about the

advice they receive but have

also realized that they need

this advice more than ever

Investors want to know what

their peers think and how they

invest not only learn from

investment specialists They

also value interactions with

their peers beyond just

meeting their immediate

investment needs Forums

that began as chat groups and

online discussions have rapidly

evolved into fully-blown social

platforms that allow an open

exchange of ideas and the

ability to form groups

People amp Pick founded by

Zacks Investment Research is

an example of a company that

has created a social platform

and online community for

users to interact with each

other The platform allows

users to evaluate any piece of

stock as a purchasesale

Users can share ideas with

other users and track their

stocks

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

SERIE FINTECH middot AGOSTO 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacom

AdvisingFinancial planning New asset

management companies

have entered this market and

successfully attracted

financial planning customers

by creating digital showcases

that have a low learning

curve These companies can

form a complete picture of a

customers financial situation

by taking into account their

personal financial goals risk

tolerance diversification

andor trading strategies An

example is Personal Capital

offering a trading platform

with multiple choices from

investment monitoring and

analysis to financial services

(for investors with more than

$100000 in assets)

Accounts aggregation allows

users to control their finances

as part of a single integrated

control panel that shows the

asset allocation the potential

risks of the holding and how

various product commissions

could affect their goals

InvestingIn the current environment of

low-yield investment

investors are constantly

looking for better riskreturn

opportunities In response to

this new companies have

emerged that provide

customers with access to

sophisticated trading

strategies by copying the

business strategies of

professional management

services (PMS) and thus

allowing these companies to

offer private investors

services to which historically

only certain institutions or

large investors had access

An example of a startup that

offers non-traditional

placements is Covestor

which allows its members to

access view and study the

holdings of professional

management services

Going back to Switzerland a

survey by Axa IM notes that

90 of the Swiss still prefer

personal advice to move their

money It seems that things

are starting to change in the

rest of the planet

Joseacute Diego Alarcoacuten is a partner of the Spanish

SME Serfiex which specializes in Financial Risk

Management software consulting and solutions

Along with a team of financial analysts

econometricians and IT specialists it has

developed a robo advisor with which the

company aims to approach small investors ( )

04INTERVIEW

ldquoRobo-advisorsdemocratize financialadvicerdquo

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What is the difference between

a robo advisor and a financial

advisor

One difference is that thanks

to the Internet a robo advisor

can advise many people while

an individual obviously does

not have the same capacity

What does a robo-advisor

contribute ( )

Our company has

fundamentally developed a

new approach to investing

The robo advisor is the tool

that automates this

methodology The important

thing is the methodology

behind the robo advisor It

must be very detailed very

objective nothing is left to

intuition it is a mathematical

procedure Our robo-advisor is

characterized by both things

On the one hand it builds an

initial portfolio with potential

losses The second feature

which is the most important or

most innovative is it

reconstructs the portfolio

periodically and in an

automated way ie it

rebalances it Each month it

compares the data analyzes

the expected profitability of the

initial portfolio with the real

profitability of the portfolio itself

and based on that difference

and the passage of time it

recomposes and optimizes that

portfolio Without asking the

customer for any new data

Is it better or worse than an

advisor

Its no better or worse

Everything is simplified with

the robo-advisor but it is no

better or worse As it is on the

Internet it can reach many

people and democratizes such

advisory services It may be

cheaper but the important

thing is the methodology

behind it

What logic have you followed

The process that we have

followed after many years in

this field has been to

synthesize it as far as possible

We seek to advise a person

with the smallest amount of

information possible We

create a flow chart and define

it following a methodology

Then the robo-advisor is the

tool that implements it in a

channel such as the Internet

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What minimum information do

you ask the customer

The customer is only asked to

define hisher risk profile There

are two ways to do so One

which is longer is done with a

questionnaire where the

customer has to avoid getting

into a loop as many times

heshe thinks one thing writes

another and then hisher

portfolio is not what heshe

wants has or can be Another

way which is what we use is

more direct we ask what

potential losses the customer

is uncomfortable with using a

certain probability The

customer has hisher risk

profile they say for example

they are uncomfortable with a

3 loss per year and we build

a portfolio from that

information

What customers are you

looking for ( )

We currently have large

customers pension plans

SICAVs etc The robo-advisor

aims to attract customers with

lower equity and who come

through the Internet

Is there interest in this service

In Spain a bank has been

interested in our software

development specifically the

calculation engine part Large

Spanish investors have also

approached us to ask about the

methodology and we are going

to present it in Mexico shortly Its

what were seeing right now

Do you have small customers

No currently only large

customers

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 3: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

They are young and seek to

change the traditional model

of the financial world

Storming Wall Street A dozen

startups are looking to

compete with long-standing

companies or fill the void of

the traditional models A

pioneer in the United States

Wealthfront has moved more

than $2 billion in managed

assets in only three years with

an average shareholding per

customer of about $115000

Its competitor Betterment

nears $15 billion in assets

These figures are a far cry

from the large banks ndash Bank of

America is close to $1 trillion ndash

although they are attractive to

young people ( ) Dubbed

the Henrys (high earning not

rich yet) by Goldman Sachs

these customers do not plan to

go to a bank branch in their

lives and want to move their

money with just a click The

study by Accenture and

Partnership Fund for New York

City highlights that investment

in Financial technology has

tripled from 2013 to 2014

Fintech companies are

characterized by removing or

replacing banks and financial

institutions as intermediaries

promoting cooperation or

establishing new schemes for

more accessible commissions

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Fintech trends that entice

young customers

Digital Crowfunding Hybrid between Blockchain

technology ndash database that

records transactions with

cryptocurrencies and as the

BBVA Blockchain technology

The ultimate Disruption in The

Financial System report

explains it removes the need

for intermediaries and

significantly reduces costs for

banks ndash and crowdfunding

Companies are making offers of

digital stocks The US company

Ethereum stands out as it

allows developers to create

distributed applications define

custom currencies contracts

and even intelligent

crowdfunding platforms

(collective microfinance) To be

able to run programs in the

network you need to have a

certain amount of Ether the

platforms currency Another

platform is the European

Crowdcube which allows you

to create a portfolio of startups

with a minimum value of ten

euros and then keep track of

what happens to each of them

As explained on its website

many investors contribute

small or large amounts of

money to entrepreneurs and

businessmen to carry out their

project In exchange investors

receive shares in the company

and become its partners

accompanying the company in

its future growth

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Payment services with

low-cost investmentsThe star of services-based

investment is Robinhood the

broker backed by Silicon Valley

investors including Google

The broker with no

commissions or spreads aims to

democratize trading It is very

easy to use and you dont need

to have a minimum capital to

open an account Instead of

charging fees Robin Hood

charges interest on the use of

margins and charges for the

use of leveraging (increasing a

companys level of debt)

Robinhood allows developers to

create trading applications such

as graphics signals or

fundamental analysis Payment

products based on services to

attract the traders who are

most experienced with Robin

Hood

Robo advisor ( )As indicated above

Wealthfront and Betterment

stand out in these types of

services that create automated

low-cost portfolios based on

our profile by eliminating the

commissions of a managed

portfolio A model that prevails

in North America and is

coming to Europe In 2014

about 73000 customers

contracted such services in the

United States

Some trends that confirm that

the growth of startups

continues to increase In 2014

the assets of startups

dedicated to consulting in the

US reached $5 billion And

forecasts suggest that this

figure will have tripled to

exceed $15 billion by the end

of this year

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The rise of so-called robo-advisors is changing the

traditional financial management landscape in the US

and they are slowly being incorporated in Europe ( )

Could we haverobots instead of financial advisors

02

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Could a robot manage my

money Without a financial

advisor acting as an

intermediary Little by little so-

called robo-advisors are

changing the way money is

being moved in the US and

are beginning to reach

Europe This model means

customers do not need

financial advisors They just

have to turn on their

computer and fill out a

questionnaire Customers

report their risk tolerance

goals and investment and

their money is managed

automatically ( )

A model that according to the

consultant from GVC Gaesco

Albert Enguix has

experienced spectacular

growth of around 10 to 15

increase each year in the US

Around 73000 customers

have contracted these services

with a volume of 14 billion

euros in assets under

management at the end of

2014 This figure is expected

to rise further Enguix explains

that the model guarantees

absolute return investments

It sets controlling return and

risks as its goals Through

robo-advisors investment

portfolios of customers who

move amounts of between

$50000 to $100000 can be

controlled The money is

invested in EFTs (Exchange-

Traded Funds) and volatility is

controlled the goal is absolute

return This is about making

portfolios under the famous

VVMSQ - volatility-value-

momentum-size and quality of

the composition of the

holding explains Enguix

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Customer profile ( )

The profile of customers who

opt for this technology to move

their money is around 35 years

old and with a high purchasing

power Enguix explained The

millennial generation uses this

model the most The end

result is similar to what a

traditional consultant would do

for them but at a lower cost

The US consulting firm AT

Kearney said that these

services will become a trend

over a period of three to five

years according to this article

from Bloomberg In 2020

robo-advisors will control 56

of investment assets in the US

The figure is currently around

05

The advisor stressed that the

process is very simple You

access the platform from your

computer in the same way as

if you wanted to make a

transfer Analysts statisticians

and economists have created

financial strategy models

beforehand using thousands of

pieces of data Algorithms and

statistics to design programs

that manage your money

What are the risks The same

as in the traditional market

Machines cannot foresee a

financial crash They cannot

guess the psychological

component that can change

the entire financial picture of a

market in minutes just as

advisors are unable to do so

Its not an exact science

Enguix explained who added

that with this type of platform

companies save costs by not

having to hire financial

advisors

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

According to Adam Nash

CEO of Wealthfront a firm

that manages more than

$24 billion in assets rather

than the investment world

being a sprint it is like a

marathon and robots dont

need to sleep They can

make their calculations and

movements while analyzing

all markets whatever the

time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

A new model that also

confronts the collapse of

commission prices which is

stressed from Wealthfront

The firm is convinced that

future generations and

technology will revolutionize

the financial market The

preferences of younger

consumers have a huge

impact on financial services

and companies will have to

respond quickly to new

trendsrdquo

Arrival in EuropeIn Europe this model is

being incorporated extremely

slowly We are lagging

behind the US which is 10

years ahead on this type of

service says Enguix In

France Germany and

Switzerland some companies

such as the German firm

Vaamo or the French firm

Advize have launched in this

market Although there is

still a long way to go to reach

customers en mass in Spain

and Europe Many

professionals in the sector

have never even heard of

robo-advisors There is a long

road ahead says the

consultant from Gaesco

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Personalized advice is not going to disappear but the

competition from new models is ambitious and greatly

reduces the prices ( )

How should youmanage your fortune

03

Two executives are having

lunch after a conference on

asset management They are

arguing over the recent

emergence of small digital

capital management

companies that focus

primarily on retail investors in

the emerging Business-to-

Consumer (B2C) market

which refers to the strategy

that commercial enterprises

are following to go directly to

the end customer or

consumer One of the

executives is not worried

about these new businesses

at all and does not see them

as a threat he argues that

investors always prefer direct

person-to-person relationships

with their financial advisors

The second strongly

disagrees and notes that all

traditional companies must

understand why these new

companies are emerging

what makes them attractive

to customers and what

capabilities must be

developed in response to this

threat This hypothetical

scenario relating the Deloitte

study Digital disruption

in Wealth Management

illustrates the real debate

taking place in the wealth

management industry on the

relevance of these new digital

companies and their potential

to successfully break into the

market Traditional

companies are trying to

decide whether it is worth

investing time money

and effort to better

understand these emerging

businesses

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The story of the consultant is

fictional but the discussion it

narrates is increasingly real At

the recent Finance20

conference which was held in

Zurich and brings together

technology companies

specialized in finance it was

emphasized that automated

solutions are increasingly

attracting customers In

Switzerland a landmark for

traditional banking a startup

such as True Wealth and the

website Investomachch are

committed to automating their

advisory models with robo-

advisors The question buzzing

round the conference in Zurich

was whether customers would

pay for advice as if they use

automated methods costs are

minimal ndash in the case of robo-

advisors fees are between 30

and 70 bps (03 to 07)

per yearndash Felix Niederer

founder of True Wealth

emphasized that the costs

could decrease even more

And that its moving toward a

model where fortune is

managed completely free

although the most

sophisticated payment services

will remain

Returning to the Deloitte

study startups are definitely a

clear indicator of whats to

come The consultant

examined more than 50 new

digital wealth management

companies in the B2C market

most were founded in the last

ten years The study highlights

that these growth companies

attract retail investors in three

ways by helping them to

connect advising on financial

matters and helping them to

invest ( )

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The keys for the consultant

are ( )

ConnectingAdding investor accounts

Consumers increasingly have

the need to connect different

accounts ndash often accounts

from multiple providers ndash in

order to create a holistic

picture of their wealth and

more easily manage their

finances In addition

investors want to be

connected together to learn

from their peers and to

connect with specialists and

advisors that meet their

needs The new companies

are providing integration of

all these accounts beyond

traditional boundaries

Retail investors are

increasingly frustrated by

having to reconcile multiple

accounts through numerous

banks placements or for

example retirement

accounts They need to have

an accurate real-time view

and if possible an aggregate

of financial assets liabilities

and net worth across multiple

accounts and suppliers

One of the pioneers in this

market was Mintcom a free

online personal financing

service that allows users to see

all their balances and

transactions in one place

Launched in 2007 it currently

has over one million users

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Social networks

Since the financial crisis retail

investors have become

increasingly skeptical about the

advice they receive but have

also realized that they need

this advice more than ever

Investors want to know what

their peers think and how they

invest not only learn from

investment specialists They

also value interactions with

their peers beyond just

meeting their immediate

investment needs Forums

that began as chat groups and

online discussions have rapidly

evolved into fully-blown social

platforms that allow an open

exchange of ideas and the

ability to form groups

People amp Pick founded by

Zacks Investment Research is

an example of a company that

has created a social platform

and online community for

users to interact with each

other The platform allows

users to evaluate any piece of

stock as a purchasesale

Users can share ideas with

other users and track their

stocks

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

SERIE FINTECH middot AGOSTO 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacom

AdvisingFinancial planning New asset

management companies

have entered this market and

successfully attracted

financial planning customers

by creating digital showcases

that have a low learning

curve These companies can

form a complete picture of a

customers financial situation

by taking into account their

personal financial goals risk

tolerance diversification

andor trading strategies An

example is Personal Capital

offering a trading platform

with multiple choices from

investment monitoring and

analysis to financial services

(for investors with more than

$100000 in assets)

Accounts aggregation allows

users to control their finances

as part of a single integrated

control panel that shows the

asset allocation the potential

risks of the holding and how

various product commissions

could affect their goals

InvestingIn the current environment of

low-yield investment

investors are constantly

looking for better riskreturn

opportunities In response to

this new companies have

emerged that provide

customers with access to

sophisticated trading

strategies by copying the

business strategies of

professional management

services (PMS) and thus

allowing these companies to

offer private investors

services to which historically

only certain institutions or

large investors had access

An example of a startup that

offers non-traditional

placements is Covestor

which allows its members to

access view and study the

holdings of professional

management services

Going back to Switzerland a

survey by Axa IM notes that

90 of the Swiss still prefer

personal advice to move their

money It seems that things

are starting to change in the

rest of the planet

Joseacute Diego Alarcoacuten is a partner of the Spanish

SME Serfiex which specializes in Financial Risk

Management software consulting and solutions

Along with a team of financial analysts

econometricians and IT specialists it has

developed a robo advisor with which the

company aims to approach small investors ( )

04INTERVIEW

ldquoRobo-advisorsdemocratize financialadvicerdquo

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What is the difference between

a robo advisor and a financial

advisor

One difference is that thanks

to the Internet a robo advisor

can advise many people while

an individual obviously does

not have the same capacity

What does a robo-advisor

contribute ( )

Our company has

fundamentally developed a

new approach to investing

The robo advisor is the tool

that automates this

methodology The important

thing is the methodology

behind the robo advisor It

must be very detailed very

objective nothing is left to

intuition it is a mathematical

procedure Our robo-advisor is

characterized by both things

On the one hand it builds an

initial portfolio with potential

losses The second feature

which is the most important or

most innovative is it

reconstructs the portfolio

periodically and in an

automated way ie it

rebalances it Each month it

compares the data analyzes

the expected profitability of the

initial portfolio with the real

profitability of the portfolio itself

and based on that difference

and the passage of time it

recomposes and optimizes that

portfolio Without asking the

customer for any new data

Is it better or worse than an

advisor

Its no better or worse

Everything is simplified with

the robo-advisor but it is no

better or worse As it is on the

Internet it can reach many

people and democratizes such

advisory services It may be

cheaper but the important

thing is the methodology

behind it

What logic have you followed

The process that we have

followed after many years in

this field has been to

synthesize it as far as possible

We seek to advise a person

with the smallest amount of

information possible We

create a flow chart and define

it following a methodology

Then the robo-advisor is the

tool that implements it in a

channel such as the Internet

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What minimum information do

you ask the customer

The customer is only asked to

define hisher risk profile There

are two ways to do so One

which is longer is done with a

questionnaire where the

customer has to avoid getting

into a loop as many times

heshe thinks one thing writes

another and then hisher

portfolio is not what heshe

wants has or can be Another

way which is what we use is

more direct we ask what

potential losses the customer

is uncomfortable with using a

certain probability The

customer has hisher risk

profile they say for example

they are uncomfortable with a

3 loss per year and we build

a portfolio from that

information

What customers are you

looking for ( )

We currently have large

customers pension plans

SICAVs etc The robo-advisor

aims to attract customers with

lower equity and who come

through the Internet

Is there interest in this service

In Spain a bank has been

interested in our software

development specifically the

calculation engine part Large

Spanish investors have also

approached us to ask about the

methodology and we are going

to present it in Mexico shortly Its

what were seeing right now

Do you have small customers

No currently only large

customers

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 4: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

Fintech trends that entice

young customers

Digital Crowfunding Hybrid between Blockchain

technology ndash database that

records transactions with

cryptocurrencies and as the

BBVA Blockchain technology

The ultimate Disruption in The

Financial System report

explains it removes the need

for intermediaries and

significantly reduces costs for

banks ndash and crowdfunding

Companies are making offers of

digital stocks The US company

Ethereum stands out as it

allows developers to create

distributed applications define

custom currencies contracts

and even intelligent

crowdfunding platforms

(collective microfinance) To be

able to run programs in the

network you need to have a

certain amount of Ether the

platforms currency Another

platform is the European

Crowdcube which allows you

to create a portfolio of startups

with a minimum value of ten

euros and then keep track of

what happens to each of them

As explained on its website

many investors contribute

small or large amounts of

money to entrepreneurs and

businessmen to carry out their

project In exchange investors

receive shares in the company

and become its partners

accompanying the company in

its future growth

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Payment services with

low-cost investmentsThe star of services-based

investment is Robinhood the

broker backed by Silicon Valley

investors including Google

The broker with no

commissions or spreads aims to

democratize trading It is very

easy to use and you dont need

to have a minimum capital to

open an account Instead of

charging fees Robin Hood

charges interest on the use of

margins and charges for the

use of leveraging (increasing a

companys level of debt)

Robinhood allows developers to

create trading applications such

as graphics signals or

fundamental analysis Payment

products based on services to

attract the traders who are

most experienced with Robin

Hood

Robo advisor ( )As indicated above

Wealthfront and Betterment

stand out in these types of

services that create automated

low-cost portfolios based on

our profile by eliminating the

commissions of a managed

portfolio A model that prevails

in North America and is

coming to Europe In 2014

about 73000 customers

contracted such services in the

United States

Some trends that confirm that

the growth of startups

continues to increase In 2014

the assets of startups

dedicated to consulting in the

US reached $5 billion And

forecasts suggest that this

figure will have tripled to

exceed $15 billion by the end

of this year

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The rise of so-called robo-advisors is changing the

traditional financial management landscape in the US

and they are slowly being incorporated in Europe ( )

Could we haverobots instead of financial advisors

02

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Could a robot manage my

money Without a financial

advisor acting as an

intermediary Little by little so-

called robo-advisors are

changing the way money is

being moved in the US and

are beginning to reach

Europe This model means

customers do not need

financial advisors They just

have to turn on their

computer and fill out a

questionnaire Customers

report their risk tolerance

goals and investment and

their money is managed

automatically ( )

A model that according to the

consultant from GVC Gaesco

Albert Enguix has

experienced spectacular

growth of around 10 to 15

increase each year in the US

Around 73000 customers

have contracted these services

with a volume of 14 billion

euros in assets under

management at the end of

2014 This figure is expected

to rise further Enguix explains

that the model guarantees

absolute return investments

It sets controlling return and

risks as its goals Through

robo-advisors investment

portfolios of customers who

move amounts of between

$50000 to $100000 can be

controlled The money is

invested in EFTs (Exchange-

Traded Funds) and volatility is

controlled the goal is absolute

return This is about making

portfolios under the famous

VVMSQ - volatility-value-

momentum-size and quality of

the composition of the

holding explains Enguix

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Customer profile ( )

The profile of customers who

opt for this technology to move

their money is around 35 years

old and with a high purchasing

power Enguix explained The

millennial generation uses this

model the most The end

result is similar to what a

traditional consultant would do

for them but at a lower cost

The US consulting firm AT

Kearney said that these

services will become a trend

over a period of three to five

years according to this article

from Bloomberg In 2020

robo-advisors will control 56

of investment assets in the US

The figure is currently around

05

The advisor stressed that the

process is very simple You

access the platform from your

computer in the same way as

if you wanted to make a

transfer Analysts statisticians

and economists have created

financial strategy models

beforehand using thousands of

pieces of data Algorithms and

statistics to design programs

that manage your money

What are the risks The same

as in the traditional market

Machines cannot foresee a

financial crash They cannot

guess the psychological

component that can change

the entire financial picture of a

market in minutes just as

advisors are unable to do so

Its not an exact science

Enguix explained who added

that with this type of platform

companies save costs by not

having to hire financial

advisors

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

According to Adam Nash

CEO of Wealthfront a firm

that manages more than

$24 billion in assets rather

than the investment world

being a sprint it is like a

marathon and robots dont

need to sleep They can

make their calculations and

movements while analyzing

all markets whatever the

time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

A new model that also

confronts the collapse of

commission prices which is

stressed from Wealthfront

The firm is convinced that

future generations and

technology will revolutionize

the financial market The

preferences of younger

consumers have a huge

impact on financial services

and companies will have to

respond quickly to new

trendsrdquo

Arrival in EuropeIn Europe this model is

being incorporated extremely

slowly We are lagging

behind the US which is 10

years ahead on this type of

service says Enguix In

France Germany and

Switzerland some companies

such as the German firm

Vaamo or the French firm

Advize have launched in this

market Although there is

still a long way to go to reach

customers en mass in Spain

and Europe Many

professionals in the sector

have never even heard of

robo-advisors There is a long

road ahead says the

consultant from Gaesco

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Personalized advice is not going to disappear but the

competition from new models is ambitious and greatly

reduces the prices ( )

How should youmanage your fortune

03

Two executives are having

lunch after a conference on

asset management They are

arguing over the recent

emergence of small digital

capital management

companies that focus

primarily on retail investors in

the emerging Business-to-

Consumer (B2C) market

which refers to the strategy

that commercial enterprises

are following to go directly to

the end customer or

consumer One of the

executives is not worried

about these new businesses

at all and does not see them

as a threat he argues that

investors always prefer direct

person-to-person relationships

with their financial advisors

The second strongly

disagrees and notes that all

traditional companies must

understand why these new

companies are emerging

what makes them attractive

to customers and what

capabilities must be

developed in response to this

threat This hypothetical

scenario relating the Deloitte

study Digital disruption

in Wealth Management

illustrates the real debate

taking place in the wealth

management industry on the

relevance of these new digital

companies and their potential

to successfully break into the

market Traditional

companies are trying to

decide whether it is worth

investing time money

and effort to better

understand these emerging

businesses

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The story of the consultant is

fictional but the discussion it

narrates is increasingly real At

the recent Finance20

conference which was held in

Zurich and brings together

technology companies

specialized in finance it was

emphasized that automated

solutions are increasingly

attracting customers In

Switzerland a landmark for

traditional banking a startup

such as True Wealth and the

website Investomachch are

committed to automating their

advisory models with robo-

advisors The question buzzing

round the conference in Zurich

was whether customers would

pay for advice as if they use

automated methods costs are

minimal ndash in the case of robo-

advisors fees are between 30

and 70 bps (03 to 07)

per yearndash Felix Niederer

founder of True Wealth

emphasized that the costs

could decrease even more

And that its moving toward a

model where fortune is

managed completely free

although the most

sophisticated payment services

will remain

Returning to the Deloitte

study startups are definitely a

clear indicator of whats to

come The consultant

examined more than 50 new

digital wealth management

companies in the B2C market

most were founded in the last

ten years The study highlights

that these growth companies

attract retail investors in three

ways by helping them to

connect advising on financial

matters and helping them to

invest ( )

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The keys for the consultant

are ( )

ConnectingAdding investor accounts

Consumers increasingly have

the need to connect different

accounts ndash often accounts

from multiple providers ndash in

order to create a holistic

picture of their wealth and

more easily manage their

finances In addition

investors want to be

connected together to learn

from their peers and to

connect with specialists and

advisors that meet their

needs The new companies

are providing integration of

all these accounts beyond

traditional boundaries

Retail investors are

increasingly frustrated by

having to reconcile multiple

accounts through numerous

banks placements or for

example retirement

accounts They need to have

an accurate real-time view

and if possible an aggregate

of financial assets liabilities

and net worth across multiple

accounts and suppliers

One of the pioneers in this

market was Mintcom a free

online personal financing

service that allows users to see

all their balances and

transactions in one place

Launched in 2007 it currently

has over one million users

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Social networks

Since the financial crisis retail

investors have become

increasingly skeptical about the

advice they receive but have

also realized that they need

this advice more than ever

Investors want to know what

their peers think and how they

invest not only learn from

investment specialists They

also value interactions with

their peers beyond just

meeting their immediate

investment needs Forums

that began as chat groups and

online discussions have rapidly

evolved into fully-blown social

platforms that allow an open

exchange of ideas and the

ability to form groups

People amp Pick founded by

Zacks Investment Research is

an example of a company that

has created a social platform

and online community for

users to interact with each

other The platform allows

users to evaluate any piece of

stock as a purchasesale

Users can share ideas with

other users and track their

stocks

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

SERIE FINTECH middot AGOSTO 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacom

AdvisingFinancial planning New asset

management companies

have entered this market and

successfully attracted

financial planning customers

by creating digital showcases

that have a low learning

curve These companies can

form a complete picture of a

customers financial situation

by taking into account their

personal financial goals risk

tolerance diversification

andor trading strategies An

example is Personal Capital

offering a trading platform

with multiple choices from

investment monitoring and

analysis to financial services

(for investors with more than

$100000 in assets)

Accounts aggregation allows

users to control their finances

as part of a single integrated

control panel that shows the

asset allocation the potential

risks of the holding and how

various product commissions

could affect their goals

InvestingIn the current environment of

low-yield investment

investors are constantly

looking for better riskreturn

opportunities In response to

this new companies have

emerged that provide

customers with access to

sophisticated trading

strategies by copying the

business strategies of

professional management

services (PMS) and thus

allowing these companies to

offer private investors

services to which historically

only certain institutions or

large investors had access

An example of a startup that

offers non-traditional

placements is Covestor

which allows its members to

access view and study the

holdings of professional

management services

Going back to Switzerland a

survey by Axa IM notes that

90 of the Swiss still prefer

personal advice to move their

money It seems that things

are starting to change in the

rest of the planet

Joseacute Diego Alarcoacuten is a partner of the Spanish

SME Serfiex which specializes in Financial Risk

Management software consulting and solutions

Along with a team of financial analysts

econometricians and IT specialists it has

developed a robo advisor with which the

company aims to approach small investors ( )

04INTERVIEW

ldquoRobo-advisorsdemocratize financialadvicerdquo

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What is the difference between

a robo advisor and a financial

advisor

One difference is that thanks

to the Internet a robo advisor

can advise many people while

an individual obviously does

not have the same capacity

What does a robo-advisor

contribute ( )

Our company has

fundamentally developed a

new approach to investing

The robo advisor is the tool

that automates this

methodology The important

thing is the methodology

behind the robo advisor It

must be very detailed very

objective nothing is left to

intuition it is a mathematical

procedure Our robo-advisor is

characterized by both things

On the one hand it builds an

initial portfolio with potential

losses The second feature

which is the most important or

most innovative is it

reconstructs the portfolio

periodically and in an

automated way ie it

rebalances it Each month it

compares the data analyzes

the expected profitability of the

initial portfolio with the real

profitability of the portfolio itself

and based on that difference

and the passage of time it

recomposes and optimizes that

portfolio Without asking the

customer for any new data

Is it better or worse than an

advisor

Its no better or worse

Everything is simplified with

the robo-advisor but it is no

better or worse As it is on the

Internet it can reach many

people and democratizes such

advisory services It may be

cheaper but the important

thing is the methodology

behind it

What logic have you followed

The process that we have

followed after many years in

this field has been to

synthesize it as far as possible

We seek to advise a person

with the smallest amount of

information possible We

create a flow chart and define

it following a methodology

Then the robo-advisor is the

tool that implements it in a

channel such as the Internet

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What minimum information do

you ask the customer

The customer is only asked to

define hisher risk profile There

are two ways to do so One

which is longer is done with a

questionnaire where the

customer has to avoid getting

into a loop as many times

heshe thinks one thing writes

another and then hisher

portfolio is not what heshe

wants has or can be Another

way which is what we use is

more direct we ask what

potential losses the customer

is uncomfortable with using a

certain probability The

customer has hisher risk

profile they say for example

they are uncomfortable with a

3 loss per year and we build

a portfolio from that

information

What customers are you

looking for ( )

We currently have large

customers pension plans

SICAVs etc The robo-advisor

aims to attract customers with

lower equity and who come

through the Internet

Is there interest in this service

In Spain a bank has been

interested in our software

development specifically the

calculation engine part Large

Spanish investors have also

approached us to ask about the

methodology and we are going

to present it in Mexico shortly Its

what were seeing right now

Do you have small customers

No currently only large

customers

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 5: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

Payment services with

low-cost investmentsThe star of services-based

investment is Robinhood the

broker backed by Silicon Valley

investors including Google

The broker with no

commissions or spreads aims to

democratize trading It is very

easy to use and you dont need

to have a minimum capital to

open an account Instead of

charging fees Robin Hood

charges interest on the use of

margins and charges for the

use of leveraging (increasing a

companys level of debt)

Robinhood allows developers to

create trading applications such

as graphics signals or

fundamental analysis Payment

products based on services to

attract the traders who are

most experienced with Robin

Hood

Robo advisor ( )As indicated above

Wealthfront and Betterment

stand out in these types of

services that create automated

low-cost portfolios based on

our profile by eliminating the

commissions of a managed

portfolio A model that prevails

in North America and is

coming to Europe In 2014

about 73000 customers

contracted such services in the

United States

Some trends that confirm that

the growth of startups

continues to increase In 2014

the assets of startups

dedicated to consulting in the

US reached $5 billion And

forecasts suggest that this

figure will have tripled to

exceed $15 billion by the end

of this year

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The rise of so-called robo-advisors is changing the

traditional financial management landscape in the US

and they are slowly being incorporated in Europe ( )

Could we haverobots instead of financial advisors

02

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Could a robot manage my

money Without a financial

advisor acting as an

intermediary Little by little so-

called robo-advisors are

changing the way money is

being moved in the US and

are beginning to reach

Europe This model means

customers do not need

financial advisors They just

have to turn on their

computer and fill out a

questionnaire Customers

report their risk tolerance

goals and investment and

their money is managed

automatically ( )

A model that according to the

consultant from GVC Gaesco

Albert Enguix has

experienced spectacular

growth of around 10 to 15

increase each year in the US

Around 73000 customers

have contracted these services

with a volume of 14 billion

euros in assets under

management at the end of

2014 This figure is expected

to rise further Enguix explains

that the model guarantees

absolute return investments

It sets controlling return and

risks as its goals Through

robo-advisors investment

portfolios of customers who

move amounts of between

$50000 to $100000 can be

controlled The money is

invested in EFTs (Exchange-

Traded Funds) and volatility is

controlled the goal is absolute

return This is about making

portfolios under the famous

VVMSQ - volatility-value-

momentum-size and quality of

the composition of the

holding explains Enguix

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Customer profile ( )

The profile of customers who

opt for this technology to move

their money is around 35 years

old and with a high purchasing

power Enguix explained The

millennial generation uses this

model the most The end

result is similar to what a

traditional consultant would do

for them but at a lower cost

The US consulting firm AT

Kearney said that these

services will become a trend

over a period of three to five

years according to this article

from Bloomberg In 2020

robo-advisors will control 56

of investment assets in the US

The figure is currently around

05

The advisor stressed that the

process is very simple You

access the platform from your

computer in the same way as

if you wanted to make a

transfer Analysts statisticians

and economists have created

financial strategy models

beforehand using thousands of

pieces of data Algorithms and

statistics to design programs

that manage your money

What are the risks The same

as in the traditional market

Machines cannot foresee a

financial crash They cannot

guess the psychological

component that can change

the entire financial picture of a

market in minutes just as

advisors are unable to do so

Its not an exact science

Enguix explained who added

that with this type of platform

companies save costs by not

having to hire financial

advisors

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

According to Adam Nash

CEO of Wealthfront a firm

that manages more than

$24 billion in assets rather

than the investment world

being a sprint it is like a

marathon and robots dont

need to sleep They can

make their calculations and

movements while analyzing

all markets whatever the

time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

A new model that also

confronts the collapse of

commission prices which is

stressed from Wealthfront

The firm is convinced that

future generations and

technology will revolutionize

the financial market The

preferences of younger

consumers have a huge

impact on financial services

and companies will have to

respond quickly to new

trendsrdquo

Arrival in EuropeIn Europe this model is

being incorporated extremely

slowly We are lagging

behind the US which is 10

years ahead on this type of

service says Enguix In

France Germany and

Switzerland some companies

such as the German firm

Vaamo or the French firm

Advize have launched in this

market Although there is

still a long way to go to reach

customers en mass in Spain

and Europe Many

professionals in the sector

have never even heard of

robo-advisors There is a long

road ahead says the

consultant from Gaesco

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Personalized advice is not going to disappear but the

competition from new models is ambitious and greatly

reduces the prices ( )

How should youmanage your fortune

03

Two executives are having

lunch after a conference on

asset management They are

arguing over the recent

emergence of small digital

capital management

companies that focus

primarily on retail investors in

the emerging Business-to-

Consumer (B2C) market

which refers to the strategy

that commercial enterprises

are following to go directly to

the end customer or

consumer One of the

executives is not worried

about these new businesses

at all and does not see them

as a threat he argues that

investors always prefer direct

person-to-person relationships

with their financial advisors

The second strongly

disagrees and notes that all

traditional companies must

understand why these new

companies are emerging

what makes them attractive

to customers and what

capabilities must be

developed in response to this

threat This hypothetical

scenario relating the Deloitte

study Digital disruption

in Wealth Management

illustrates the real debate

taking place in the wealth

management industry on the

relevance of these new digital

companies and their potential

to successfully break into the

market Traditional

companies are trying to

decide whether it is worth

investing time money

and effort to better

understand these emerging

businesses

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The story of the consultant is

fictional but the discussion it

narrates is increasingly real At

the recent Finance20

conference which was held in

Zurich and brings together

technology companies

specialized in finance it was

emphasized that automated

solutions are increasingly

attracting customers In

Switzerland a landmark for

traditional banking a startup

such as True Wealth and the

website Investomachch are

committed to automating their

advisory models with robo-

advisors The question buzzing

round the conference in Zurich

was whether customers would

pay for advice as if they use

automated methods costs are

minimal ndash in the case of robo-

advisors fees are between 30

and 70 bps (03 to 07)

per yearndash Felix Niederer

founder of True Wealth

emphasized that the costs

could decrease even more

And that its moving toward a

model where fortune is

managed completely free

although the most

sophisticated payment services

will remain

Returning to the Deloitte

study startups are definitely a

clear indicator of whats to

come The consultant

examined more than 50 new

digital wealth management

companies in the B2C market

most were founded in the last

ten years The study highlights

that these growth companies

attract retail investors in three

ways by helping them to

connect advising on financial

matters and helping them to

invest ( )

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The keys for the consultant

are ( )

ConnectingAdding investor accounts

Consumers increasingly have

the need to connect different

accounts ndash often accounts

from multiple providers ndash in

order to create a holistic

picture of their wealth and

more easily manage their

finances In addition

investors want to be

connected together to learn

from their peers and to

connect with specialists and

advisors that meet their

needs The new companies

are providing integration of

all these accounts beyond

traditional boundaries

Retail investors are

increasingly frustrated by

having to reconcile multiple

accounts through numerous

banks placements or for

example retirement

accounts They need to have

an accurate real-time view

and if possible an aggregate

of financial assets liabilities

and net worth across multiple

accounts and suppliers

One of the pioneers in this

market was Mintcom a free

online personal financing

service that allows users to see

all their balances and

transactions in one place

Launched in 2007 it currently

has over one million users

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Social networks

Since the financial crisis retail

investors have become

increasingly skeptical about the

advice they receive but have

also realized that they need

this advice more than ever

Investors want to know what

their peers think and how they

invest not only learn from

investment specialists They

also value interactions with

their peers beyond just

meeting their immediate

investment needs Forums

that began as chat groups and

online discussions have rapidly

evolved into fully-blown social

platforms that allow an open

exchange of ideas and the

ability to form groups

People amp Pick founded by

Zacks Investment Research is

an example of a company that

has created a social platform

and online community for

users to interact with each

other The platform allows

users to evaluate any piece of

stock as a purchasesale

Users can share ideas with

other users and track their

stocks

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

SERIE FINTECH middot AGOSTO 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacom

AdvisingFinancial planning New asset

management companies

have entered this market and

successfully attracted

financial planning customers

by creating digital showcases

that have a low learning

curve These companies can

form a complete picture of a

customers financial situation

by taking into account their

personal financial goals risk

tolerance diversification

andor trading strategies An

example is Personal Capital

offering a trading platform

with multiple choices from

investment monitoring and

analysis to financial services

(for investors with more than

$100000 in assets)

Accounts aggregation allows

users to control their finances

as part of a single integrated

control panel that shows the

asset allocation the potential

risks of the holding and how

various product commissions

could affect their goals

InvestingIn the current environment of

low-yield investment

investors are constantly

looking for better riskreturn

opportunities In response to

this new companies have

emerged that provide

customers with access to

sophisticated trading

strategies by copying the

business strategies of

professional management

services (PMS) and thus

allowing these companies to

offer private investors

services to which historically

only certain institutions or

large investors had access

An example of a startup that

offers non-traditional

placements is Covestor

which allows its members to

access view and study the

holdings of professional

management services

Going back to Switzerland a

survey by Axa IM notes that

90 of the Swiss still prefer

personal advice to move their

money It seems that things

are starting to change in the

rest of the planet

Joseacute Diego Alarcoacuten is a partner of the Spanish

SME Serfiex which specializes in Financial Risk

Management software consulting and solutions

Along with a team of financial analysts

econometricians and IT specialists it has

developed a robo advisor with which the

company aims to approach small investors ( )

04INTERVIEW

ldquoRobo-advisorsdemocratize financialadvicerdquo

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What is the difference between

a robo advisor and a financial

advisor

One difference is that thanks

to the Internet a robo advisor

can advise many people while

an individual obviously does

not have the same capacity

What does a robo-advisor

contribute ( )

Our company has

fundamentally developed a

new approach to investing

The robo advisor is the tool

that automates this

methodology The important

thing is the methodology

behind the robo advisor It

must be very detailed very

objective nothing is left to

intuition it is a mathematical

procedure Our robo-advisor is

characterized by both things

On the one hand it builds an

initial portfolio with potential

losses The second feature

which is the most important or

most innovative is it

reconstructs the portfolio

periodically and in an

automated way ie it

rebalances it Each month it

compares the data analyzes

the expected profitability of the

initial portfolio with the real

profitability of the portfolio itself

and based on that difference

and the passage of time it

recomposes and optimizes that

portfolio Without asking the

customer for any new data

Is it better or worse than an

advisor

Its no better or worse

Everything is simplified with

the robo-advisor but it is no

better or worse As it is on the

Internet it can reach many

people and democratizes such

advisory services It may be

cheaper but the important

thing is the methodology

behind it

What logic have you followed

The process that we have

followed after many years in

this field has been to

synthesize it as far as possible

We seek to advise a person

with the smallest amount of

information possible We

create a flow chart and define

it following a methodology

Then the robo-advisor is the

tool that implements it in a

channel such as the Internet

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What minimum information do

you ask the customer

The customer is only asked to

define hisher risk profile There

are two ways to do so One

which is longer is done with a

questionnaire where the

customer has to avoid getting

into a loop as many times

heshe thinks one thing writes

another and then hisher

portfolio is not what heshe

wants has or can be Another

way which is what we use is

more direct we ask what

potential losses the customer

is uncomfortable with using a

certain probability The

customer has hisher risk

profile they say for example

they are uncomfortable with a

3 loss per year and we build

a portfolio from that

information

What customers are you

looking for ( )

We currently have large

customers pension plans

SICAVs etc The robo-advisor

aims to attract customers with

lower equity and who come

through the Internet

Is there interest in this service

In Spain a bank has been

interested in our software

development specifically the

calculation engine part Large

Spanish investors have also

approached us to ask about the

methodology and we are going

to present it in Mexico shortly Its

what were seeing right now

Do you have small customers

No currently only large

customers

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 6: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

The rise of so-called robo-advisors is changing the

traditional financial management landscape in the US

and they are slowly being incorporated in Europe ( )

Could we haverobots instead of financial advisors

02

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Could a robot manage my

money Without a financial

advisor acting as an

intermediary Little by little so-

called robo-advisors are

changing the way money is

being moved in the US and

are beginning to reach

Europe This model means

customers do not need

financial advisors They just

have to turn on their

computer and fill out a

questionnaire Customers

report their risk tolerance

goals and investment and

their money is managed

automatically ( )

A model that according to the

consultant from GVC Gaesco

Albert Enguix has

experienced spectacular

growth of around 10 to 15

increase each year in the US

Around 73000 customers

have contracted these services

with a volume of 14 billion

euros in assets under

management at the end of

2014 This figure is expected

to rise further Enguix explains

that the model guarantees

absolute return investments

It sets controlling return and

risks as its goals Through

robo-advisors investment

portfolios of customers who

move amounts of between

$50000 to $100000 can be

controlled The money is

invested in EFTs (Exchange-

Traded Funds) and volatility is

controlled the goal is absolute

return This is about making

portfolios under the famous

VVMSQ - volatility-value-

momentum-size and quality of

the composition of the

holding explains Enguix

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Customer profile ( )

The profile of customers who

opt for this technology to move

their money is around 35 years

old and with a high purchasing

power Enguix explained The

millennial generation uses this

model the most The end

result is similar to what a

traditional consultant would do

for them but at a lower cost

The US consulting firm AT

Kearney said that these

services will become a trend

over a period of three to five

years according to this article

from Bloomberg In 2020

robo-advisors will control 56

of investment assets in the US

The figure is currently around

05

The advisor stressed that the

process is very simple You

access the platform from your

computer in the same way as

if you wanted to make a

transfer Analysts statisticians

and economists have created

financial strategy models

beforehand using thousands of

pieces of data Algorithms and

statistics to design programs

that manage your money

What are the risks The same

as in the traditional market

Machines cannot foresee a

financial crash They cannot

guess the psychological

component that can change

the entire financial picture of a

market in minutes just as

advisors are unable to do so

Its not an exact science

Enguix explained who added

that with this type of platform

companies save costs by not

having to hire financial

advisors

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

According to Adam Nash

CEO of Wealthfront a firm

that manages more than

$24 billion in assets rather

than the investment world

being a sprint it is like a

marathon and robots dont

need to sleep They can

make their calculations and

movements while analyzing

all markets whatever the

time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

A new model that also

confronts the collapse of

commission prices which is

stressed from Wealthfront

The firm is convinced that

future generations and

technology will revolutionize

the financial market The

preferences of younger

consumers have a huge

impact on financial services

and companies will have to

respond quickly to new

trendsrdquo

Arrival in EuropeIn Europe this model is

being incorporated extremely

slowly We are lagging

behind the US which is 10

years ahead on this type of

service says Enguix In

France Germany and

Switzerland some companies

such as the German firm

Vaamo or the French firm

Advize have launched in this

market Although there is

still a long way to go to reach

customers en mass in Spain

and Europe Many

professionals in the sector

have never even heard of

robo-advisors There is a long

road ahead says the

consultant from Gaesco

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Personalized advice is not going to disappear but the

competition from new models is ambitious and greatly

reduces the prices ( )

How should youmanage your fortune

03

Two executives are having

lunch after a conference on

asset management They are

arguing over the recent

emergence of small digital

capital management

companies that focus

primarily on retail investors in

the emerging Business-to-

Consumer (B2C) market

which refers to the strategy

that commercial enterprises

are following to go directly to

the end customer or

consumer One of the

executives is not worried

about these new businesses

at all and does not see them

as a threat he argues that

investors always prefer direct

person-to-person relationships

with their financial advisors

The second strongly

disagrees and notes that all

traditional companies must

understand why these new

companies are emerging

what makes them attractive

to customers and what

capabilities must be

developed in response to this

threat This hypothetical

scenario relating the Deloitte

study Digital disruption

in Wealth Management

illustrates the real debate

taking place in the wealth

management industry on the

relevance of these new digital

companies and their potential

to successfully break into the

market Traditional

companies are trying to

decide whether it is worth

investing time money

and effort to better

understand these emerging

businesses

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The story of the consultant is

fictional but the discussion it

narrates is increasingly real At

the recent Finance20

conference which was held in

Zurich and brings together

technology companies

specialized in finance it was

emphasized that automated

solutions are increasingly

attracting customers In

Switzerland a landmark for

traditional banking a startup

such as True Wealth and the

website Investomachch are

committed to automating their

advisory models with robo-

advisors The question buzzing

round the conference in Zurich

was whether customers would

pay for advice as if they use

automated methods costs are

minimal ndash in the case of robo-

advisors fees are between 30

and 70 bps (03 to 07)

per yearndash Felix Niederer

founder of True Wealth

emphasized that the costs

could decrease even more

And that its moving toward a

model where fortune is

managed completely free

although the most

sophisticated payment services

will remain

Returning to the Deloitte

study startups are definitely a

clear indicator of whats to

come The consultant

examined more than 50 new

digital wealth management

companies in the B2C market

most were founded in the last

ten years The study highlights

that these growth companies

attract retail investors in three

ways by helping them to

connect advising on financial

matters and helping them to

invest ( )

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The keys for the consultant

are ( )

ConnectingAdding investor accounts

Consumers increasingly have

the need to connect different

accounts ndash often accounts

from multiple providers ndash in

order to create a holistic

picture of their wealth and

more easily manage their

finances In addition

investors want to be

connected together to learn

from their peers and to

connect with specialists and

advisors that meet their

needs The new companies

are providing integration of

all these accounts beyond

traditional boundaries

Retail investors are

increasingly frustrated by

having to reconcile multiple

accounts through numerous

banks placements or for

example retirement

accounts They need to have

an accurate real-time view

and if possible an aggregate

of financial assets liabilities

and net worth across multiple

accounts and suppliers

One of the pioneers in this

market was Mintcom a free

online personal financing

service that allows users to see

all their balances and

transactions in one place

Launched in 2007 it currently

has over one million users

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Social networks

Since the financial crisis retail

investors have become

increasingly skeptical about the

advice they receive but have

also realized that they need

this advice more than ever

Investors want to know what

their peers think and how they

invest not only learn from

investment specialists They

also value interactions with

their peers beyond just

meeting their immediate

investment needs Forums

that began as chat groups and

online discussions have rapidly

evolved into fully-blown social

platforms that allow an open

exchange of ideas and the

ability to form groups

People amp Pick founded by

Zacks Investment Research is

an example of a company that

has created a social platform

and online community for

users to interact with each

other The platform allows

users to evaluate any piece of

stock as a purchasesale

Users can share ideas with

other users and track their

stocks

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

SERIE FINTECH middot AGOSTO 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacom

AdvisingFinancial planning New asset

management companies

have entered this market and

successfully attracted

financial planning customers

by creating digital showcases

that have a low learning

curve These companies can

form a complete picture of a

customers financial situation

by taking into account their

personal financial goals risk

tolerance diversification

andor trading strategies An

example is Personal Capital

offering a trading platform

with multiple choices from

investment monitoring and

analysis to financial services

(for investors with more than

$100000 in assets)

Accounts aggregation allows

users to control their finances

as part of a single integrated

control panel that shows the

asset allocation the potential

risks of the holding and how

various product commissions

could affect their goals

InvestingIn the current environment of

low-yield investment

investors are constantly

looking for better riskreturn

opportunities In response to

this new companies have

emerged that provide

customers with access to

sophisticated trading

strategies by copying the

business strategies of

professional management

services (PMS) and thus

allowing these companies to

offer private investors

services to which historically

only certain institutions or

large investors had access

An example of a startup that

offers non-traditional

placements is Covestor

which allows its members to

access view and study the

holdings of professional

management services

Going back to Switzerland a

survey by Axa IM notes that

90 of the Swiss still prefer

personal advice to move their

money It seems that things

are starting to change in the

rest of the planet

Joseacute Diego Alarcoacuten is a partner of the Spanish

SME Serfiex which specializes in Financial Risk

Management software consulting and solutions

Along with a team of financial analysts

econometricians and IT specialists it has

developed a robo advisor with which the

company aims to approach small investors ( )

04INTERVIEW

ldquoRobo-advisorsdemocratize financialadvicerdquo

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What is the difference between

a robo advisor and a financial

advisor

One difference is that thanks

to the Internet a robo advisor

can advise many people while

an individual obviously does

not have the same capacity

What does a robo-advisor

contribute ( )

Our company has

fundamentally developed a

new approach to investing

The robo advisor is the tool

that automates this

methodology The important

thing is the methodology

behind the robo advisor It

must be very detailed very

objective nothing is left to

intuition it is a mathematical

procedure Our robo-advisor is

characterized by both things

On the one hand it builds an

initial portfolio with potential

losses The second feature

which is the most important or

most innovative is it

reconstructs the portfolio

periodically and in an

automated way ie it

rebalances it Each month it

compares the data analyzes

the expected profitability of the

initial portfolio with the real

profitability of the portfolio itself

and based on that difference

and the passage of time it

recomposes and optimizes that

portfolio Without asking the

customer for any new data

Is it better or worse than an

advisor

Its no better or worse

Everything is simplified with

the robo-advisor but it is no

better or worse As it is on the

Internet it can reach many

people and democratizes such

advisory services It may be

cheaper but the important

thing is the methodology

behind it

What logic have you followed

The process that we have

followed after many years in

this field has been to

synthesize it as far as possible

We seek to advise a person

with the smallest amount of

information possible We

create a flow chart and define

it following a methodology

Then the robo-advisor is the

tool that implements it in a

channel such as the Internet

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What minimum information do

you ask the customer

The customer is only asked to

define hisher risk profile There

are two ways to do so One

which is longer is done with a

questionnaire where the

customer has to avoid getting

into a loop as many times

heshe thinks one thing writes

another and then hisher

portfolio is not what heshe

wants has or can be Another

way which is what we use is

more direct we ask what

potential losses the customer

is uncomfortable with using a

certain probability The

customer has hisher risk

profile they say for example

they are uncomfortable with a

3 loss per year and we build

a portfolio from that

information

What customers are you

looking for ( )

We currently have large

customers pension plans

SICAVs etc The robo-advisor

aims to attract customers with

lower equity and who come

through the Internet

Is there interest in this service

In Spain a bank has been

interested in our software

development specifically the

calculation engine part Large

Spanish investors have also

approached us to ask about the

methodology and we are going

to present it in Mexico shortly Its

what were seeing right now

Do you have small customers

No currently only large

customers

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

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banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 7: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

Could a robot manage my

money Without a financial

advisor acting as an

intermediary Little by little so-

called robo-advisors are

changing the way money is

being moved in the US and

are beginning to reach

Europe This model means

customers do not need

financial advisors They just

have to turn on their

computer and fill out a

questionnaire Customers

report their risk tolerance

goals and investment and

their money is managed

automatically ( )

A model that according to the

consultant from GVC Gaesco

Albert Enguix has

experienced spectacular

growth of around 10 to 15

increase each year in the US

Around 73000 customers

have contracted these services

with a volume of 14 billion

euros in assets under

management at the end of

2014 This figure is expected

to rise further Enguix explains

that the model guarantees

absolute return investments

It sets controlling return and

risks as its goals Through

robo-advisors investment

portfolios of customers who

move amounts of between

$50000 to $100000 can be

controlled The money is

invested in EFTs (Exchange-

Traded Funds) and volatility is

controlled the goal is absolute

return This is about making

portfolios under the famous

VVMSQ - volatility-value-

momentum-size and quality of

the composition of the

holding explains Enguix

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Customer profile ( )

The profile of customers who

opt for this technology to move

their money is around 35 years

old and with a high purchasing

power Enguix explained The

millennial generation uses this

model the most The end

result is similar to what a

traditional consultant would do

for them but at a lower cost

The US consulting firm AT

Kearney said that these

services will become a trend

over a period of three to five

years according to this article

from Bloomberg In 2020

robo-advisors will control 56

of investment assets in the US

The figure is currently around

05

The advisor stressed that the

process is very simple You

access the platform from your

computer in the same way as

if you wanted to make a

transfer Analysts statisticians

and economists have created

financial strategy models

beforehand using thousands of

pieces of data Algorithms and

statistics to design programs

that manage your money

What are the risks The same

as in the traditional market

Machines cannot foresee a

financial crash They cannot

guess the psychological

component that can change

the entire financial picture of a

market in minutes just as

advisors are unable to do so

Its not an exact science

Enguix explained who added

that with this type of platform

companies save costs by not

having to hire financial

advisors

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

According to Adam Nash

CEO of Wealthfront a firm

that manages more than

$24 billion in assets rather

than the investment world

being a sprint it is like a

marathon and robots dont

need to sleep They can

make their calculations and

movements while analyzing

all markets whatever the

time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

A new model that also

confronts the collapse of

commission prices which is

stressed from Wealthfront

The firm is convinced that

future generations and

technology will revolutionize

the financial market The

preferences of younger

consumers have a huge

impact on financial services

and companies will have to

respond quickly to new

trendsrdquo

Arrival in EuropeIn Europe this model is

being incorporated extremely

slowly We are lagging

behind the US which is 10

years ahead on this type of

service says Enguix In

France Germany and

Switzerland some companies

such as the German firm

Vaamo or the French firm

Advize have launched in this

market Although there is

still a long way to go to reach

customers en mass in Spain

and Europe Many

professionals in the sector

have never even heard of

robo-advisors There is a long

road ahead says the

consultant from Gaesco

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Personalized advice is not going to disappear but the

competition from new models is ambitious and greatly

reduces the prices ( )

How should youmanage your fortune

03

Two executives are having

lunch after a conference on

asset management They are

arguing over the recent

emergence of small digital

capital management

companies that focus

primarily on retail investors in

the emerging Business-to-

Consumer (B2C) market

which refers to the strategy

that commercial enterprises

are following to go directly to

the end customer or

consumer One of the

executives is not worried

about these new businesses

at all and does not see them

as a threat he argues that

investors always prefer direct

person-to-person relationships

with their financial advisors

The second strongly

disagrees and notes that all

traditional companies must

understand why these new

companies are emerging

what makes them attractive

to customers and what

capabilities must be

developed in response to this

threat This hypothetical

scenario relating the Deloitte

study Digital disruption

in Wealth Management

illustrates the real debate

taking place in the wealth

management industry on the

relevance of these new digital

companies and their potential

to successfully break into the

market Traditional

companies are trying to

decide whether it is worth

investing time money

and effort to better

understand these emerging

businesses

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The story of the consultant is

fictional but the discussion it

narrates is increasingly real At

the recent Finance20

conference which was held in

Zurich and brings together

technology companies

specialized in finance it was

emphasized that automated

solutions are increasingly

attracting customers In

Switzerland a landmark for

traditional banking a startup

such as True Wealth and the

website Investomachch are

committed to automating their

advisory models with robo-

advisors The question buzzing

round the conference in Zurich

was whether customers would

pay for advice as if they use

automated methods costs are

minimal ndash in the case of robo-

advisors fees are between 30

and 70 bps (03 to 07)

per yearndash Felix Niederer

founder of True Wealth

emphasized that the costs

could decrease even more

And that its moving toward a

model where fortune is

managed completely free

although the most

sophisticated payment services

will remain

Returning to the Deloitte

study startups are definitely a

clear indicator of whats to

come The consultant

examined more than 50 new

digital wealth management

companies in the B2C market

most were founded in the last

ten years The study highlights

that these growth companies

attract retail investors in three

ways by helping them to

connect advising on financial

matters and helping them to

invest ( )

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The keys for the consultant

are ( )

ConnectingAdding investor accounts

Consumers increasingly have

the need to connect different

accounts ndash often accounts

from multiple providers ndash in

order to create a holistic

picture of their wealth and

more easily manage their

finances In addition

investors want to be

connected together to learn

from their peers and to

connect with specialists and

advisors that meet their

needs The new companies

are providing integration of

all these accounts beyond

traditional boundaries

Retail investors are

increasingly frustrated by

having to reconcile multiple

accounts through numerous

banks placements or for

example retirement

accounts They need to have

an accurate real-time view

and if possible an aggregate

of financial assets liabilities

and net worth across multiple

accounts and suppliers

One of the pioneers in this

market was Mintcom a free

online personal financing

service that allows users to see

all their balances and

transactions in one place

Launched in 2007 it currently

has over one million users

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Social networks

Since the financial crisis retail

investors have become

increasingly skeptical about the

advice they receive but have

also realized that they need

this advice more than ever

Investors want to know what

their peers think and how they

invest not only learn from

investment specialists They

also value interactions with

their peers beyond just

meeting their immediate

investment needs Forums

that began as chat groups and

online discussions have rapidly

evolved into fully-blown social

platforms that allow an open

exchange of ideas and the

ability to form groups

People amp Pick founded by

Zacks Investment Research is

an example of a company that

has created a social platform

and online community for

users to interact with each

other The platform allows

users to evaluate any piece of

stock as a purchasesale

Users can share ideas with

other users and track their

stocks

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

SERIE FINTECH middot AGOSTO 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacom

AdvisingFinancial planning New asset

management companies

have entered this market and

successfully attracted

financial planning customers

by creating digital showcases

that have a low learning

curve These companies can

form a complete picture of a

customers financial situation

by taking into account their

personal financial goals risk

tolerance diversification

andor trading strategies An

example is Personal Capital

offering a trading platform

with multiple choices from

investment monitoring and

analysis to financial services

(for investors with more than

$100000 in assets)

Accounts aggregation allows

users to control their finances

as part of a single integrated

control panel that shows the

asset allocation the potential

risks of the holding and how

various product commissions

could affect their goals

InvestingIn the current environment of

low-yield investment

investors are constantly

looking for better riskreturn

opportunities In response to

this new companies have

emerged that provide

customers with access to

sophisticated trading

strategies by copying the

business strategies of

professional management

services (PMS) and thus

allowing these companies to

offer private investors

services to which historically

only certain institutions or

large investors had access

An example of a startup that

offers non-traditional

placements is Covestor

which allows its members to

access view and study the

holdings of professional

management services

Going back to Switzerland a

survey by Axa IM notes that

90 of the Swiss still prefer

personal advice to move their

money It seems that things

are starting to change in the

rest of the planet

Joseacute Diego Alarcoacuten is a partner of the Spanish

SME Serfiex which specializes in Financial Risk

Management software consulting and solutions

Along with a team of financial analysts

econometricians and IT specialists it has

developed a robo advisor with which the

company aims to approach small investors ( )

04INTERVIEW

ldquoRobo-advisorsdemocratize financialadvicerdquo

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What is the difference between

a robo advisor and a financial

advisor

One difference is that thanks

to the Internet a robo advisor

can advise many people while

an individual obviously does

not have the same capacity

What does a robo-advisor

contribute ( )

Our company has

fundamentally developed a

new approach to investing

The robo advisor is the tool

that automates this

methodology The important

thing is the methodology

behind the robo advisor It

must be very detailed very

objective nothing is left to

intuition it is a mathematical

procedure Our robo-advisor is

characterized by both things

On the one hand it builds an

initial portfolio with potential

losses The second feature

which is the most important or

most innovative is it

reconstructs the portfolio

periodically and in an

automated way ie it

rebalances it Each month it

compares the data analyzes

the expected profitability of the

initial portfolio with the real

profitability of the portfolio itself

and based on that difference

and the passage of time it

recomposes and optimizes that

portfolio Without asking the

customer for any new data

Is it better or worse than an

advisor

Its no better or worse

Everything is simplified with

the robo-advisor but it is no

better or worse As it is on the

Internet it can reach many

people and democratizes such

advisory services It may be

cheaper but the important

thing is the methodology

behind it

What logic have you followed

The process that we have

followed after many years in

this field has been to

synthesize it as far as possible

We seek to advise a person

with the smallest amount of

information possible We

create a flow chart and define

it following a methodology

Then the robo-advisor is the

tool that implements it in a

channel such as the Internet

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What minimum information do

you ask the customer

The customer is only asked to

define hisher risk profile There

are two ways to do so One

which is longer is done with a

questionnaire where the

customer has to avoid getting

into a loop as many times

heshe thinks one thing writes

another and then hisher

portfolio is not what heshe

wants has or can be Another

way which is what we use is

more direct we ask what

potential losses the customer

is uncomfortable with using a

certain probability The

customer has hisher risk

profile they say for example

they are uncomfortable with a

3 loss per year and we build

a portfolio from that

information

What customers are you

looking for ( )

We currently have large

customers pension plans

SICAVs etc The robo-advisor

aims to attract customers with

lower equity and who come

through the Internet

Is there interest in this service

In Spain a bank has been

interested in our software

development specifically the

calculation engine part Large

Spanish investors have also

approached us to ask about the

methodology and we are going

to present it in Mexico shortly Its

what were seeing right now

Do you have small customers

No currently only large

customers

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 8: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

Customer profile ( )

The profile of customers who

opt for this technology to move

their money is around 35 years

old and with a high purchasing

power Enguix explained The

millennial generation uses this

model the most The end

result is similar to what a

traditional consultant would do

for them but at a lower cost

The US consulting firm AT

Kearney said that these

services will become a trend

over a period of three to five

years according to this article

from Bloomberg In 2020

robo-advisors will control 56

of investment assets in the US

The figure is currently around

05

The advisor stressed that the

process is very simple You

access the platform from your

computer in the same way as

if you wanted to make a

transfer Analysts statisticians

and economists have created

financial strategy models

beforehand using thousands of

pieces of data Algorithms and

statistics to design programs

that manage your money

What are the risks The same

as in the traditional market

Machines cannot foresee a

financial crash They cannot

guess the psychological

component that can change

the entire financial picture of a

market in minutes just as

advisors are unable to do so

Its not an exact science

Enguix explained who added

that with this type of platform

companies save costs by not

having to hire financial

advisors

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

According to Adam Nash

CEO of Wealthfront a firm

that manages more than

$24 billion in assets rather

than the investment world

being a sprint it is like a

marathon and robots dont

need to sleep They can

make their calculations and

movements while analyzing

all markets whatever the

time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

A new model that also

confronts the collapse of

commission prices which is

stressed from Wealthfront

The firm is convinced that

future generations and

technology will revolutionize

the financial market The

preferences of younger

consumers have a huge

impact on financial services

and companies will have to

respond quickly to new

trendsrdquo

Arrival in EuropeIn Europe this model is

being incorporated extremely

slowly We are lagging

behind the US which is 10

years ahead on this type of

service says Enguix In

France Germany and

Switzerland some companies

such as the German firm

Vaamo or the French firm

Advize have launched in this

market Although there is

still a long way to go to reach

customers en mass in Spain

and Europe Many

professionals in the sector

have never even heard of

robo-advisors There is a long

road ahead says the

consultant from Gaesco

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Personalized advice is not going to disappear but the

competition from new models is ambitious and greatly

reduces the prices ( )

How should youmanage your fortune

03

Two executives are having

lunch after a conference on

asset management They are

arguing over the recent

emergence of small digital

capital management

companies that focus

primarily on retail investors in

the emerging Business-to-

Consumer (B2C) market

which refers to the strategy

that commercial enterprises

are following to go directly to

the end customer or

consumer One of the

executives is not worried

about these new businesses

at all and does not see them

as a threat he argues that

investors always prefer direct

person-to-person relationships

with their financial advisors

The second strongly

disagrees and notes that all

traditional companies must

understand why these new

companies are emerging

what makes them attractive

to customers and what

capabilities must be

developed in response to this

threat This hypothetical

scenario relating the Deloitte

study Digital disruption

in Wealth Management

illustrates the real debate

taking place in the wealth

management industry on the

relevance of these new digital

companies and their potential

to successfully break into the

market Traditional

companies are trying to

decide whether it is worth

investing time money

and effort to better

understand these emerging

businesses

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The story of the consultant is

fictional but the discussion it

narrates is increasingly real At

the recent Finance20

conference which was held in

Zurich and brings together

technology companies

specialized in finance it was

emphasized that automated

solutions are increasingly

attracting customers In

Switzerland a landmark for

traditional banking a startup

such as True Wealth and the

website Investomachch are

committed to automating their

advisory models with robo-

advisors The question buzzing

round the conference in Zurich

was whether customers would

pay for advice as if they use

automated methods costs are

minimal ndash in the case of robo-

advisors fees are between 30

and 70 bps (03 to 07)

per yearndash Felix Niederer

founder of True Wealth

emphasized that the costs

could decrease even more

And that its moving toward a

model where fortune is

managed completely free

although the most

sophisticated payment services

will remain

Returning to the Deloitte

study startups are definitely a

clear indicator of whats to

come The consultant

examined more than 50 new

digital wealth management

companies in the B2C market

most were founded in the last

ten years The study highlights

that these growth companies

attract retail investors in three

ways by helping them to

connect advising on financial

matters and helping them to

invest ( )

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The keys for the consultant

are ( )

ConnectingAdding investor accounts

Consumers increasingly have

the need to connect different

accounts ndash often accounts

from multiple providers ndash in

order to create a holistic

picture of their wealth and

more easily manage their

finances In addition

investors want to be

connected together to learn

from their peers and to

connect with specialists and

advisors that meet their

needs The new companies

are providing integration of

all these accounts beyond

traditional boundaries

Retail investors are

increasingly frustrated by

having to reconcile multiple

accounts through numerous

banks placements or for

example retirement

accounts They need to have

an accurate real-time view

and if possible an aggregate

of financial assets liabilities

and net worth across multiple

accounts and suppliers

One of the pioneers in this

market was Mintcom a free

online personal financing

service that allows users to see

all their balances and

transactions in one place

Launched in 2007 it currently

has over one million users

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Social networks

Since the financial crisis retail

investors have become

increasingly skeptical about the

advice they receive but have

also realized that they need

this advice more than ever

Investors want to know what

their peers think and how they

invest not only learn from

investment specialists They

also value interactions with

their peers beyond just

meeting their immediate

investment needs Forums

that began as chat groups and

online discussions have rapidly

evolved into fully-blown social

platforms that allow an open

exchange of ideas and the

ability to form groups

People amp Pick founded by

Zacks Investment Research is

an example of a company that

has created a social platform

and online community for

users to interact with each

other The platform allows

users to evaluate any piece of

stock as a purchasesale

Users can share ideas with

other users and track their

stocks

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

SERIE FINTECH middot AGOSTO 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacom

AdvisingFinancial planning New asset

management companies

have entered this market and

successfully attracted

financial planning customers

by creating digital showcases

that have a low learning

curve These companies can

form a complete picture of a

customers financial situation

by taking into account their

personal financial goals risk

tolerance diversification

andor trading strategies An

example is Personal Capital

offering a trading platform

with multiple choices from

investment monitoring and

analysis to financial services

(for investors with more than

$100000 in assets)

Accounts aggregation allows

users to control their finances

as part of a single integrated

control panel that shows the

asset allocation the potential

risks of the holding and how

various product commissions

could affect their goals

InvestingIn the current environment of

low-yield investment

investors are constantly

looking for better riskreturn

opportunities In response to

this new companies have

emerged that provide

customers with access to

sophisticated trading

strategies by copying the

business strategies of

professional management

services (PMS) and thus

allowing these companies to

offer private investors

services to which historically

only certain institutions or

large investors had access

An example of a startup that

offers non-traditional

placements is Covestor

which allows its members to

access view and study the

holdings of professional

management services

Going back to Switzerland a

survey by Axa IM notes that

90 of the Swiss still prefer

personal advice to move their

money It seems that things

are starting to change in the

rest of the planet

Joseacute Diego Alarcoacuten is a partner of the Spanish

SME Serfiex which specializes in Financial Risk

Management software consulting and solutions

Along with a team of financial analysts

econometricians and IT specialists it has

developed a robo advisor with which the

company aims to approach small investors ( )

04INTERVIEW

ldquoRobo-advisorsdemocratize financialadvicerdquo

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What is the difference between

a robo advisor and a financial

advisor

One difference is that thanks

to the Internet a robo advisor

can advise many people while

an individual obviously does

not have the same capacity

What does a robo-advisor

contribute ( )

Our company has

fundamentally developed a

new approach to investing

The robo advisor is the tool

that automates this

methodology The important

thing is the methodology

behind the robo advisor It

must be very detailed very

objective nothing is left to

intuition it is a mathematical

procedure Our robo-advisor is

characterized by both things

On the one hand it builds an

initial portfolio with potential

losses The second feature

which is the most important or

most innovative is it

reconstructs the portfolio

periodically and in an

automated way ie it

rebalances it Each month it

compares the data analyzes

the expected profitability of the

initial portfolio with the real

profitability of the portfolio itself

and based on that difference

and the passage of time it

recomposes and optimizes that

portfolio Without asking the

customer for any new data

Is it better or worse than an

advisor

Its no better or worse

Everything is simplified with

the robo-advisor but it is no

better or worse As it is on the

Internet it can reach many

people and democratizes such

advisory services It may be

cheaper but the important

thing is the methodology

behind it

What logic have you followed

The process that we have

followed after many years in

this field has been to

synthesize it as far as possible

We seek to advise a person

with the smallest amount of

information possible We

create a flow chart and define

it following a methodology

Then the robo-advisor is the

tool that implements it in a

channel such as the Internet

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What minimum information do

you ask the customer

The customer is only asked to

define hisher risk profile There

are two ways to do so One

which is longer is done with a

questionnaire where the

customer has to avoid getting

into a loop as many times

heshe thinks one thing writes

another and then hisher

portfolio is not what heshe

wants has or can be Another

way which is what we use is

more direct we ask what

potential losses the customer

is uncomfortable with using a

certain probability The

customer has hisher risk

profile they say for example

they are uncomfortable with a

3 loss per year and we build

a portfolio from that

information

What customers are you

looking for ( )

We currently have large

customers pension plans

SICAVs etc The robo-advisor

aims to attract customers with

lower equity and who come

through the Internet

Is there interest in this service

In Spain a bank has been

interested in our software

development specifically the

calculation engine part Large

Spanish investors have also

approached us to ask about the

methodology and we are going

to present it in Mexico shortly Its

what were seeing right now

Do you have small customers

No currently only large

customers

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 9: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

According to Adam Nash

CEO of Wealthfront a firm

that manages more than

$24 billion in assets rather

than the investment world

being a sprint it is like a

marathon and robots dont

need to sleep They can

make their calculations and

movements while analyzing

all markets whatever the

time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

A new model that also

confronts the collapse of

commission prices which is

stressed from Wealthfront

The firm is convinced that

future generations and

technology will revolutionize

the financial market The

preferences of younger

consumers have a huge

impact on financial services

and companies will have to

respond quickly to new

trendsrdquo

Arrival in EuropeIn Europe this model is

being incorporated extremely

slowly We are lagging

behind the US which is 10

years ahead on this type of

service says Enguix In

France Germany and

Switzerland some companies

such as the German firm

Vaamo or the French firm

Advize have launched in this

market Although there is

still a long way to go to reach

customers en mass in Spain

and Europe Many

professionals in the sector

have never even heard of

robo-advisors There is a long

road ahead says the

consultant from Gaesco

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Personalized advice is not going to disappear but the

competition from new models is ambitious and greatly

reduces the prices ( )

How should youmanage your fortune

03

Two executives are having

lunch after a conference on

asset management They are

arguing over the recent

emergence of small digital

capital management

companies that focus

primarily on retail investors in

the emerging Business-to-

Consumer (B2C) market

which refers to the strategy

that commercial enterprises

are following to go directly to

the end customer or

consumer One of the

executives is not worried

about these new businesses

at all and does not see them

as a threat he argues that

investors always prefer direct

person-to-person relationships

with their financial advisors

The second strongly

disagrees and notes that all

traditional companies must

understand why these new

companies are emerging

what makes them attractive

to customers and what

capabilities must be

developed in response to this

threat This hypothetical

scenario relating the Deloitte

study Digital disruption

in Wealth Management

illustrates the real debate

taking place in the wealth

management industry on the

relevance of these new digital

companies and their potential

to successfully break into the

market Traditional

companies are trying to

decide whether it is worth

investing time money

and effort to better

understand these emerging

businesses

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The story of the consultant is

fictional but the discussion it

narrates is increasingly real At

the recent Finance20

conference which was held in

Zurich and brings together

technology companies

specialized in finance it was

emphasized that automated

solutions are increasingly

attracting customers In

Switzerland a landmark for

traditional banking a startup

such as True Wealth and the

website Investomachch are

committed to automating their

advisory models with robo-

advisors The question buzzing

round the conference in Zurich

was whether customers would

pay for advice as if they use

automated methods costs are

minimal ndash in the case of robo-

advisors fees are between 30

and 70 bps (03 to 07)

per yearndash Felix Niederer

founder of True Wealth

emphasized that the costs

could decrease even more

And that its moving toward a

model where fortune is

managed completely free

although the most

sophisticated payment services

will remain

Returning to the Deloitte

study startups are definitely a

clear indicator of whats to

come The consultant

examined more than 50 new

digital wealth management

companies in the B2C market

most were founded in the last

ten years The study highlights

that these growth companies

attract retail investors in three

ways by helping them to

connect advising on financial

matters and helping them to

invest ( )

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The keys for the consultant

are ( )

ConnectingAdding investor accounts

Consumers increasingly have

the need to connect different

accounts ndash often accounts

from multiple providers ndash in

order to create a holistic

picture of their wealth and

more easily manage their

finances In addition

investors want to be

connected together to learn

from their peers and to

connect with specialists and

advisors that meet their

needs The new companies

are providing integration of

all these accounts beyond

traditional boundaries

Retail investors are

increasingly frustrated by

having to reconcile multiple

accounts through numerous

banks placements or for

example retirement

accounts They need to have

an accurate real-time view

and if possible an aggregate

of financial assets liabilities

and net worth across multiple

accounts and suppliers

One of the pioneers in this

market was Mintcom a free

online personal financing

service that allows users to see

all their balances and

transactions in one place

Launched in 2007 it currently

has over one million users

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Social networks

Since the financial crisis retail

investors have become

increasingly skeptical about the

advice they receive but have

also realized that they need

this advice more than ever

Investors want to know what

their peers think and how they

invest not only learn from

investment specialists They

also value interactions with

their peers beyond just

meeting their immediate

investment needs Forums

that began as chat groups and

online discussions have rapidly

evolved into fully-blown social

platforms that allow an open

exchange of ideas and the

ability to form groups

People amp Pick founded by

Zacks Investment Research is

an example of a company that

has created a social platform

and online community for

users to interact with each

other The platform allows

users to evaluate any piece of

stock as a purchasesale

Users can share ideas with

other users and track their

stocks

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

SERIE FINTECH middot AGOSTO 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacom

AdvisingFinancial planning New asset

management companies

have entered this market and

successfully attracted

financial planning customers

by creating digital showcases

that have a low learning

curve These companies can

form a complete picture of a

customers financial situation

by taking into account their

personal financial goals risk

tolerance diversification

andor trading strategies An

example is Personal Capital

offering a trading platform

with multiple choices from

investment monitoring and

analysis to financial services

(for investors with more than

$100000 in assets)

Accounts aggregation allows

users to control their finances

as part of a single integrated

control panel that shows the

asset allocation the potential

risks of the holding and how

various product commissions

could affect their goals

InvestingIn the current environment of

low-yield investment

investors are constantly

looking for better riskreturn

opportunities In response to

this new companies have

emerged that provide

customers with access to

sophisticated trading

strategies by copying the

business strategies of

professional management

services (PMS) and thus

allowing these companies to

offer private investors

services to which historically

only certain institutions or

large investors had access

An example of a startup that

offers non-traditional

placements is Covestor

which allows its members to

access view and study the

holdings of professional

management services

Going back to Switzerland a

survey by Axa IM notes that

90 of the Swiss still prefer

personal advice to move their

money It seems that things

are starting to change in the

rest of the planet

Joseacute Diego Alarcoacuten is a partner of the Spanish

SME Serfiex which specializes in Financial Risk

Management software consulting and solutions

Along with a team of financial analysts

econometricians and IT specialists it has

developed a robo advisor with which the

company aims to approach small investors ( )

04INTERVIEW

ldquoRobo-advisorsdemocratize financialadvicerdquo

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What is the difference between

a robo advisor and a financial

advisor

One difference is that thanks

to the Internet a robo advisor

can advise many people while

an individual obviously does

not have the same capacity

What does a robo-advisor

contribute ( )

Our company has

fundamentally developed a

new approach to investing

The robo advisor is the tool

that automates this

methodology The important

thing is the methodology

behind the robo advisor It

must be very detailed very

objective nothing is left to

intuition it is a mathematical

procedure Our robo-advisor is

characterized by both things

On the one hand it builds an

initial portfolio with potential

losses The second feature

which is the most important or

most innovative is it

reconstructs the portfolio

periodically and in an

automated way ie it

rebalances it Each month it

compares the data analyzes

the expected profitability of the

initial portfolio with the real

profitability of the portfolio itself

and based on that difference

and the passage of time it

recomposes and optimizes that

portfolio Without asking the

customer for any new data

Is it better or worse than an

advisor

Its no better or worse

Everything is simplified with

the robo-advisor but it is no

better or worse As it is on the

Internet it can reach many

people and democratizes such

advisory services It may be

cheaper but the important

thing is the methodology

behind it

What logic have you followed

The process that we have

followed after many years in

this field has been to

synthesize it as far as possible

We seek to advise a person

with the smallest amount of

information possible We

create a flow chart and define

it following a methodology

Then the robo-advisor is the

tool that implements it in a

channel such as the Internet

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What minimum information do

you ask the customer

The customer is only asked to

define hisher risk profile There

are two ways to do so One

which is longer is done with a

questionnaire where the

customer has to avoid getting

into a loop as many times

heshe thinks one thing writes

another and then hisher

portfolio is not what heshe

wants has or can be Another

way which is what we use is

more direct we ask what

potential losses the customer

is uncomfortable with using a

certain probability The

customer has hisher risk

profile they say for example

they are uncomfortable with a

3 loss per year and we build

a portfolio from that

information

What customers are you

looking for ( )

We currently have large

customers pension plans

SICAVs etc The robo-advisor

aims to attract customers with

lower equity and who come

through the Internet

Is there interest in this service

In Spain a bank has been

interested in our software

development specifically the

calculation engine part Large

Spanish investors have also

approached us to ask about the

methodology and we are going

to present it in Mexico shortly Its

what were seeing right now

Do you have small customers

No currently only large

customers

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 10: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Personalized advice is not going to disappear but the

competition from new models is ambitious and greatly

reduces the prices ( )

How should youmanage your fortune

03

Two executives are having

lunch after a conference on

asset management They are

arguing over the recent

emergence of small digital

capital management

companies that focus

primarily on retail investors in

the emerging Business-to-

Consumer (B2C) market

which refers to the strategy

that commercial enterprises

are following to go directly to

the end customer or

consumer One of the

executives is not worried

about these new businesses

at all and does not see them

as a threat he argues that

investors always prefer direct

person-to-person relationships

with their financial advisors

The second strongly

disagrees and notes that all

traditional companies must

understand why these new

companies are emerging

what makes them attractive

to customers and what

capabilities must be

developed in response to this

threat This hypothetical

scenario relating the Deloitte

study Digital disruption

in Wealth Management

illustrates the real debate

taking place in the wealth

management industry on the

relevance of these new digital

companies and their potential

to successfully break into the

market Traditional

companies are trying to

decide whether it is worth

investing time money

and effort to better

understand these emerging

businesses

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The story of the consultant is

fictional but the discussion it

narrates is increasingly real At

the recent Finance20

conference which was held in

Zurich and brings together

technology companies

specialized in finance it was

emphasized that automated

solutions are increasingly

attracting customers In

Switzerland a landmark for

traditional banking a startup

such as True Wealth and the

website Investomachch are

committed to automating their

advisory models with robo-

advisors The question buzzing

round the conference in Zurich

was whether customers would

pay for advice as if they use

automated methods costs are

minimal ndash in the case of robo-

advisors fees are between 30

and 70 bps (03 to 07)

per yearndash Felix Niederer

founder of True Wealth

emphasized that the costs

could decrease even more

And that its moving toward a

model where fortune is

managed completely free

although the most

sophisticated payment services

will remain

Returning to the Deloitte

study startups are definitely a

clear indicator of whats to

come The consultant

examined more than 50 new

digital wealth management

companies in the B2C market

most were founded in the last

ten years The study highlights

that these growth companies

attract retail investors in three

ways by helping them to

connect advising on financial

matters and helping them to

invest ( )

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The keys for the consultant

are ( )

ConnectingAdding investor accounts

Consumers increasingly have

the need to connect different

accounts ndash often accounts

from multiple providers ndash in

order to create a holistic

picture of their wealth and

more easily manage their

finances In addition

investors want to be

connected together to learn

from their peers and to

connect with specialists and

advisors that meet their

needs The new companies

are providing integration of

all these accounts beyond

traditional boundaries

Retail investors are

increasingly frustrated by

having to reconcile multiple

accounts through numerous

banks placements or for

example retirement

accounts They need to have

an accurate real-time view

and if possible an aggregate

of financial assets liabilities

and net worth across multiple

accounts and suppliers

One of the pioneers in this

market was Mintcom a free

online personal financing

service that allows users to see

all their balances and

transactions in one place

Launched in 2007 it currently

has over one million users

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Social networks

Since the financial crisis retail

investors have become

increasingly skeptical about the

advice they receive but have

also realized that they need

this advice more than ever

Investors want to know what

their peers think and how they

invest not only learn from

investment specialists They

also value interactions with

their peers beyond just

meeting their immediate

investment needs Forums

that began as chat groups and

online discussions have rapidly

evolved into fully-blown social

platforms that allow an open

exchange of ideas and the

ability to form groups

People amp Pick founded by

Zacks Investment Research is

an example of a company that

has created a social platform

and online community for

users to interact with each

other The platform allows

users to evaluate any piece of

stock as a purchasesale

Users can share ideas with

other users and track their

stocks

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

SERIE FINTECH middot AGOSTO 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacom

AdvisingFinancial planning New asset

management companies

have entered this market and

successfully attracted

financial planning customers

by creating digital showcases

that have a low learning

curve These companies can

form a complete picture of a

customers financial situation

by taking into account their

personal financial goals risk

tolerance diversification

andor trading strategies An

example is Personal Capital

offering a trading platform

with multiple choices from

investment monitoring and

analysis to financial services

(for investors with more than

$100000 in assets)

Accounts aggregation allows

users to control their finances

as part of a single integrated

control panel that shows the

asset allocation the potential

risks of the holding and how

various product commissions

could affect their goals

InvestingIn the current environment of

low-yield investment

investors are constantly

looking for better riskreturn

opportunities In response to

this new companies have

emerged that provide

customers with access to

sophisticated trading

strategies by copying the

business strategies of

professional management

services (PMS) and thus

allowing these companies to

offer private investors

services to which historically

only certain institutions or

large investors had access

An example of a startup that

offers non-traditional

placements is Covestor

which allows its members to

access view and study the

holdings of professional

management services

Going back to Switzerland a

survey by Axa IM notes that

90 of the Swiss still prefer

personal advice to move their

money It seems that things

are starting to change in the

rest of the planet

Joseacute Diego Alarcoacuten is a partner of the Spanish

SME Serfiex which specializes in Financial Risk

Management software consulting and solutions

Along with a team of financial analysts

econometricians and IT specialists it has

developed a robo advisor with which the

company aims to approach small investors ( )

04INTERVIEW

ldquoRobo-advisorsdemocratize financialadvicerdquo

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What is the difference between

a robo advisor and a financial

advisor

One difference is that thanks

to the Internet a robo advisor

can advise many people while

an individual obviously does

not have the same capacity

What does a robo-advisor

contribute ( )

Our company has

fundamentally developed a

new approach to investing

The robo advisor is the tool

that automates this

methodology The important

thing is the methodology

behind the robo advisor It

must be very detailed very

objective nothing is left to

intuition it is a mathematical

procedure Our robo-advisor is

characterized by both things

On the one hand it builds an

initial portfolio with potential

losses The second feature

which is the most important or

most innovative is it

reconstructs the portfolio

periodically and in an

automated way ie it

rebalances it Each month it

compares the data analyzes

the expected profitability of the

initial portfolio with the real

profitability of the portfolio itself

and based on that difference

and the passage of time it

recomposes and optimizes that

portfolio Without asking the

customer for any new data

Is it better or worse than an

advisor

Its no better or worse

Everything is simplified with

the robo-advisor but it is no

better or worse As it is on the

Internet it can reach many

people and democratizes such

advisory services It may be

cheaper but the important

thing is the methodology

behind it

What logic have you followed

The process that we have

followed after many years in

this field has been to

synthesize it as far as possible

We seek to advise a person

with the smallest amount of

information possible We

create a flow chart and define

it following a methodology

Then the robo-advisor is the

tool that implements it in a

channel such as the Internet

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What minimum information do

you ask the customer

The customer is only asked to

define hisher risk profile There

are two ways to do so One

which is longer is done with a

questionnaire where the

customer has to avoid getting

into a loop as many times

heshe thinks one thing writes

another and then hisher

portfolio is not what heshe

wants has or can be Another

way which is what we use is

more direct we ask what

potential losses the customer

is uncomfortable with using a

certain probability The

customer has hisher risk

profile they say for example

they are uncomfortable with a

3 loss per year and we build

a portfolio from that

information

What customers are you

looking for ( )

We currently have large

customers pension plans

SICAVs etc The robo-advisor

aims to attract customers with

lower equity and who come

through the Internet

Is there interest in this service

In Spain a bank has been

interested in our software

development specifically the

calculation engine part Large

Spanish investors have also

approached us to ask about the

methodology and we are going

to present it in Mexico shortly Its

what were seeing right now

Do you have small customers

No currently only large

customers

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 11: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

Two executives are having

lunch after a conference on

asset management They are

arguing over the recent

emergence of small digital

capital management

companies that focus

primarily on retail investors in

the emerging Business-to-

Consumer (B2C) market

which refers to the strategy

that commercial enterprises

are following to go directly to

the end customer or

consumer One of the

executives is not worried

about these new businesses

at all and does not see them

as a threat he argues that

investors always prefer direct

person-to-person relationships

with their financial advisors

The second strongly

disagrees and notes that all

traditional companies must

understand why these new

companies are emerging

what makes them attractive

to customers and what

capabilities must be

developed in response to this

threat This hypothetical

scenario relating the Deloitte

study Digital disruption

in Wealth Management

illustrates the real debate

taking place in the wealth

management industry on the

relevance of these new digital

companies and their potential

to successfully break into the

market Traditional

companies are trying to

decide whether it is worth

investing time money

and effort to better

understand these emerging

businesses

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The story of the consultant is

fictional but the discussion it

narrates is increasingly real At

the recent Finance20

conference which was held in

Zurich and brings together

technology companies

specialized in finance it was

emphasized that automated

solutions are increasingly

attracting customers In

Switzerland a landmark for

traditional banking a startup

such as True Wealth and the

website Investomachch are

committed to automating their

advisory models with robo-

advisors The question buzzing

round the conference in Zurich

was whether customers would

pay for advice as if they use

automated methods costs are

minimal ndash in the case of robo-

advisors fees are between 30

and 70 bps (03 to 07)

per yearndash Felix Niederer

founder of True Wealth

emphasized that the costs

could decrease even more

And that its moving toward a

model where fortune is

managed completely free

although the most

sophisticated payment services

will remain

Returning to the Deloitte

study startups are definitely a

clear indicator of whats to

come The consultant

examined more than 50 new

digital wealth management

companies in the B2C market

most were founded in the last

ten years The study highlights

that these growth companies

attract retail investors in three

ways by helping them to

connect advising on financial

matters and helping them to

invest ( )

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The keys for the consultant

are ( )

ConnectingAdding investor accounts

Consumers increasingly have

the need to connect different

accounts ndash often accounts

from multiple providers ndash in

order to create a holistic

picture of their wealth and

more easily manage their

finances In addition

investors want to be

connected together to learn

from their peers and to

connect with specialists and

advisors that meet their

needs The new companies

are providing integration of

all these accounts beyond

traditional boundaries

Retail investors are

increasingly frustrated by

having to reconcile multiple

accounts through numerous

banks placements or for

example retirement

accounts They need to have

an accurate real-time view

and if possible an aggregate

of financial assets liabilities

and net worth across multiple

accounts and suppliers

One of the pioneers in this

market was Mintcom a free

online personal financing

service that allows users to see

all their balances and

transactions in one place

Launched in 2007 it currently

has over one million users

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Social networks

Since the financial crisis retail

investors have become

increasingly skeptical about the

advice they receive but have

also realized that they need

this advice more than ever

Investors want to know what

their peers think and how they

invest not only learn from

investment specialists They

also value interactions with

their peers beyond just

meeting their immediate

investment needs Forums

that began as chat groups and

online discussions have rapidly

evolved into fully-blown social

platforms that allow an open

exchange of ideas and the

ability to form groups

People amp Pick founded by

Zacks Investment Research is

an example of a company that

has created a social platform

and online community for

users to interact with each

other The platform allows

users to evaluate any piece of

stock as a purchasesale

Users can share ideas with

other users and track their

stocks

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

SERIE FINTECH middot AGOSTO 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacom

AdvisingFinancial planning New asset

management companies

have entered this market and

successfully attracted

financial planning customers

by creating digital showcases

that have a low learning

curve These companies can

form a complete picture of a

customers financial situation

by taking into account their

personal financial goals risk

tolerance diversification

andor trading strategies An

example is Personal Capital

offering a trading platform

with multiple choices from

investment monitoring and

analysis to financial services

(for investors with more than

$100000 in assets)

Accounts aggregation allows

users to control their finances

as part of a single integrated

control panel that shows the

asset allocation the potential

risks of the holding and how

various product commissions

could affect their goals

InvestingIn the current environment of

low-yield investment

investors are constantly

looking for better riskreturn

opportunities In response to

this new companies have

emerged that provide

customers with access to

sophisticated trading

strategies by copying the

business strategies of

professional management

services (PMS) and thus

allowing these companies to

offer private investors

services to which historically

only certain institutions or

large investors had access

An example of a startup that

offers non-traditional

placements is Covestor

which allows its members to

access view and study the

holdings of professional

management services

Going back to Switzerland a

survey by Axa IM notes that

90 of the Swiss still prefer

personal advice to move their

money It seems that things

are starting to change in the

rest of the planet

Joseacute Diego Alarcoacuten is a partner of the Spanish

SME Serfiex which specializes in Financial Risk

Management software consulting and solutions

Along with a team of financial analysts

econometricians and IT specialists it has

developed a robo advisor with which the

company aims to approach small investors ( )

04INTERVIEW

ldquoRobo-advisorsdemocratize financialadvicerdquo

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What is the difference between

a robo advisor and a financial

advisor

One difference is that thanks

to the Internet a robo advisor

can advise many people while

an individual obviously does

not have the same capacity

What does a robo-advisor

contribute ( )

Our company has

fundamentally developed a

new approach to investing

The robo advisor is the tool

that automates this

methodology The important

thing is the methodology

behind the robo advisor It

must be very detailed very

objective nothing is left to

intuition it is a mathematical

procedure Our robo-advisor is

characterized by both things

On the one hand it builds an

initial portfolio with potential

losses The second feature

which is the most important or

most innovative is it

reconstructs the portfolio

periodically and in an

automated way ie it

rebalances it Each month it

compares the data analyzes

the expected profitability of the

initial portfolio with the real

profitability of the portfolio itself

and based on that difference

and the passage of time it

recomposes and optimizes that

portfolio Without asking the

customer for any new data

Is it better or worse than an

advisor

Its no better or worse

Everything is simplified with

the robo-advisor but it is no

better or worse As it is on the

Internet it can reach many

people and democratizes such

advisory services It may be

cheaper but the important

thing is the methodology

behind it

What logic have you followed

The process that we have

followed after many years in

this field has been to

synthesize it as far as possible

We seek to advise a person

with the smallest amount of

information possible We

create a flow chart and define

it following a methodology

Then the robo-advisor is the

tool that implements it in a

channel such as the Internet

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What minimum information do

you ask the customer

The customer is only asked to

define hisher risk profile There

are two ways to do so One

which is longer is done with a

questionnaire where the

customer has to avoid getting

into a loop as many times

heshe thinks one thing writes

another and then hisher

portfolio is not what heshe

wants has or can be Another

way which is what we use is

more direct we ask what

potential losses the customer

is uncomfortable with using a

certain probability The

customer has hisher risk

profile they say for example

they are uncomfortable with a

3 loss per year and we build

a portfolio from that

information

What customers are you

looking for ( )

We currently have large

customers pension plans

SICAVs etc The robo-advisor

aims to attract customers with

lower equity and who come

through the Internet

Is there interest in this service

In Spain a bank has been

interested in our software

development specifically the

calculation engine part Large

Spanish investors have also

approached us to ask about the

methodology and we are going

to present it in Mexico shortly Its

what were seeing right now

Do you have small customers

No currently only large

customers

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 12: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

The story of the consultant is

fictional but the discussion it

narrates is increasingly real At

the recent Finance20

conference which was held in

Zurich and brings together

technology companies

specialized in finance it was

emphasized that automated

solutions are increasingly

attracting customers In

Switzerland a landmark for

traditional banking a startup

such as True Wealth and the

website Investomachch are

committed to automating their

advisory models with robo-

advisors The question buzzing

round the conference in Zurich

was whether customers would

pay for advice as if they use

automated methods costs are

minimal ndash in the case of robo-

advisors fees are between 30

and 70 bps (03 to 07)

per yearndash Felix Niederer

founder of True Wealth

emphasized that the costs

could decrease even more

And that its moving toward a

model where fortune is

managed completely free

although the most

sophisticated payment services

will remain

Returning to the Deloitte

study startups are definitely a

clear indicator of whats to

come The consultant

examined more than 50 new

digital wealth management

companies in the B2C market

most were founded in the last

ten years The study highlights

that these growth companies

attract retail investors in three

ways by helping them to

connect advising on financial

matters and helping them to

invest ( )

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The keys for the consultant

are ( )

ConnectingAdding investor accounts

Consumers increasingly have

the need to connect different

accounts ndash often accounts

from multiple providers ndash in

order to create a holistic

picture of their wealth and

more easily manage their

finances In addition

investors want to be

connected together to learn

from their peers and to

connect with specialists and

advisors that meet their

needs The new companies

are providing integration of

all these accounts beyond

traditional boundaries

Retail investors are

increasingly frustrated by

having to reconcile multiple

accounts through numerous

banks placements or for

example retirement

accounts They need to have

an accurate real-time view

and if possible an aggregate

of financial assets liabilities

and net worth across multiple

accounts and suppliers

One of the pioneers in this

market was Mintcom a free

online personal financing

service that allows users to see

all their balances and

transactions in one place

Launched in 2007 it currently

has over one million users

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Social networks

Since the financial crisis retail

investors have become

increasingly skeptical about the

advice they receive but have

also realized that they need

this advice more than ever

Investors want to know what

their peers think and how they

invest not only learn from

investment specialists They

also value interactions with

their peers beyond just

meeting their immediate

investment needs Forums

that began as chat groups and

online discussions have rapidly

evolved into fully-blown social

platforms that allow an open

exchange of ideas and the

ability to form groups

People amp Pick founded by

Zacks Investment Research is

an example of a company that

has created a social platform

and online community for

users to interact with each

other The platform allows

users to evaluate any piece of

stock as a purchasesale

Users can share ideas with

other users and track their

stocks

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

SERIE FINTECH middot AGOSTO 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacom

AdvisingFinancial planning New asset

management companies

have entered this market and

successfully attracted

financial planning customers

by creating digital showcases

that have a low learning

curve These companies can

form a complete picture of a

customers financial situation

by taking into account their

personal financial goals risk

tolerance diversification

andor trading strategies An

example is Personal Capital

offering a trading platform

with multiple choices from

investment monitoring and

analysis to financial services

(for investors with more than

$100000 in assets)

Accounts aggregation allows

users to control their finances

as part of a single integrated

control panel that shows the

asset allocation the potential

risks of the holding and how

various product commissions

could affect their goals

InvestingIn the current environment of

low-yield investment

investors are constantly

looking for better riskreturn

opportunities In response to

this new companies have

emerged that provide

customers with access to

sophisticated trading

strategies by copying the

business strategies of

professional management

services (PMS) and thus

allowing these companies to

offer private investors

services to which historically

only certain institutions or

large investors had access

An example of a startup that

offers non-traditional

placements is Covestor

which allows its members to

access view and study the

holdings of professional

management services

Going back to Switzerland a

survey by Axa IM notes that

90 of the Swiss still prefer

personal advice to move their

money It seems that things

are starting to change in the

rest of the planet

Joseacute Diego Alarcoacuten is a partner of the Spanish

SME Serfiex which specializes in Financial Risk

Management software consulting and solutions

Along with a team of financial analysts

econometricians and IT specialists it has

developed a robo advisor with which the

company aims to approach small investors ( )

04INTERVIEW

ldquoRobo-advisorsdemocratize financialadvicerdquo

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What is the difference between

a robo advisor and a financial

advisor

One difference is that thanks

to the Internet a robo advisor

can advise many people while

an individual obviously does

not have the same capacity

What does a robo-advisor

contribute ( )

Our company has

fundamentally developed a

new approach to investing

The robo advisor is the tool

that automates this

methodology The important

thing is the methodology

behind the robo advisor It

must be very detailed very

objective nothing is left to

intuition it is a mathematical

procedure Our robo-advisor is

characterized by both things

On the one hand it builds an

initial portfolio with potential

losses The second feature

which is the most important or

most innovative is it

reconstructs the portfolio

periodically and in an

automated way ie it

rebalances it Each month it

compares the data analyzes

the expected profitability of the

initial portfolio with the real

profitability of the portfolio itself

and based on that difference

and the passage of time it

recomposes and optimizes that

portfolio Without asking the

customer for any new data

Is it better or worse than an

advisor

Its no better or worse

Everything is simplified with

the robo-advisor but it is no

better or worse As it is on the

Internet it can reach many

people and democratizes such

advisory services It may be

cheaper but the important

thing is the methodology

behind it

What logic have you followed

The process that we have

followed after many years in

this field has been to

synthesize it as far as possible

We seek to advise a person

with the smallest amount of

information possible We

create a flow chart and define

it following a methodology

Then the robo-advisor is the

tool that implements it in a

channel such as the Internet

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What minimum information do

you ask the customer

The customer is only asked to

define hisher risk profile There

are two ways to do so One

which is longer is done with a

questionnaire where the

customer has to avoid getting

into a loop as many times

heshe thinks one thing writes

another and then hisher

portfolio is not what heshe

wants has or can be Another

way which is what we use is

more direct we ask what

potential losses the customer

is uncomfortable with using a

certain probability The

customer has hisher risk

profile they say for example

they are uncomfortable with a

3 loss per year and we build

a portfolio from that

information

What customers are you

looking for ( )

We currently have large

customers pension plans

SICAVs etc The robo-advisor

aims to attract customers with

lower equity and who come

through the Internet

Is there interest in this service

In Spain a bank has been

interested in our software

development specifically the

calculation engine part Large

Spanish investors have also

approached us to ask about the

methodology and we are going

to present it in Mexico shortly Its

what were seeing right now

Do you have small customers

No currently only large

customers

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 13: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

The keys for the consultant

are ( )

ConnectingAdding investor accounts

Consumers increasingly have

the need to connect different

accounts ndash often accounts

from multiple providers ndash in

order to create a holistic

picture of their wealth and

more easily manage their

finances In addition

investors want to be

connected together to learn

from their peers and to

connect with specialists and

advisors that meet their

needs The new companies

are providing integration of

all these accounts beyond

traditional boundaries

Retail investors are

increasingly frustrated by

having to reconcile multiple

accounts through numerous

banks placements or for

example retirement

accounts They need to have

an accurate real-time view

and if possible an aggregate

of financial assets liabilities

and net worth across multiple

accounts and suppliers

One of the pioneers in this

market was Mintcom a free

online personal financing

service that allows users to see

all their balances and

transactions in one place

Launched in 2007 it currently

has over one million users

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

Social networks

Since the financial crisis retail

investors have become

increasingly skeptical about the

advice they receive but have

also realized that they need

this advice more than ever

Investors want to know what

their peers think and how they

invest not only learn from

investment specialists They

also value interactions with

their peers beyond just

meeting their immediate

investment needs Forums

that began as chat groups and

online discussions have rapidly

evolved into fully-blown social

platforms that allow an open

exchange of ideas and the

ability to form groups

People amp Pick founded by

Zacks Investment Research is

an example of a company that

has created a social platform

and online community for

users to interact with each

other The platform allows

users to evaluate any piece of

stock as a purchasesale

Users can share ideas with

other users and track their

stocks

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

SERIE FINTECH middot AGOSTO 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacom

AdvisingFinancial planning New asset

management companies

have entered this market and

successfully attracted

financial planning customers

by creating digital showcases

that have a low learning

curve These companies can

form a complete picture of a

customers financial situation

by taking into account their

personal financial goals risk

tolerance diversification

andor trading strategies An

example is Personal Capital

offering a trading platform

with multiple choices from

investment monitoring and

analysis to financial services

(for investors with more than

$100000 in assets)

Accounts aggregation allows

users to control their finances

as part of a single integrated

control panel that shows the

asset allocation the potential

risks of the holding and how

various product commissions

could affect their goals

InvestingIn the current environment of

low-yield investment

investors are constantly

looking for better riskreturn

opportunities In response to

this new companies have

emerged that provide

customers with access to

sophisticated trading

strategies by copying the

business strategies of

professional management

services (PMS) and thus

allowing these companies to

offer private investors

services to which historically

only certain institutions or

large investors had access

An example of a startup that

offers non-traditional

placements is Covestor

which allows its members to

access view and study the

holdings of professional

management services

Going back to Switzerland a

survey by Axa IM notes that

90 of the Swiss still prefer

personal advice to move their

money It seems that things

are starting to change in the

rest of the planet

Joseacute Diego Alarcoacuten is a partner of the Spanish

SME Serfiex which specializes in Financial Risk

Management software consulting and solutions

Along with a team of financial analysts

econometricians and IT specialists it has

developed a robo advisor with which the

company aims to approach small investors ( )

04INTERVIEW

ldquoRobo-advisorsdemocratize financialadvicerdquo

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What is the difference between

a robo advisor and a financial

advisor

One difference is that thanks

to the Internet a robo advisor

can advise many people while

an individual obviously does

not have the same capacity

What does a robo-advisor

contribute ( )

Our company has

fundamentally developed a

new approach to investing

The robo advisor is the tool

that automates this

methodology The important

thing is the methodology

behind the robo advisor It

must be very detailed very

objective nothing is left to

intuition it is a mathematical

procedure Our robo-advisor is

characterized by both things

On the one hand it builds an

initial portfolio with potential

losses The second feature

which is the most important or

most innovative is it

reconstructs the portfolio

periodically and in an

automated way ie it

rebalances it Each month it

compares the data analyzes

the expected profitability of the

initial portfolio with the real

profitability of the portfolio itself

and based on that difference

and the passage of time it

recomposes and optimizes that

portfolio Without asking the

customer for any new data

Is it better or worse than an

advisor

Its no better or worse

Everything is simplified with

the robo-advisor but it is no

better or worse As it is on the

Internet it can reach many

people and democratizes such

advisory services It may be

cheaper but the important

thing is the methodology

behind it

What logic have you followed

The process that we have

followed after many years in

this field has been to

synthesize it as far as possible

We seek to advise a person

with the smallest amount of

information possible We

create a flow chart and define

it following a methodology

Then the robo-advisor is the

tool that implements it in a

channel such as the Internet

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What minimum information do

you ask the customer

The customer is only asked to

define hisher risk profile There

are two ways to do so One

which is longer is done with a

questionnaire where the

customer has to avoid getting

into a loop as many times

heshe thinks one thing writes

another and then hisher

portfolio is not what heshe

wants has or can be Another

way which is what we use is

more direct we ask what

potential losses the customer

is uncomfortable with using a

certain probability The

customer has hisher risk

profile they say for example

they are uncomfortable with a

3 loss per year and we build

a portfolio from that

information

What customers are you

looking for ( )

We currently have large

customers pension plans

SICAVs etc The robo-advisor

aims to attract customers with

lower equity and who come

through the Internet

Is there interest in this service

In Spain a bank has been

interested in our software

development specifically the

calculation engine part Large

Spanish investors have also

approached us to ask about the

methodology and we are going

to present it in Mexico shortly Its

what were seeing right now

Do you have small customers

No currently only large

customers

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 14: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

Social networks

Since the financial crisis retail

investors have become

increasingly skeptical about the

advice they receive but have

also realized that they need

this advice more than ever

Investors want to know what

their peers think and how they

invest not only learn from

investment specialists They

also value interactions with

their peers beyond just

meeting their immediate

investment needs Forums

that began as chat groups and

online discussions have rapidly

evolved into fully-blown social

platforms that allow an open

exchange of ideas and the

ability to form groups

People amp Pick founded by

Zacks Investment Research is

an example of a company that

has created a social platform

and online community for

users to interact with each

other The platform allows

users to evaluate any piece of

stock as a purchasesale

Users can share ideas with

other users and track their

stocks

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

SERIE FINTECH middot AGOSTO 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacom

AdvisingFinancial planning New asset

management companies

have entered this market and

successfully attracted

financial planning customers

by creating digital showcases

that have a low learning

curve These companies can

form a complete picture of a

customers financial situation

by taking into account their

personal financial goals risk

tolerance diversification

andor trading strategies An

example is Personal Capital

offering a trading platform

with multiple choices from

investment monitoring and

analysis to financial services

(for investors with more than

$100000 in assets)

Accounts aggregation allows

users to control their finances

as part of a single integrated

control panel that shows the

asset allocation the potential

risks of the holding and how

various product commissions

could affect their goals

InvestingIn the current environment of

low-yield investment

investors are constantly

looking for better riskreturn

opportunities In response to

this new companies have

emerged that provide

customers with access to

sophisticated trading

strategies by copying the

business strategies of

professional management

services (PMS) and thus

allowing these companies to

offer private investors

services to which historically

only certain institutions or

large investors had access

An example of a startup that

offers non-traditional

placements is Covestor

which allows its members to

access view and study the

holdings of professional

management services

Going back to Switzerland a

survey by Axa IM notes that

90 of the Swiss still prefer

personal advice to move their

money It seems that things

are starting to change in the

rest of the planet

Joseacute Diego Alarcoacuten is a partner of the Spanish

SME Serfiex which specializes in Financial Risk

Management software consulting and solutions

Along with a team of financial analysts

econometricians and IT specialists it has

developed a robo advisor with which the

company aims to approach small investors ( )

04INTERVIEW

ldquoRobo-advisorsdemocratize financialadvicerdquo

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What is the difference between

a robo advisor and a financial

advisor

One difference is that thanks

to the Internet a robo advisor

can advise many people while

an individual obviously does

not have the same capacity

What does a robo-advisor

contribute ( )

Our company has

fundamentally developed a

new approach to investing

The robo advisor is the tool

that automates this

methodology The important

thing is the methodology

behind the robo advisor It

must be very detailed very

objective nothing is left to

intuition it is a mathematical

procedure Our robo-advisor is

characterized by both things

On the one hand it builds an

initial portfolio with potential

losses The second feature

which is the most important or

most innovative is it

reconstructs the portfolio

periodically and in an

automated way ie it

rebalances it Each month it

compares the data analyzes

the expected profitability of the

initial portfolio with the real

profitability of the portfolio itself

and based on that difference

and the passage of time it

recomposes and optimizes that

portfolio Without asking the

customer for any new data

Is it better or worse than an

advisor

Its no better or worse

Everything is simplified with

the robo-advisor but it is no

better or worse As it is on the

Internet it can reach many

people and democratizes such

advisory services It may be

cheaper but the important

thing is the methodology

behind it

What logic have you followed

The process that we have

followed after many years in

this field has been to

synthesize it as far as possible

We seek to advise a person

with the smallest amount of

information possible We

create a flow chart and define

it following a methodology

Then the robo-advisor is the

tool that implements it in a

channel such as the Internet

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What minimum information do

you ask the customer

The customer is only asked to

define hisher risk profile There

are two ways to do so One

which is longer is done with a

questionnaire where the

customer has to avoid getting

into a loop as many times

heshe thinks one thing writes

another and then hisher

portfolio is not what heshe

wants has or can be Another

way which is what we use is

more direct we ask what

potential losses the customer

is uncomfortable with using a

certain probability The

customer has hisher risk

profile they say for example

they are uncomfortable with a

3 loss per year and we build

a portfolio from that

information

What customers are you

looking for ( )

We currently have large

customers pension plans

SICAVs etc The robo-advisor

aims to attract customers with

lower equity and who come

through the Internet

Is there interest in this service

In Spain a bank has been

interested in our software

development specifically the

calculation engine part Large

Spanish investors have also

approached us to ask about the

methodology and we are going

to present it in Mexico shortly Its

what were seeing right now

Do you have small customers

No currently only large

customers

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 15: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

SERIE FINTECH middot AGOSTO 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacom

AdvisingFinancial planning New asset

management companies

have entered this market and

successfully attracted

financial planning customers

by creating digital showcases

that have a low learning

curve These companies can

form a complete picture of a

customers financial situation

by taking into account their

personal financial goals risk

tolerance diversification

andor trading strategies An

example is Personal Capital

offering a trading platform

with multiple choices from

investment monitoring and

analysis to financial services

(for investors with more than

$100000 in assets)

Accounts aggregation allows

users to control their finances

as part of a single integrated

control panel that shows the

asset allocation the potential

risks of the holding and how

various product commissions

could affect their goals

InvestingIn the current environment of

low-yield investment

investors are constantly

looking for better riskreturn

opportunities In response to

this new companies have

emerged that provide

customers with access to

sophisticated trading

strategies by copying the

business strategies of

professional management

services (PMS) and thus

allowing these companies to

offer private investors

services to which historically

only certain institutions or

large investors had access

An example of a startup that

offers non-traditional

placements is Covestor

which allows its members to

access view and study the

holdings of professional

management services

Going back to Switzerland a

survey by Axa IM notes that

90 of the Swiss still prefer

personal advice to move their

money It seems that things

are starting to change in the

rest of the planet

Joseacute Diego Alarcoacuten is a partner of the Spanish

SME Serfiex which specializes in Financial Risk

Management software consulting and solutions

Along with a team of financial analysts

econometricians and IT specialists it has

developed a robo advisor with which the

company aims to approach small investors ( )

04INTERVIEW

ldquoRobo-advisorsdemocratize financialadvicerdquo

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What is the difference between

a robo advisor and a financial

advisor

One difference is that thanks

to the Internet a robo advisor

can advise many people while

an individual obviously does

not have the same capacity

What does a robo-advisor

contribute ( )

Our company has

fundamentally developed a

new approach to investing

The robo advisor is the tool

that automates this

methodology The important

thing is the methodology

behind the robo advisor It

must be very detailed very

objective nothing is left to

intuition it is a mathematical

procedure Our robo-advisor is

characterized by both things

On the one hand it builds an

initial portfolio with potential

losses The second feature

which is the most important or

most innovative is it

reconstructs the portfolio

periodically and in an

automated way ie it

rebalances it Each month it

compares the data analyzes

the expected profitability of the

initial portfolio with the real

profitability of the portfolio itself

and based on that difference

and the passage of time it

recomposes and optimizes that

portfolio Without asking the

customer for any new data

Is it better or worse than an

advisor

Its no better or worse

Everything is simplified with

the robo-advisor but it is no

better or worse As it is on the

Internet it can reach many

people and democratizes such

advisory services It may be

cheaper but the important

thing is the methodology

behind it

What logic have you followed

The process that we have

followed after many years in

this field has been to

synthesize it as far as possible

We seek to advise a person

with the smallest amount of

information possible We

create a flow chart and define

it following a methodology

Then the robo-advisor is the

tool that implements it in a

channel such as the Internet

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What minimum information do

you ask the customer

The customer is only asked to

define hisher risk profile There

are two ways to do so One

which is longer is done with a

questionnaire where the

customer has to avoid getting

into a loop as many times

heshe thinks one thing writes

another and then hisher

portfolio is not what heshe

wants has or can be Another

way which is what we use is

more direct we ask what

potential losses the customer

is uncomfortable with using a

certain probability The

customer has hisher risk

profile they say for example

they are uncomfortable with a

3 loss per year and we build

a portfolio from that

information

What customers are you

looking for ( )

We currently have large

customers pension plans

SICAVs etc The robo-advisor

aims to attract customers with

lower equity and who come

through the Internet

Is there interest in this service

In Spain a bank has been

interested in our software

development specifically the

calculation engine part Large

Spanish investors have also

approached us to ask about the

methodology and we are going

to present it in Mexico shortly Its

what were seeing right now

Do you have small customers

No currently only large

customers

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 16: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

Joseacute Diego Alarcoacuten is a partner of the Spanish

SME Serfiex which specializes in Financial Risk

Management software consulting and solutions

Along with a team of financial analysts

econometricians and IT specialists it has

developed a robo advisor with which the

company aims to approach small investors ( )

04INTERVIEW

ldquoRobo-advisorsdemocratize financialadvicerdquo

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What is the difference between

a robo advisor and a financial

advisor

One difference is that thanks

to the Internet a robo advisor

can advise many people while

an individual obviously does

not have the same capacity

What does a robo-advisor

contribute ( )

Our company has

fundamentally developed a

new approach to investing

The robo advisor is the tool

that automates this

methodology The important

thing is the methodology

behind the robo advisor It

must be very detailed very

objective nothing is left to

intuition it is a mathematical

procedure Our robo-advisor is

characterized by both things

On the one hand it builds an

initial portfolio with potential

losses The second feature

which is the most important or

most innovative is it

reconstructs the portfolio

periodically and in an

automated way ie it

rebalances it Each month it

compares the data analyzes

the expected profitability of the

initial portfolio with the real

profitability of the portfolio itself

and based on that difference

and the passage of time it

recomposes and optimizes that

portfolio Without asking the

customer for any new data

Is it better or worse than an

advisor

Its no better or worse

Everything is simplified with

the robo-advisor but it is no

better or worse As it is on the

Internet it can reach many

people and democratizes such

advisory services It may be

cheaper but the important

thing is the methodology

behind it

What logic have you followed

The process that we have

followed after many years in

this field has been to

synthesize it as far as possible

We seek to advise a person

with the smallest amount of

information possible We

create a flow chart and define

it following a methodology

Then the robo-advisor is the

tool that implements it in a

channel such as the Internet

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What minimum information do

you ask the customer

The customer is only asked to

define hisher risk profile There

are two ways to do so One

which is longer is done with a

questionnaire where the

customer has to avoid getting

into a loop as many times

heshe thinks one thing writes

another and then hisher

portfolio is not what heshe

wants has or can be Another

way which is what we use is

more direct we ask what

potential losses the customer

is uncomfortable with using a

certain probability The

customer has hisher risk

profile they say for example

they are uncomfortable with a

3 loss per year and we build

a portfolio from that

information

What customers are you

looking for ( )

We currently have large

customers pension plans

SICAVs etc The robo-advisor

aims to attract customers with

lower equity and who come

through the Internet

Is there interest in this service

In Spain a bank has been

interested in our software

development specifically the

calculation engine part Large

Spanish investors have also

approached us to ask about the

methodology and we are going

to present it in Mexico shortly Its

what were seeing right now

Do you have small customers

No currently only large

customers

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 17: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

What is the difference between

a robo advisor and a financial

advisor

One difference is that thanks

to the Internet a robo advisor

can advise many people while

an individual obviously does

not have the same capacity

What does a robo-advisor

contribute ( )

Our company has

fundamentally developed a

new approach to investing

The robo advisor is the tool

that automates this

methodology The important

thing is the methodology

behind the robo advisor It

must be very detailed very

objective nothing is left to

intuition it is a mathematical

procedure Our robo-advisor is

characterized by both things

On the one hand it builds an

initial portfolio with potential

losses The second feature

which is the most important or

most innovative is it

reconstructs the portfolio

periodically and in an

automated way ie it

rebalances it Each month it

compares the data analyzes

the expected profitability of the

initial portfolio with the real

profitability of the portfolio itself

and based on that difference

and the passage of time it

recomposes and optimizes that

portfolio Without asking the

customer for any new data

Is it better or worse than an

advisor

Its no better or worse

Everything is simplified with

the robo-advisor but it is no

better or worse As it is on the

Internet it can reach many

people and democratizes such

advisory services It may be

cheaper but the important

thing is the methodology

behind it

What logic have you followed

The process that we have

followed after many years in

this field has been to

synthesize it as far as possible

We seek to advise a person

with the smallest amount of

information possible We

create a flow chart and define

it following a methodology

Then the robo-advisor is the

tool that implements it in a

channel such as the Internet

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What minimum information do

you ask the customer

The customer is only asked to

define hisher risk profile There

are two ways to do so One

which is longer is done with a

questionnaire where the

customer has to avoid getting

into a loop as many times

heshe thinks one thing writes

another and then hisher

portfolio is not what heshe

wants has or can be Another

way which is what we use is

more direct we ask what

potential losses the customer

is uncomfortable with using a

certain probability The

customer has hisher risk

profile they say for example

they are uncomfortable with a

3 loss per year and we build

a portfolio from that

information

What customers are you

looking for ( )

We currently have large

customers pension plans

SICAVs etc The robo-advisor

aims to attract customers with

lower equity and who come

through the Internet

Is there interest in this service

In Spain a bank has been

interested in our software

development specifically the

calculation engine part Large

Spanish investors have also

approached us to ask about the

methodology and we are going

to present it in Mexico shortly Its

what were seeing right now

Do you have small customers

No currently only large

customers

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 18: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

What minimum information do

you ask the customer

The customer is only asked to

define hisher risk profile There

are two ways to do so One

which is longer is done with a

questionnaire where the

customer has to avoid getting

into a loop as many times

heshe thinks one thing writes

another and then hisher

portfolio is not what heshe

wants has or can be Another

way which is what we use is

more direct we ask what

potential losses the customer

is uncomfortable with using a

certain probability The

customer has hisher risk

profile they say for example

they are uncomfortable with a

3 loss per year and we build

a portfolio from that

information

What customers are you

looking for ( )

We currently have large

customers pension plans

SICAVs etc The robo-advisor

aims to attract customers with

lower equity and who come

through the Internet

Is there interest in this service

In Spain a bank has been

interested in our software

development specifically the

calculation engine part Large

Spanish investors have also

approached us to ask about the

methodology and we are going

to present it in Mexico shortly Its

what were seeing right now

Do you have small customers

No currently only large

customers

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 19: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

What do you expect in the

future

In a few years I think all the

major banks will have a robo-

advisor for their young

customers who are

accustomed to the Internet and

want to make up their portfolio

People with low net worth that

makes no sense for them to go

to private banks I trust that

these large banks will contract

the software the calculation

engine and provide a service to

customers with low net worth

as is already happening in the

United States

Are wealthy customers not

interested in that model

Usually these people are older

and they do not trust a robo-

advisor Its an automatic

process and they prefer to

speak with people Whats

happening in the United States

for example is that the children

of those millionaires are

approaching robo-advisors and

obtaining higher returns Thats

causing their parents to

become interested in the

people who have designed this

robo-advisor they want to

know the methodology

Are there any disadvantages A

major danger is that its not the

same choosing between two

people than between two robo-

advisors You can talk to

people ask them questions

you may have friends who

have already placed their trust

in those advisors or you follow

your intuition whereas if you

go directly to a robo-advisor

and youre not an expert in

finance you dont know the

difference between a good and

a bad one You have no

judgment and you have to wait

quite a while to see the results

and find out whether you were

wrong or not You may find

that the algorithms are good

but the products they are

selling are very bad You can

have a good cook but if the raw

material is bad the result will

be terrible

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 20: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

These are the automatic machines that

offer financial advice and portfolio

management

05INFOGRAPHICHow they workRobo advisors

Share on Pinterest

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 21: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

The answers are analyzed and the

algorithms are processed thus

designing a tailored investment plan

Users can adjust their goal and risk

tolerance as they prefer

Thanks to automation an automated

robot can charge lower fees

How they workAssess a persons income and find out how much they can afford

how much they need to save study the best tax structure and

decide what investments should be made to realize those

objectives Intelligent algorithms can now do that

Investment Risk Goal Time

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 22: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

How things will change

Less volatile markets

Robots make investment

decisions based on

algorithms and not on their

emotions so it is more likely

that they will buy stocks that

will last

More rigorous markets

Robots process a large

amount of information design

a preset rule and start doing

the numbers non-stop until

they find the right

candidates for a portfolio

Fewer transactions

Programmed to accumulate

wealth over a decade or two

they simply buy a set amount

of stocks a year and ignore

short-term fluctuations

More global markets

Robots manage portfolios

and dont care whether a

company is European

American or Asian they just

look for returns

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

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LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

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Page 23: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

The future in figures

Active advisor robots in the United States (in trillions of dollars)

Switch from uninvested assets (1) Switch from invested assets (2)

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 -11 -11

08 07

05 04

04 01

(0200) 03

05

09

15

-22

+68

Key factors for choosing an advisor robot

Price (low cost and transparency) is the crucial element of the advisor robots offer

Early adopters

Second adoptersr

36 25 23 16

35 24 24 15

Price Investment Simplicity Servicios

(1) Uninvested assets

include liquid funds (cash

and cash-equivalent

deposits)

(2) Invested funds include

credit market

instruments corporate

stocks and mutual funds

SERIE FINTECH middot AUGUST 2015 middot wwwcentrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

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BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 24: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

BBVA Innovation Center

creates the Fintech Serie By

Innovation Edge to keep

informed about the financial

innovation trends with its

milestones analysis cases

studie interviews with experts

and infographics to display the

data that describe each of

these trends

FINTECHSERIE BY innovation edge

share

LATEST ISSUES

The transformation towards digital

banking generates new business

models

Analysis of colombian

startups and entrepreneurs

Banking penetration an instrument

to promote development

Retain and attract customers

on social networks

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

centrodeinnovacionbbvacomen

centrodeinnovacionbbvacominnovation-edge

Follow us

BBVA is not responsible for the opinions expressed here in

Page 25: Ebook: Financial advice with robo advisors (English)

Registerto keep up withthe lastest trends

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