Wealthfront Assets Under Management (AUM)
Wealthfront is an easy and simple way to invest. However, it has limited functionality and will appeal only to
clients who want a hands-free approach to investing. So how many customers, and how much is total assets under
management does Wealthfront have? Here are the numbers:
| Wealthfront assets under management |
$22 billion |
| Wealthfront number of customers |
307,000 |
Wealthfront and Competitors
Overview of Ally and Wealthfront
If you’re looking for a low-cost way to invest some extra money you have on the sidelines, Wealthfront and Ally Invest are two brokers you really should take a look at. Here’s how these two firms stack up against each other:
Investment Offerings
At Ally Invest, you can open either a self-directed account or a robo account. With the latter option, you’ll get ETFs with low expense ratios. The company’s software program trades these funds on your behalf.
If you open a self-directed account, you’ll get a much larger selection of investments. You’ll have access to more than 2,000 ETFs, plus these products:
- Stocks
- Bonds
- Mutual funds
- Closed-end funds
- Options
- Forex
Wealthfront only offers robo accounts that trade a small selection of ETFs. They have expense ratios below 0.13%. As with Ally Invest, the broker charges no commissions in these accounts.
Winner: Ally Invest
Education & Research
Because Wealthfront only provides digitally-managed accounts, it doesn’t offer a great deal in terms of investment education, let alone asset research tools. We did find several articles on the Wealthfront site covering a wide variety of topics, including:
- Saving for college
- Tax management
- Buying a home
Wealthfront’s site also hosts a Help Center that is able to answer many questions new customers will have.
Ally Invest’s site also has a Help Center. Like Wealthfront’s, it’s a great resource when you’re searching for an answer to a question. In addition to FAQs, the company’s site also provides lots of articles on many personal financial topics (courtesy of Ally Bank).
But Ally goes one step further than Wealthfront by providing security research tools. The broker has user-friendly screeners for stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, and bonds (not to mention profiles for them as well).
Winner: Ally Invest
Computer Platforms
When it comes time to actually start trading, Ally Invest offers several pieces of software that can be used to send orders to the exchanges. The first of course is its website. Although it is somewhat simple (it still has the same interface TradeKing used years ago), it does have an advanced trade ticket with several order types.
A browser platform named LIVE is able to deliver a somewhat more advanced experience with full-screen charting, several option tools, and the ability to trade bonds.
And then there are the desktop platforms. Quotestream is available for securities trading (you will have to place 30 trades / quarter). It offers several advanced tools, including sophisticated charting and time & sales data.
And there are two more platforms for currency trading. One is Ally’s own in-house creation, while the other is MetaTrader 4. Neither has any fees or trading requirements.
As already mentioned, Wealthfront doesn’t offer any self-directed services. What this means in this category is that the broker simply doesn’t have a lot of advanced trading tools. Its website does have tools for goal setting, setting up automatic transfers, and linking external brokerage accounts.
Winner: Ally Invest
Mobile Apps
Wealthfront’s mobile app is equally as useful (or useless, depending on your perspective). It doesn’t provide any trading capability, but it does have the same portfolio management tools as its website cousin.
Ally Invest is once again a different story. The broker offers trading apps for both securities and forex. Tools include mobile check deposit, charting, and order widgets.
Winner: Ally Invest
Banking Tools
Wealthfront has a discrete cash account that comes with some enticing features. They include:
- Free debit card
- No-fee withdrawals at 19,000 ATMs
- FDIC insurance through Green Dot Bank
Wealthfront’s cash account has no minimum and no fees.
Ally Invest also offers banking tools. But the broker requires a staggering $100,000 to get them. Besides a debit card, checks are available. But both of them have fees.
It is possible to open an account with Ally Bank (checking, savings, and money market accounts are available) and then link it to an Ally Invest account. The banking arm offers more generous terms, including no minimums and no fees.
Winner: Draw
Miscellaneous Services
Dividend Reinvestment Program: Self-directed traders at Ally Invest can reinvest dividends as additional shares of stocks or ETFs.
IRAs: Available at both firms.
Fractional-share Trading: As of right now, neither broker offers whole-dollar investing.
Investment Advice: Oddly, neither broker offers any traditional advisory services. Ally’s digital service is free if you accept a 30% cash position. Otherwise, it costs 0.30%. Wealthfront charges 0.25%.
Winner: Overall, pretty close
Our Recommendations
Mutual Fund Investors: For obvious reasons, Ally Invest is our choice.
Long-Term Investors and Retirement Savers: We pick Ally Invest. Although both firms in this survey have IRAs, only Ally Invest has a large selection of target-date mutual funds.
Stock/ETF Trading: Ally Invest is the clear choice here, with not only stocks and ETFs, but the software to trade them.
Small Accounts: Ally Invest’s self-directed accounts have no minimum balance requirement. Managed accounts have to pony up $100, while Wealthfront requires $500.
Beginners: Because Wealthfront was an early entrant into the robo space, it’s tempting to pick it here. But Ally Invest now has its own digital advisory program; plus, it continues to offer its self-directed accounts with learning materials. We endorse Ally Invest.
Wealthfront vs Ally Invest Assessment
Ally Invest has clearly come out ahead in the realm of self-directed trading, which isn’t too surprising. But it offers a very competitive robo service, which means it is overall a much better place to be.
Chad Morris is a financial writer with more than 20 years experience
as both an English teacher and an avid trader. When he isn’t writing
expert content for Brokerage-Review.com, Chad can usually be found
managing his portfolio or building a new home computer.
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