Financial planning goes robo

By Staff | January 8, 2018 | Last updated on January 8, 2018
2 min read

Automation has changed investing for many Canadians; now, it’s changing financial planning.

Read: What happens when advisors use robos

Planswell is the “world’s first financial planning engine,” says a release. The company’s finance and tech experts help Canadians create free financial plans, so they can “maximize their investment potential, minimize their borrowing costs and financially protect themselves.”

In the release, the company says it has raised a $6.8-million seed round from investors, including former senior executives from some of Canada’s top financial institutions.

Addressing the advice gap is a key priority.

“Over 100,000 financial advisors across Canada will tell you that their ideal client has $1 million or more in investable assets. That’s just under 1% of the population,” says Planswell CEO and co-founder, Eric Arnold, in the release. “The other 99% have been completely ignored—or, worse, have been targets of predatory, high-fee products in the absence of a plan.”

On the Planswell website, clients can answer 30 to 40 questions to create their financial plans. Expert phone or chat support is available, and clients can implement their plans themselves or receive help from Planswell professionals, who have financial credentials such as CFA, CA, CPA, PFP, CIM and LLQP (life license qualification program).

Clients also have the option of investing in a Planswell portfolio.

Planswell operates in B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Planswell Portfolios is an operating name of Higgins Investment Group, a registered portfolio manager in B.C., Alberta and Ontario.

Via email, a spokesperson told Advisor.ca that the company can implement insurance and mortgages in P.E.I. and Saskatchewan, and expects to receive “the regulatory green light for investments in those provinces in the next week or two.”

Also read:

Are robos regulated like humans?

How robo-advisors have it rough

Advisor.ca staff

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.