7 Hybrid Adviser Services, Reviewed
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The first computer-driven advisory service, otherwise known as a robo adviser, launched just over 15 years ago. Since then, the S&P 500 Index has returned more than 700% — an eightfold increase. And automated investment advisers now manage an estimated $1.2 trillion in assets, says David Goldstone, manager of investment research at Condor Capital Wealth Management, which tracks robo advisers in The Robo Report.
As the industry matures, many investors have outgrown digital-only offerings and are ready to graduate to a so-called hybrid adviser service, which uses the same technology that drives robo advisers but gives you access to a human adviser, too. “Hybrids have really become a dominant model in robos,” says Goldstone.
Indeed. Many digital-only services have recently shut down. In late 2025, U.S. Bank announced it was closing its robo-adviser platform; earlier in 2025 UBS ended its service, called Advice Advantage. In mid-2024, J.P. Morgan Wealth Management terminated its robo, Automated Investing. And Goldman Sachs sold its digital advisory service to Betterment.
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A second set of eyes
By contrast, many hybrid services are flourishing. At Betterment in recent months, for instance, “we’ve seen more growth in the Premium side of the business than we ever have,” says Nick Holeman, Betterment’s senior director of human advice, referring to the firm’s stepped-up robo service that offers unlimited access to a certified financial planner.
These customers “love technology, lower fees and automation,” he adds. “But as their income and net worth grow and life happens, investors just want that added reassurance, a second set of eyes that can review the situation. That’s more than a pure robo can do.”
For that reason, we reviewed seven popular hybrid offerings — from financial services firms Axos Invest, Betterment, Fidelity, J.P. Morgan Wealth Management, Merrill Edge, SoFi and Vanguard — highlighting the pros and cons of each one.
Schwab isn’t included in this review because the firm recently retired its hybrid offering, Schwab Intelligent Port-folios Premium. “Clients have access to a range of other financial planning services in addition to still having access to our robo adviser, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios,” a Schwab spokesperson said.
Like robos, most hybrids rely on a short online questionnaire designed to identify your investing goals and time horizon and to classify your tolerance for risk. The queries lead to a recommendation for an appropriate portfolio composed mostly of exchange-traded funds and, in some cases, mutual funds. The added access to a human adviser means you can get some guidance on your investments as well as help with other financial topics and goals, such as budgeting, buying a house, managing school debt and making tax-efficient investment decisions.
But the amount of access and the scope of guidance the services can give vary from firm to firm. That’s why it’s important to understand what each hybrid advisory service offers — and what it doesn’t. Read on to learn more. All information is as of November 30, but be aware that elements of these services are constantly changing.
|
Hybrid service |
Axos Invest Managed Portfolios |
Betterment Premium |
Fidelity Go plus coaching |
JPM Wealth Management hybrid offering |
Merrill Guided Investing with an Advisor |
SoFi Robo Investing |
Vanguard Personal Advisor |
|
Minimum to open account |
$100 to $1,000 depending on the investment model chosen |
$100,000 |
$25,000 |
$25,000 |
$20,000 |
$50 |
$50,000 |
|
Annual fee* |
Minimum, $40. This can be reached through management fees on assets (which range from 0.20% to 0.58%) or a $10 quarterly charge. |
0.65% |
0.35% |
0.60% for balances under $250,000; for balances of $250,000-plus, 0.50% |
0.85% |
0.25% |
About 0.25% to 0.35%, depending on the chosen portfolio |
|
Number of portfolios |
24 |
11 |
16 |
20+ |
37 |
30 |
3 |
|
Unlimited access to expert? |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
|
Certified financial planner? |
No |
Yes |
Many |
Some |
Some |
Most |
Some |
|
Dedicated adviser? |
No |
No |
No |
Yes, for balances of $250,000 and above |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
COMMENTS |
More- personalized portfolios can be built for customers with more than $25,000 to invest. |
Premium clients get a 0.25- percentage- point boost in interest on cash reserves, among other perks. |
Investors seeking more-active management have a hybrid-plus option at Fidelity— Fidelity Managed Portfolios. |
J.P. Morgan’s chief investment office team, which manages $500 billion in client assets, drives the portfolio’s big-picture asset allocation. |
Clients with more complex financial lives can get help at sister company Merrill Lynch Private Bank/Wealth Management. |
It’ll cost you more, but you can get unlimited adviser access by becoming a SoFi Plus member for $10 a month.** |
When your assets top $500,000, you can shift to the next advisory service tier, which gets you a dedicated adviser for an approximate annual fee of 0.30%. |
*As a % of assets. **Free if you have paycheck direct deposit to a SoFi checking or savings account. SOURCES: Companies.
Axos Invest Managed Portfolios
Basics: The minimum required to invest varies between $100 and $1,000, and fees range from 0.20% to 0.58%, depending on the investment model you choose. But you must pay a minimum of $40 in fees yearly, either through the annual management fee on assets or a $10 quarterly charge.
Pros: A member of Axos’s adviser team helps you choose among 24 model portfolios, which include strategies geared toward different risk profiles as well as thematic approaches — focused on technology, for example, or the “American Dream” (a portfolio that includes the stocks of consumer-products companies and automakers).
On top of that, you can access portfolios from six institutional asset managers, such as Invesco, Franklin Templeton Investments and ClearBridge Investments, though higher minimums may apply. More customized portfolios can be created if you have $25,000 to $50,000 to invest, says Tracy Gallman, Axos’s chief investment officer.
Cons: You don’t get a dedicated adviser. And Axos advisers aren’t certified financial planners or chartered financial analysts, two of the better-known industry designations. Instead, they are registered investment adviser representatives with Series 65 or 66 licenses, which means they’re acting as fiduciaries — they are legally bound to act in your best interests.
The firm’s philosophy is to teach and guide you so that you make your own financial and investing decisions. The advisers can’t help on tax questions, but they can help you make decisions about how to invest or when to take Social Security, for instance. “We want to be very educational,” says Gallman. “We want to help the person be an active participant in their decision-making.”
Takeaway: The depth and breadth of the portfolio offerings here might be best suited to investors who want to get involved and make educated decisions.
Betterment Premium
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Basics: The Betterment Premium advisory service requires at least $100,000 and costs 0.65% in annual fees for the first $1 million. (The service charges 0.15% on assets over $1 million.)
Pros: You get unlimited access to a team of certified financial planners, says Betterment’s Holeman. They can cover almost every aspect of your financial life, from retirement planning to tax strategies to buying a home. Things they can’t cover are fielded to a third party. Help with estate planning, trusts and wills, for instance, comes from the folks at Trust & Will, for an extra fee. Customers can choose among 11 investment portfolios, including a low-cost core stock and bond portfolio, an innovative technology-focused or value-tilted portfolio, and a 100% bond portfolio. There’s even a cryptocurrency ETF portfolio.
Premium clients get extra perquisites, too, compared with customers of Betterment’s digital-only robo service. Among other things, those include a 0.25-percentage-point boost in interest earned on cash reserves and a securities-backed line of credit (you can borrow against non-retirement investments and get fast access to cash).
Cons: The $100,000 minimum is beefy. The fee isn’t low, either, compared with other hybrids we profile here, though it is less than the typical 1% annual rate that many CFPs and money managers charge. Plus, you don’t get a dedicated adviser, though all Betterment advisers hold a CFP certification. “Premium isn’t trying to replace a dedicated adviser for high-net-worth individuals,” Holeman says. Betterment has a different business line for that.
Takeaway: Betterment Premium is best for investors who “love automation” and need or want additional advice but are fee-sensitive, “or their financial situation is not super complex,” says Holeman.
Fidelity Go Plus Coaching
Basics: Fidelity’s hybrid version of its robo adviser, Fidelity Go plus coaching, kicks in automatically for anyone with an account balance above $25,000. The fee is 0.35% a year.
Pros: You get unlimited access to one-on-one coaching calls with an investment professional, who can help you plan for investing goals, such as saving for retirement, buying a home or wealth building for the future, says a firm spokesperson. Some of the professionals are Series 66 licensed, and many hold CFP certifications. All can answer fixed-income topics, too. There are no underlying fund fees—all of the portfolios are built with Fidelity’s Flex funds, a group of both actively managed and index portfolios that charge 0% expense ratios.
Cons: Your coaching sessions are with the next available investment representative, not a dedicated adviser. The portfolios include a handful of active bond funds, which we view as a plus—Fidelity’s bond team is solid. But there aren’t any active stock funds in the portfolios. That’s a glaring omission, given the big roster of superstar stock pickers who run other funds at the firm.
Takeaway: Fidelity Go with unlimited coaching is a good step up from the firm’s robo service, and it’s reasonably priced. Investors looking for a more personalized portfolio have a hybrid-plus option at Fidelity—Fidelity Managed Portfolios. It’s pricier, with a $50,000 minimum and 1.1% in annual fees. That doesn’t get you a dedicated adviser (you’re still team-advised), but the portfolios, which hold ETFs and mutual funds, are unique for each client.
J.P. Morgan Wealth Management Hybrid Offering
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Basics: The minimum investment is $25,000, which costs 0.60% a year; account balances of $250,000 or greater pay 0.50%.
Pros: You meet by phone or video with an investment professional to discuss your goals — paying for a new home, say, or college tuition — as well as your tolerance for risk, time horizon and other preferences, such as investing with environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) attributes in mind.
The adviser matches you with one of more than 20 portfolios that hold ETFs and mutual funds, geared to certain risk profiles. J.P. Morgan’s chief investment office team, which manages $500 billion in assets, drives the big-picture asset allocation and chooses the underlying holdings. Annual check-ins make sure you’re on track, but you get unlimited access to an adviser anytime.
Cons: Until your account balance hits $250,000, you’ve got a team of advisers helping you, not a dedicated person. All advisers hold necessary licenses and are registered according to state requirements for investment advisers.
Most have the Wealth Management Certified Professional certification, an advanced financial planning designation, and/or another recognized designation, such as CFP or CFA. But the investment advisers can’t advise on any estate-planning or tax questions.
Takeaway: The biggest draw here would be for JPMorgan Chase bank customers who want to keep all of their money — banking, saving and investing — at one firm.
Merrill Guided Investing with an Advisor
Basics: Merrill Guided Investing with an Advisor — MGIA for short — requires $20,000 to get started and costs 0.85% in annual management fees.
Pros: You get unlimited one-on-one time with a dedicated Merrill Financial Solutions Advisor, who will help you get started on the robo platform, in person or virtually. The adviser will assist as you identify goals and needs and assess your risk tolerance and time horizon, all to “land you on the optimal portfolio,” says Mark Granshaw, who heads the firm’s consumer investment products team.
The “more than digital” offering, he adds, includes an annual review with your adviser. Plus, although you have access to the same 24 portfolios that robo-only customers get, including tax-aware and sustainable portfolios, you can also choose among another 13 portfolios — crafted by Merrill’s chief investment office and called CIO Select portfolios — that are available to MGIA customers only. The CIO decides on the broad asset allocation for these portfolios and picks the underlying ETFs and mutual funds that fill them.
Cons: The annual fee is hefty. Charging 0.85%, Merrill Guided Investing with an Advisor is one of the more expensive hybrid offerings, if not the most expensive.
But MGIA customers get a lot in return: There are the aforementioned portfolios available only to MGIA clients, and it’s the only service highlighted in this story that offers a dedicated adviser from the get-go.
MGIA customers who bank at parent company Bank of America can get a break on the annual fee, but it’s not all that much — for clients with a combined banking and investing balance of $20,000 to $50,000, the fee discount shaves just 0.05 percentage point off the total.
Takeaway: If keeping all of your financial life at one firm is appealing to you, you’ll find convenience by banking at Bank of America and investing at Merrill Edge. Plus, if you’re the type of investor who wants to sit down, face-to-face, with a financial consultant, Bank of America’s extensive network of 3,600 branches makes that doable.
SoFi Robo Investing
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Basics: SoFi’s automated investment advisory service, which charges 0.25% a year and has a $50 minimum initial investment, has always been a hybrid offering, says Brian Walsh, SoFi’s head of advice and planning, because every customer gets a free, one-time, virtual 30-minute meeting with a financial planner.
Pros: Most of the financial planners at SoFi hold the CFP designation; the rest are working toward it, says Walsh.
On top of the low minimum and low fees, SoFi Robo Investing portfolios are backed by recommendations from experts at SoFi and BlackRock. The robo offers 30 portfolios — 15 geared for a retirement account, and another 15 for taxable accounts — that hold mutual funds and ETFs. Choose from three broad types of approaches and five different risk-tolerance varieties: There are classic stock-bond portfolios; portfolios with a big slug in alternative strategies; and finally, a sustainable portfolio filled with ETFs focused on ESG criteria.
Cons: A one-time meeting with a financial planner is underwhelming. If you need more financial help than the one-time session, you’ll have to upgrade to a $10-a-month SoFi Plus membership, which gets you unlimited access to a financial planner.
SoFi checking or savings account holders with direct paycheck deposit become SoFi Plus members automatically for free. If not, the $10 monthly fee for SoFi Plus membership (basically $120 over a 12-month period) amounts to an additional 0.48-percentage-point fee on a $25,000 account balance. Of course, the more you invest, the less consequential the added SoFi Plus membership fee. A $50,000 investment brings the entire cost of unlimited access down to a more palatable annual fee of approximately 0.45%.
Takeaway: SoFi Robo Investing with a SoFi Plus membership makes the most sense if you have at least $50,000 to invest. There are other perks to a SoFi Plus membership that add value, including a 1% match on recurring SoFi Invest account deposits (which stay in the account for two years). And the sustainability port-folio may appeal to some investors.
Vanguard Personal Advisor
Basics: The granddaddy of hybrid advisory services calls for $50,000 in eligible Vanguard brokerage accounts to start and costs roughly between 0.25% and 0.35% in annual fees, depending on the portfolio you choose.
Pros: A team of advisers is ready to assist as often as you want. They’re not required to be CFPs, though some are. But all have passed the Series 65 or 66 exam, which is required in most states to give investment advice, says Doug Mento, head of advice at Vanguard. And they can help you make decisions about Social Security, health care funding or withdrawing retirement savings, among other financial topics.
Vanguard’s wealth management services can grow with you, too, if you choose. Once your account balance crosses the $500,000 threshold, you will be given the option to move up to the next advisory tier at Vanguard, Personal Advisor Select, which gets you a dedicated certified financial planner for an annual fee of approximately 0.30%.
Personal Advisor clients start by choosing one of three suggested portfolios. There’s an all-index ETF model, one that’s focused on ESG index funds, and an active/index combination portfolio that holds mutual funds and ETFs.
But that’s only a starting point. Each investment plan is then personalized. The adviser can adjust the tilts to international stocks in relation to U.S. stocks, for instance, or evaluate moves in your taxable account, including whether municipal bonds offer better income opportunity or whether it makes sense to hold on to any existing stock holdings — even if they aren’t part of the originally recommended portfolio — for tax reasons.
Obviously, expense ratios are relatively low; this is Vanguard, after all. An all-index portfolio has an average expense ratio of 0.05%. Even the expense ratios of the active funds in the active/index portfolio are dirt-cheap, ranging between 0.30% and 0.41%.
Cons: The minimum is higher than for most other hybrids, and it may be a hurdle for investors just starting out. Also, although the active funds in the active/index portfolio are mostly good, there is one exception: Vanguard Advice Select Dividend Growth has lagged its benchmark, the S&P U.S. Dividend Growers Index, in each of the past four calendar years since the start of 2022.
Takeaway: The low fees at Vanguard are certainly a big draw. And a semi-personalized investment portfolio means Vanguard Personal Advisor offers added oomph that other hybrids don’t.
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