Best for Beginner and IRA Investors
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios
Minimum Investment
Annual Management Fees
Platform Fees
Expected annual return
Underlying investment
Funding option
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios is a low-cost Robo advisor from Charles Schwab. It allows you to invest in various ETFs from your mobile app or the web. Schwab offers both automated advice and advice from a human, financial advisor in singapore. You will, however, need a minimum balance of $5,000 and you need not worry about advisory fees. Here is a Schwab Intelligent Portfolios review with all you need to know before investing with them.
All details
Key Features
- Account Management Fees: Schwab does not charge any management fees, which is quite rare among Robo-advisors.
- Account Minimum: The Robo advisor requires $5,000 for you to get started. This is relatively high when compared to other Robo advisors in the market.
- Expense Ratio: The platform charges for the expense ratios on the investments in their portfolios. The average expense ratio is 0.12%.
- Account Fees: Schwab charges no account fees, only the expense ratio on the ETFs.
- Portfolio Mix: Schwab offers a diversified range of portfolios. It has around 51 ETFs (Exchange-traded funds) with exposure to over 20 asset classes. The platform offers customized portfolios based on their answers to investment goals, risk profiles, and investors’ time horizons. There is no limit to the number of Intelligent Portfolio accounts a user can hold.
- Socially Responsible Portfolios: Schwab does not offer socially responsible options.
- Accounts Supported: Schwab offers a range of individual and joint taxable brokerage accounts. It also offers the traditional ROTH IRAs, SIMPLE, SEP, UGMA, Trusts, and UTMA.
- Tax Strategy: Offer tax-loss harvesting services, a valuable service for the high-income tax bracket.
- Human Advisor: Schwab clients have access to a human advisor 24/7 with a series of licenses, including 7/63 and 7/66. The advisors, however, do not offer personalized investment advice.
- Automatic Rebalancing: Swab automatically rebalances your assets for free.
- Cash Management Options and Savings Account: Schwab offers a low-interest rate, no monthly service fees, and unlimited ATM fee rebates.
- Customer Support Options: The Robo advisor offers phone and live chat 24/7. You can also opt to visit a Schwab branch and get help in person.
Pros & Cons
The Pros
- No commission or advisory fees
- Easy and quick account set up
- Customized investment options
- Offers 24/7 lives customer support
- It offers automatic account rebalancing
- Wide ETF selection
The Cons
- High account minimum balance
- Tax loss harvesting is only offered to clients with at least $50,000 in total assets
- It requires a higher-than-average cash balance
- The investment portfolio is not revealed until the account is funded.
- Human advisors do not give personalized investment advice
General Information
Other Fees and Charges
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios stands out from other Robo-advisors for not charging any advisory fees. You pay the usual fees associated with trading ETFs ranging from 0.03% to 0.18%. The service does not come with ongoing advice from financial advice.
You can, however, upgrade your account and have access to a Certified Financial Planner when on the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium account as long as you meet the criteria.
Here is an overview of the fees to expect from Schwab Intelligent Portfolios:
Category | Fee |
| Annual Gross Advisory fee for $5,000 account | $0 |
| Annual Gross Advisory fee for $25,000 account | $0 ($30/month for Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium plus a $300 setup fee) |
| Annual Gross Advisory fee for $100,000 account | $0 ($30/month for Premium plus $300 setup fee) |
| Termination fees | $0 |
| Expense ratios | 0.03% to 0.18%, with an average of 0.11%. |
| Mutual funds | NA |
Other Features
1. Goal Planning
Schwab intelligent allows users to curate their portfolios based on their financial goals. These goals can include:
- Vacations
- Retirement
- College
- Buying a home
- Creating a sustainable income stream
The Robo advisor closely monitors the portfolios to ensure they continue to be the best investment options for their clients while trying to reach your financial goals. Schwab Intelligent allows users to run different scenarios through the interactive tool and see the impact on the market, the underlying assumptions, and the contribution rates.
This feature is helpful to investors looking for recommendations and guidance on what to invest in. Schwab Intelligent’s basic plan assumes that you are comfortable with the current investment plan that you might have. The Schwab Intelligent Portfolios premium option offers you access to a Certified Financial Planner to help you make investment decisions.
2. Account Services
Schwab Intelligent offers different accounts to help you achieve your investment goals. Their accounts include:
- Traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
- Roth IRA
- Simplified Employee Pension Plan (SEP-IRA)
- SIMPLE IRA
- Revocable Living Trust
- Taxable brokerage accounts: individual, joint with rights of survivorship, tenants in common, community property, custodial
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios does not offer traditional banking services, including credit, checking, and debit card. However, it offers an easy way to set up an additional Schwab account to access the debit and credit cards.
3. Portfolio Construction
Your portfolio will be based on the personalized questions you answer during account setup. While setting up your account, you answer questions regarding your risk tolerance, investment goals, and time horizon. Schwab Intelligent uses your answers to design investment portfolios customized to you.
However, the ETF selection by the Robo advisor is not shared until you fund your account. Your portfolio is composed of ETFs from more than 20 asset classes.
4. Fixed Income
- Stocks
- Real Estate
- Cash
- Commodities
You cannot choose individual investments on Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. Still, there is a comprehensive array of several investments within both external and internal ETFs that meet client investing goals with asset classes. These asset classes include:
- U.S. Large and Small Company Stocks
- International Developed Large and Small Company Stocks
- International Emerging Markets Stocks
- The U.S. and International Exchange-Traded REITs
- Bank Loans
- Investment Grade Municipal Bonds
- Commodities
- Gold and Other Precious Metals
- Cash
- FDIC-insured Cash
- U.S. and International High Dividend Stocks
- U.S. Treasuries
- U.S. Investment Grade Corporate Bonds
- U.S. Securitized Bonds
- U.S. Inflation Protected Bonds
- U.S. Corporate High Yield Bonds
- International Developed Country and Emerging Markets Bonds
- Preferred Securities
Clients have the option to exclude up to three ETFs that they do not want on their portfolios. The algorithm suggests a reasonable number of ETFs as long as they meet the criteria.
5. Portfolio Management
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios performs excellently when it comes to portfolio management. This platform uses human supervision and technology to monitor the performance of a portfolio daily and rebalance it when needed. Your account will often be rebalanced to ensure that none of your investments go too far out of your goals.
Schwab is, however, not the best when it comes to tax harvesting. The services are only available to investors whose account balances are more than $50,000. You will need to also enroll in the service.
This platform also offers Schwab Intelligent Income an excellent option for investors retiring when it comes to transitioning to a retirement portfolio. Here is an overview of the features of Schwab Intelligent Portfolios that ensure excellent portfolio performance.
Automatic Rebalancing | Periodically |
Reporting Features | Goal Tracker, Schwab Intelligent Income |
Tax Loss Harvesting | Yes, with conditions |
External Account Syncing/Consolidation | Yes |
6. Security
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios has a range of security layers that are easy to reset. They ensure that your private and personal information is well protected. Here are the key security protocols in place on the platform:
- Risk-based security technology
- Encryption
- Identify verification
- Automated alerts
- Rigorous monitoring
The Robo advisor also recommends additional security measures to protect your personal information. These measures include:
- Enrolling in advanced authentication
- Setting up security alerts
- Signing up for voice ID
Creating an Account
Here are the steps to follow when opening an account with Schwab Intelligent portfolio. The process is pretty straightforward:
1. Go to Schwab Intelligent’s official website.
2. Answer the 12 questions concerning your investment goals, timeline, and risk tolerance to help tailor a portfolio that will suit your needs.
3. After that, you will be prompted to accept electronic delivery of records and disclosures.
If you run into a problem setting up your account, you can call their online representative to help you out. The representatives are available 24/7.
Disclaimer: This information may differ from what you see when you visit other financial service websites or the product’s official site, but Loan Advisor continues to keep every detail updated and accurate. This site may be compensated through third-party advertisers. However, the results of our comparison tools which are not marked as sponsored will always be based on objective analysis.
How Does Schwab Intelligent Compare with Other Robo-Advisors in Singapore?
Robo-advisor | Minimum Initial Investment | Platform Fees | Annual Management fees | Funding options | Expected Annual return |
| Schwab Intelligent Portfolios | $5,000 | $300 upon enrollment and an additional $30 per month charged quarterly | – | Cash | 3.35% |
| StashAway | No minimum investment | – | 0.8% (Up to $25,000) | Cash &SRS | 34.69% |
| Smartly | $50 | – | 1% (Up to $10,000)/ 0.7% (more than $10,000) | Cash | Not available |
| Endowus | $10,000 | – | 0.60% for first $200,000 0.40% flat fee for any amount of CPF or SRS money | SRS, Cash & CPF | 15.69% |
| Syfe | No minimum investment | – | 0.65% for a sum invested of less than $20,000 | Cash & SRS | 23.10% |
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios – Our Verdict
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios is a great Robo advisor that requires a high account minimum compared to other Robo advisors. While its portfolio is limited to ETFs, the platform offers extensive internal and external funds that reflect a range of underlying assets. It also offers the Intelligent Portfolios Premium account, an excellent option for investors with a higher account balance and who wish to invest at low monthly fees.
This Robo advisor charges no management fee apart from the regular ETF expense ratios. Schwab intelligent does not charge for the rebalancing functions and the portfolio allocation. However, if you are looking for more customization and goal planning support, you will incur an extra fee from the Robo advisor.
Final Thoughts
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios has a strong reputation with its low-cost ETFs and $0 management fees. However, it has a substantial minimum investment for entry, making it not the best option for investors who want to start small. The platform has a basic and a premium tier, offering more perks to investors but comes at an additional fee.
Key Takeaways
- Schwab intelligent is a low-cost Robo advisor with a minimum investment of $5,000.
- Schwab Intelligent Portfolios allow investors to customize their portfolios based on risk tolerance, investment goals, and timelines.
- The platform has a human customer representative available 24/7 to help with a problem.
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FAQs
What Is the Rate of Return on Schwab Intelligent Portfolio?
Since its inception, the Schwab Intelligent portfolio has had an average of 3.35% annual return rate.
Is Schwab Intelligent Portfolio Free?
Schwab Intelligent Portfolio does not charge any management fee on its account. However, for the premium option, the platform charges an upfront planning fee of $300 and $30 monthly, including access to certified financial planners 24/7.
Customers are still expected to pay an expense ratio of the investment on their portfolios and other funds. The average expense ratio on Schwab Intelligent is 0.12%.
What Is the Minimum for Schwab Intelligent Portfolios?
To enroll for the essential Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, you will need S5,000 and a minimum of $25,000 for the premium account.
What Criteria Do You Use to Select ETFs Used In Schwab Intelligent Portfolios?
Schwab ETFs and Third Party ETFs are selected stringently through strict criteria. This process ensures that the ETFs selected are cost-efficient and diverse. The Robo advisor selects through 2,000 ETFs and chooses the 51 ETFs in the client’s portfolios. Here are the criteria used by Schwab Intelligent Portfolios to select the investment ETFs:
The Size of the ETFs
ETFs without sufficient assets under management are stripped out. These ETFs are often at significant risk of closing, posing a bigger risk to investors.
Eschewing Risk
Nonstandard ETFs are eliminated from the selection process. These ETFs include those that are leveraged and inverse, the actively managed, those that invest in only one country, and those with less than one month of history.
Monitoring Consistency
The ETFs on the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios must closely track the indexes since the asset allocation is based on their accuracy. Here the platform measures how accurately the index follows the asset classes represented.
Low Operating Expense Ratio (OERs)
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios focuses on ETFs with a low operating expense ratio while meeting the tracking, size, and bid-ask spread criteria.
How Is My Portfolio Managed?
The Robo advisor monitors the performance of your portfolio through the following processes:
Professional Oversight
The platform performs regular performances to ensure asset allocation represents the right combination of return and risk. The portfolios are evaluated to ensure they meet the strict selection criteria.
Rebalancing the Portfolio
Your portfolio might not perform well daily, but the platform performs daily check-ins. If an asset exceeds its allocated portion, it is sold, and the proceeds are used to buy positions that have fallen off the target percentage. Rebalancing ensures that the portfolio is consistent with the investor profile.
Tax-Loss Harvesting
You are qualified for the tax harvesting services if your account is about $50,000. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios tracks your account daily to offset capital gains and strategically realize losses.
What Is Tax-Loss Harvesting?
Tax-loss harvesting is used to offset capital gains and lower the taxable income by automatically selling an ETF that has fallen below the price you paid for it and replacing it with another ETF in the same asset class to keep your asset allocation consistent.
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