CLS Investments, Riskalyze launch robo exclusively for advisers

CLS Investments and Riskalyze are joining forces to offer financial advisers access to a new robo-adviser. The platform, which will be known as AutoPilot, will let users measure investment risks inherent in the portfolio. AutoPilot is slated to go live in early April, according to CLS chief executive Todd Clarke and Riskalyze CEO Aaron Klein. The platform, created jointly by CLS, an exchange-traded fund strategist, and Riskalyze, which offers a risk assessment and analysis tool, is intended to give advisers access to technology to better serve clients. It was unveiled Wednesday at Technology Tools for Today, a three-day gathering of advisers and technology vendors in Dallas. “I think what this may do is empower advisers to take on smaller accounts,” Mr. Klein said. “And have the capability to say the real difference between me and a robo-adviser is there's a neck you can ring if things go wrong.” There will be no upfront cost to join the platform but advisers will be charged 25 basis points on any assets put on it. In October, Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. announced that it is also developing an automated advice platform offered through advisers. The program, the retail version of which is known as Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, will be available free to advisers. Both Mr. Clarke and Mr. Klein dismissed concerns about the cost differential between AutoPilot and Schwab's robo-platform. "Frankly, we think advisers are going to say, 'Well, you get what you pay for,' " Mr. Klein said. (Outside IN: Schwab's robo-adviser ups the pressure on adviser fee structures) As for the future of robo-technology, Mr. Klein and Mr. Clarke said they have no doubts there will come a time when everything is automated, including life planning. "It's going to be twofold. Some will be do-it-yourself and some will be 'give me a window into someone who is doing it for me,' " Mr. Klein said. Those who choose to do it themselves may face challenges, not know how to maximize their opportunities and end up doing nothing with their money. "This is what you do when you don't know what to do," Mr. Klein said. "You ask someone who knows."