Cambria IM teams with Betterment to launch robo-platform
Cambria Investment Management has collaborated with Betterment to launch Cambria Digital Advisor. The direct-to-investor automated service, which includes active ETFs, charges a technology platform fee of 0.15% plus underlying ETF costs but does not levy management fees, commission, or rebalancing fees. The firm, which manages around $330m in client assets, reported strong early interest in the service and said it continues to explore other robo-related options which could lead to another announcement within the next few months.

Cambria Investment Management says it has teamed with Betterment Institutional and launched Cambria Digital Advisor, which includes active ETFs but charges no management, commission or rebalancing fees.

The automated service relies on the RIA’s “Trinity Portfolio” approach — global diversification, value and momentum — and will charge a technology platform fee of 0.15%, along with any underlying ETF cost, for both its Cambria-branded active ETFs and those made by passive ETF providers. (Accounts can be opened with $100,000 of assets and up.)

With its direct-to-investor service, “We have had strong initial, first-day audience sign ups,” said Cambria Chief Investment Officer Meb Faber, in an interview with ThinkAdvisor. “Most robo-advisors offer allocation models that are all nearly the same vs. our offerings, which are very different.”

Faber says demand from advisors is proving “strong, too,” which should lead to more automated-investing rollouts from Cambria, which has some $330 million of client assets.

“Advisors have been asking us about the portfolio allocations. We are talking about this with other advisors and looking at options on different technology platforms,” he said. “We are exploring what to offer direct to advisors.”

The exploration could lead to another robo-related announcement perhaps as early as a few weeks or months from now, Faber says. (He also expects the minimum account size to come down over time.)

Cambria wanted to move into the robo space earlier. But “it presented a logistical challenge, and the technology hadn’t been up to par until recently,” the CIO explained.