Guided Investing 101
Guided Investing is an automated investment tool that recommends and manages a portfolio based on your risk tolerance, financial goals, and preferences. It uses automated monitoring to rebalance your portfolio on a quarterly basis.
Your risk tolerance is assessed based on factors such as your financial goals, investment timeline, income, savings, and responses to questions about how you handle market fluctuations. AdvisiFi uses this information to assign you a risk score that guides our portfolio recommendation.
Once your risk tolerance is determined, Guided Investing recommends a diversified portfolio designed to align with your goals. The portfolios are built using a mix of low cost ETF’s that span across multiple asset classes, such as equities and bonds, to balance risk and potential returns based on your investor profile.
Guided Investing automatically executes trades on your behalf in response to deposits and withdrawals. In addition, guided investing will buy and sell assets to keep your portfolio aligned with your target allocation (rebalancing), as described below.
Your portfolio is automatically rebalanced once per quarter to ensure it stays aligned with the target asset allocation in the selected portfolio. Over time, market fluctuations can cause certain assets to become overweight or underweight in your portfolio. Quarterly rebalancing adjusts your holdings in an effort to maintain your intended risk level.
If you deposit additional funds between rebalancing periods, the system will allocate them according to the asset allocation in the selected portfolio without triggering a full rebalance. However, during the next scheduled quarterly rebalance, your asset mix may be adjusted to reflect any market shifts or changes to your investment strategy.
“Robo investing” advisors typically charge a subscription fee or an advisory fee based on a percentage of your invested assets. Third-party fees, such as fund expense ratios, may apply depending on the specific investments within your portfolio.
While Guided Investing recommends an optimized portfolio for you, some customization options may be available, such as choosing socially responsible investments or adjusting your risk tolerance over time. In addition, you may place restrictions on the portfolio by removing particular securities from the portfolio.
If your financial situation, investment goals, or risk tolerance change, it's important to update your investor profile to ensure your portfolio remains aligned with your needs. Based on your updated information, guided investing may recommend a new asset allocation or portfolio strategy during the next quarterly rebalance.
Your investments are held with a qualified custodian, RQD* Clearing, LLC, an SEC-registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA/SIPC. However, as with any investment, there is no guarantee of returns, and your portfolio is subject to market risks.
Securities 101
Investing can help you grow your wealth, achieve financial goals, and secure your financial future. You should consider investing for several reasons, including the following:
- Grow Your Money: Investing can allow your money to grow over time through various investment vehicles appropriate for your individual investment needs, which can include investments such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, each of which can offer higher returns than traditional savings accounts. However, investing in securities and investment vehicles is not without risk and you should consider all risks and your financial situation before investing.
- Save for Retirement: Investing in a retirement portfolio, such as a 401(k), can help you save for the future and live off the earnings from your investments during retirement.
- Earn Higher Returns: Investing in assets with higher potential returns can help you achieve your financial goals, such as buying a home, starting a business, or funding your children’s education.
- Build on Pre-Tax Dollars: Investing in certain retirement accounts, like 401(k)s, can allow you to contribute pre-tax dollars, reducing your taxable income and increasing your savings.
- Qualify for Employer Matching: Participating in employer-matched retirement plans, such as 401(k)s, can help you maximize your savings by taking advantage of employer contributions.
- Support New Ventures: Investing in new businesses, products, or services can be exciting and help create new jobs and opportunities.
- Reduce Taxable Income: Investing in retirement accounts or generating losses from investments can help reduce your taxable income.
- Compound Growth: Investing over the long term allows your money to grow exponentially through compound interest, which can significantly increase your wealth.
- Financial Independence: Investing can help you achieve financial independence by providing a passive income stream and protecting your wealth from inflation.
Securities trading refers to the buying and selling of tradable assets such as stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments. Securities traders aim to generate profits by making strategic purchases and trades, often working independently or as part of a larger firm like an investment bank or private equity firm.
In investing, a “security” is an investment instrument such as a stock or bond. However, there are a number of different types of securities, which include:
- Stocks (Equities): Represent ownership in a company and offer potential for capital gains and dividends.
- Bonds: Represent debt obligations of entities like governments and corporations, providing periodic interest payments and return of face value at maturity.
- Mutual Funds: Pooled investment vehicles managed by professionals, offering diversification by investing in a basket of securities.
- Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs): Investment funds traded on stock exchanges, often tracking specific indexes or sectors.
- Real Estate: Investing in physical properties, either directly or through Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).
- Commodities: Investing in physical goods like metals, energy, or agricultural products.
- Cash and Cash Equivalents: Savings accounts, money market funds, and other highly liquid, low-risk assets.
Risk tolerance is the level of risk an investor is willing to take given the inherent volatility in the value of their investments. It is a quantifiable measure of the amount of loss an investor is prepared to accept within their investment portfolio. Factors such as age, investment objectives, and income may play a significant role in determining a specific investor’s risk tolerance.
No. Since all trades are market orders, they typically cannot be canceled once the order is placed. For more information please review the InvestiFi Securities Customer Agreement.
For brokerage-related questions, please email support@investifisecurities.co or call 1-888-255-2740. InvestiFi Securities is equipped to address general inquiries and assist with the resolution of technical issues. InvestiFi Securities does not provide financial or tax advice.
To learn more about investing basics for stocks and ETFs, visit the learn content within the app.
No, trades can only be placed during market hours, 9:30 AM - 4 PM Eastern time on non-holiday weekdays. InvestiFi Securities does not permit after market hours orders at this time.
You can sell immediately after buying but you cannot use the proceeds to place another trade until both the initial buy and the sale settle. Settlement typically occurs around 5:30 PM ET the next business day but could take up to 2 business days.
All proceeds from sales will be transferred from RQD to your checking or savings account as soon as the transaction is completed and settled, usually around 5:30 PM ET the following business day.
You may use your checking account to fund your trades.
You can find the price of the asset in the transaction history after the order is placed. You can view all transactions by navigating to the transactions page from the menu. You can also see transactions for a specific asset on the Asset Details page.
Yes. Please contact InvestiFi Securities LLC to receive an Account Transfer form. Please have ready your most recent account statement for the assets you wish to transfer. InvestiFi Securities can be reached at Support@InvestifiSecurities.co or 1-888-255-2740.
The cash and securities are held in your brokerage account at a qualified custodian, RQD* Clearing LLC. RQD is the executing broker of trades and custodies assets of all customers on behalf of InvestiFi Securities. Please review your InvestiFi Securities customer agreement for more information.
Only account holders over the age of 18 and in good standing with the financial institution can buy/sell/hold securities. Commercial or business accounts may not be used.
No, Illiana Financial Credit Union is not a broker dealer, does not offer the investments and the investments are not insured by the NCUA. All securities and brokerage services are offered by InvestiFi Securities LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. However, your financial institution has partnered with InvestiFi Securities LLC (InvestiFi Securities) as your registered broker dealer. You will become a customer of InvestiFi Securities and open a brokerage account prior to being able to trade. Your InvestiFi Securities brokerage account will be held with RQD* Clearing LLC, a registered broker dealer and InvestiFi Securities’s clearing broker. InvestiFi Securities and RQD are members of FINRA and SIPC.
You will have to either sell or liquidate all of your account positions or transfer whole shares to another broker-dealer through the Automated Customer Account Transfer Service (or ACATS) before you close your account. Please see the InvestiFi Securities Customer Agreement for more information about closing your account. However, if you close your financial institution account, you will lose access to your InvestiFi Securities brokerage account. You will need to speak with an InvestiFi Securities rep before closing your financial institution account in order to determine what to do with the securities in your portfolio. Please see the InvestiFi Securities Customer Agreement for more information and to see your options for handling securities positions.
Buy and sell transactions and dividends paid are only able to be posted to a checking account at Illiana Financial Credit Union. Closing the checking account will result in:
- The inability to place an order to buy a security, and
- Sell transactions and dividends not being deposited to your financial institution account.
Investment advisory services provided by AdvisiFi, LLC (“AdvisiFi”), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Securities and brokerage products offered by InvestiFi Securities LLC (“InvestiFi Securities”) and RQD* Clearing LLC (“RQD”), SEC-registered broker-dealers and members FINRA/SIPC. AdvisiFi, InvestiFi Securities and RQD are not affiliates of Illiana Financial Credit Union (“Financial Institution”). The Financial Institution does not provide investment advisory or brokerage services, and nothing on this website should be considered an offer, solicitation of an offer, or advice to buy or sell securities or investment products or to open an investment account. Cash and securities held by RQD are (1) not insured by the FDIC, NCUA or other government agency, or by any private insurance offered in lieu of FDIC or NCUA coverage, (2) not guaranteed, (3) not Illiana Financial Credit Union deposits or obligations, and (4) may lose value. Securities and investments offered by InvestiFi Securities involve risk, including possible loss of principal.
Brokerage services are available only to residents of the United States and in jurisdictions where InvestiFi Securities is registered. Please visit [ InvestiFi.co/legal] for applicable terms, conditions and important disclosures.