iAllocate Is A Robot That Helps You Invest Your Cash

By John Biggs for Techcrunch.com

Robots are everywhere. They help lawyers make decisions, they sweep up after our parties, and now they can help you figure out how to invest your money. In fact, an Atlanta-based company called iAllocate is using artificial intelligence to suggest where you should be stashing your millions.

“Currently, iAllocate.me provides investors of all levels a DIY set of tools to not only educate themselves about the investor inside them, but also take away a personal and strategic Asset Allocation Strategy. The user/investor can then instantly build a diversified Tactical Investment Portfolio with ETF (Exchange Traded Funds) recommendations, which have been intelligently optimized using a proprietary iA algorithm from a selection universe of more than 400 different ETFs,” said the co-founder Tom Pair. Pretty basic stuff, right?

He is working with Dr. Sudhir Sharma, a portfolio manager of 20 years with a background in nanotech and machine learning. Pair worked at Goldman Sachs, UBS and Barclays.

They have self-funded the project to the tune of $200,000 and they are looking into further equity funding.

The team has seen over 100 registrations and they are adding brokerage partners to help users act on the advice the robot gives them. They are also exploring offering the service as a white-label addition to investment house websites. “Comparable systems / software packages are expensive and not really an option for many upstart independent advisory firms,” said Pair.

“Pure objectivity, one of the most important factors in investment advice. We do not earn fees from trades. We do not require personal data (such as SS# or $ annual income). Nor are we ongoing stewards of important personal data,” he said.

By using machine learning and some nice design, Pair and Sharma have created a robot that makes it easy to pick your future. That’s pretty cool. Sadly, the robot can’t take you aside during a summer pool party, look you right in the eye, and say “One word: plastics.” That’s coming in version 2.0.

The article first appeared in Techcrunch.com