10 Best Robo-Advisors for Socially Conscious Investors of January 2025
These robo-advisors build socially conscious investment portfolios and manage them for you, so you can invest ethically without the effort.
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Our deep, independent analysis of robo-advisors cuts through the details to find and evaluate the information investors want when choosing an investing account. To see our full methodology and learn more about our process, read our criteria for evaluating robo-advisors.
Over 60 investment account providers reviewed and rated by our expert Nerds.
More than 50 years of combined experience writing about finance and investing.
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If you want to start investing but would prefer for your investment dollars to do some good in the world, you may want to consider working with a robo-advisor. Robo-advisors use computer algorithms to build and manage an investment portfolio for you, taking into account your investment time frame and risk tolerance. The below robo-advisors offer socially conscious portfolios, allowing you to not only invest in your future but in the future of the planet and society.
» New to this? Read up on the basics of socially responsible investing
All of these providers offer at least one managed socially responsible portfolio, and many offer multiple managed socially responsible portfolios.
Most of these robo-advisors choose their assets using the principles of ESG investing. ESG is a way to measure a company or investment’s environmental, social and governance impact. Research firms and advisors often use ESG scores as a way to grade sustainable investments.
The bottom line: These robo-advisors can help you start investing in a socially conscious portfolio for no additional charge.
Best Robo-Advisors for Socially Conscious Investors
| Broker | NerdWallet rating | Fees | Account minimum | Promotion | Learn more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5.0/5 Reviewed in: Oct. 2024Period considered: Aug. - Oct. 2024 | 0.25% with a balance over $20K or qualifying recurring deposit. Otherwise, $4/month. | $0 $10 to start | Get up to $1,000 when you open and fund a new investing account. Terms apply. | Learn moreLearn more on Betterment's website AD Paid non-client promotion | |
5.0/5 Reviewed in: Oct. 2024Period considered: Aug. - Oct. 2024 | 0.25% management fee | $500 | Get a $50 customer bonus when you fund your first taxable investment account | Learn moreLearn more on Wealthfront's website AD Paid non-client promotion | |
4.9/5 Reviewed in: Nov. 2024Period considered: Aug. - Nov. 2024 | 0.15% per year
(approximately) | $100 | No advisory fees your first 90 days of Vanguard Digital Advisor investment management (Enrollment requires a Vanguard account with a minimum of $100) | Learn moreLearn more on Vanguard's website AD Paid non-client promotion | |
4.4/5 Reviewed in: Nov. 2024Period considered: Aug. - Nov. 2024 | 0.30% management fee | $500 | None no promotion available at this time | Unpaid non-client promotion | |
4.6/5 Reviewed in: Oct. 2024Period considered: Aug. - Oct. 2024 | $3 -
$12 per month | $0 | $10 sign -
up bonus | Learn moreLearn more on Acorns' website AD Paid non-client promotion |
Fees
0.25%
with a balance over $20K or qualifying recurring deposit. Otherwise, $4/month.
Account minimum
$0
$10 to start
Promotion
Get up to $1,000
when you open and fund a new investing account. Terms apply.
Fees
0.25%
management fee
Account minimum
$500
Promotion
Get a $50 customer bonus
when you fund your first taxable investment account
Fees
0.15%
per year (approximately)
Account minimum
$100
Promotion
No advisory fees
your first 90 days of Vanguard Digital Advisor investment management (Enrollment requires a Vanguard account with a minimum of $100)
Fees
$3 - $12
per month
Account minimum
$0
Promotion
$10 sign-up bonus
Fees
$12
per month
Account minimum
$0
Promotion
2 months free
with promo code "nerdwallet"
Fees
0.25%
management fee
Account minimum
$50
Promotion
1% match on rollovers and contributions
Terms and conditions apply. Roll over a minimum of $20K to receive the 1% match offer. Matches on contributions are made up to the annual limits.
Want to compare more options? Here are our other top picks:
Last updated on January 1, 2025
Methodology
NerdWallet’s comprehensive review process evaluates and ranks the largest U.S. robo-advisors. Our aim is to provide an independent assessment of providers to help arm you with information to make sound, informed judgements on which ones will best meet your needs. We adhere to strict guidelines for editorial integrity.
We collect data directly from providers through detailed questionnaires, and conduct first-hand testing and observation through provider demonstrations. The questionnaire answers, combined with demonstrations, interviews of personnel at the providers and our specialists’ hands-on research, fuel our proprietary assessment process that scores each provider’s performance across more than 20 factors. The final output produces star ratings from poor (one star) to excellent (five stars).
For more details about the categories considered when rating robo-advisors and our process, read our full methodology.
NerdWallet's Best Robo-Advisors for Socially Conscious Investors of January 2025
Frequently asked questions
While the various forms of socially responsible investing, or SRI, have different origins and missions, many terms (including impact investing, values-based investing, sustainable investing and ethical investing) are now used synonymously. Though ESG investing, too, is sometimes used interchangeably with the other terms, ESG investing really refers to a specific way of grading investments using environmental, social and governance rather than a general term for a way to invest according to a set of moral guidelines. Socially responsible, ethical and impact investors may use ESG standards to help them choose investments.
One important question to ask regardless of the term an advisor or robo-advisor uses for their socially responsible portfolios is how they create those portfolios. Traditionally, “socially responsible” portfolios have only excluded investments deemed unacceptable, such as stakes in tobacco or alcohol. There has more recently been a push to also include positive investments, such as solar energy companies. Now, there is little consensus about which terms use exclusive methods, which use inclusive and which use both. That’s why it’s important to ask about any potential advisor’s methodology for choosing socially conscious investments.
For the most part, no. While some robo-advisors let you exclude certain investments, their function is to build a portfolio for you. If you want to pick your own investments, you’ll likely want to work with an online broker (here’s our roundup of the best brokers). There has been a recent explosion of exchange-traded funds and mutual funds that make it easy for investors to support their beliefs within a diversified portfolio (they are also the building blocks of most robo-advisors’ SRI portfolios). These funds eliminate the legwork of identifying individual stocks that match specific ESG criteria. If you’re looking for socially conscious investments you can choose yourself, see our top picks for ESG funds.
Research from Bloomberg Green and the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing suggests yes. While every investment has some inherent risk, there is evidence that ESG investments may have lower risk than their traditional counterparts. And in studies from research firm Morningstar and asset-management firm Arabesque Partners, ESG investments have not only matched conventional funds in performance, but outperformed them.
If you’d like to know exactly what kind of impact your investment has had, it’s a good idea to request an impact report from the fund or company you’ve invested in. This will outline things like carbon emissions, gender diversity and initiatives to have an impact on local communities.