Is It Cheaper To Invest A Small Capital In Individual ETFs Through A Broker or Robo-Advisor?

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A couple of months ago, I started my investing journey by putting my money in Syfe and DCA-ing a portion of my internship pay ($210) into it each month. I then split them between their Equity100, Disruptive Technology and ESG portfolios. I plan to continue for at least a couple more months till the end of my internship, in which I would have invested a total of almost $2000 by then.

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But since I've started, I've gained a lot more knowledge on investing and ETFs and now I'm considering whether I should continue to keep my money in those portfolios after my current plan ends.

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I'm looking into 4 options right now:

Keep my money where they are right now (Syfe's portfolios).
Move my money to Syfe Select Custom and choose my own ETFs.
Move my money to Kristal .AI which has no annual management fees for ≤$10,000 and select my own ETFs.
Move my money to Interactive Brokers and select my own ETFs.

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Which of these options would incur the least amount of fees for my current situation, with ≈$2000 capital and continuing DCA-ing a few hundred dollars each month?

Of course, I'm completely open to more options if you suggest them below with good reason!

Kristal.AI Interactive Brokers Syfe

Discussion (6)

What are your thoughts?

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Abdur Ames

20 Nov 2021

Robos and DIY portfolios through a broker are two very different creatures. The biggest difference is that one is a managed portfolio service while the other requires additional effort and time to rebalance your own portfolio.

If you are looking to DCA into individual ETFs, do bear in mind the ETF unit cost and the effective % you will be paying as fees to the broker. IBKR charges USD 2 minimum to convert SGD to USD, and a further USD 1.7 minimum commission for purchasing USD ETFs on the LSE. At SGD 210 you should stagger the frequency of injections across a few months to make sure you don't lose too much in fees.

Syfe custom wouldn't be a first choice for me. You will be paying the robo platform fees in addition to ETF fees without receiving one of the main benefits of investing through a robo advisor which is a managed portfolio service.

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20 Nov 2021

Main advantages of using robos (or an advisor) is that they will rebalance the portfolio, reinvest dividends automatically and you can buy fractional shares. if you only want to buy and hold or you have the knowledge and time to rebalance yourself, use your own brokerages.

let's say you continue to DCA $210 a month using a broker, straight off, S&P500 (VOO, SPY, IVV) are out of reach (current price $420). and this is only for one ETF. you have to increase your monthly contribution to meaningfully diversify across different ETFs.

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