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Treat an AI-generated portfolio as a proposal to verify, not a decision to follow automatically. Check whether its assumptions match your goals and finances, calculate costs beyond the displayed management fee, and find out how the provider is paid and what service it actually promises.
1. Check whether the risk assumptions fit your situation
Start by writing down what the recommendation assumes, then compare those assumptions with your actual circumstances. A risk questionnaire result is only as useful as the information supplied and the factors the tool considers.
- Goal and time horizon: What is the money for, and when might you need it?
- Cash needs: Could you need withdrawals soon, or can the investment remain untouched through a downturn?
- Risk tolerance and capacity: How much loss could you accept emotionally, and how much could your finances withstand?
- Wider finances: Did the tool consider your other investments, debts, income needs, tax situation, and account type?
The SEC and FINRA caution that automated investment tools may not assess all relevant personal circumstances, including other holdings, taxes, willingness to risk loss, time horizon, cash needs, and goals. See the SEC/FINRA Investor Alert: Automated Investment Tools. If a tool did not ask about a factor that matters to you, do not assume it accounted for it.
Ask how the portfolio may behave
Ask what could cause the portfolio to lose value, how it might behave in a substantial market decline, and what triggers rebalancing. Find out whether the service can restrict or delay sales and which investments or account types it excludes. If its result conflicts sharply with your understanding of your own risk capacity, pause and ask the provider to explain the inputs and assumptions rather than treating the allocation as a personalized conclusion.
2. Calculate the full cost, not just the headline fee
A displayed advisory or subscription charge may not include every cost you pay. Build a list from the provider’s current documents and ask how each item is assessed and where it appears on your statements.
- Service charge: Advisory or management fee, including whether it is asset-based, subscription-based, or calculated another way.
- Investment costs: Fund expense ratios and other charges embedded in the investments.
- Account and transaction charges: Brokerage, custody, account, transfer, closure, or withdrawal fees where applicable.
- Indirect costs: Payments or other costs passed to third parties, if any.
Use the firm’s Form CRS as a concise starting point, then check its Form ADV, fee schedule, agreement, investment prospectuses, account statements, and trade confirmations for detail. SEC guidance recommends asking the professional to explain fees and comparing what is charged; see How Fees and Expenses Affect Your Investment Portfolio and Working with an Investment Professional. Confirm how often charges recur, whether they vary with account size or service, and how you can verify them after opening the account.
Why small annual fee differences matter
The SEC Office of Investor Education and Assistance’s 2025 illustration uses a hypothetical $100,000 investment growing 4% annually for 20 years. It estimates an ending value of approximately $208,000 with a 0.25% annual fee, $198,000 with a 0.50% annual fee, and $179,000 with a 1.00% annual fee. These are hypothetical illustrations, not forecasts, promised returns, or observed investment results. The SEC notes that “Fees and expenses reduce the amount of money in your investment portfolio earning a return.”
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3. Find out how the provider is paid
Ask how the adviser or platform earns money and whether compensation could favor one recommendation over another. Relevant possibilities include payments from investment providers, affiliated or proprietary products, referral or marketing fees, and connections to a broker that executes recommended trades. Compensation may also relate to assets or transactions.
Ask directly: “How might your conflicts of interest affect me, and how will you address them?” Request an explanation of what an identified incentive could mean for your portfolio choice and what the firm does about it. Form CRS summarizes conflicts; Form ADV and other firm disclosures may provide more detail. A disclosure helps you understand an incentive, but it does not by itself establish that the portfolio fits your circumstances.
4. Verify the service and the people behind it
An allocation alone does not tell you who makes decisions, what monitoring is included, or what happens when you want help or want to leave. Determine whether the provider is acting as a broker or investment adviser, what its agreement promises, and who is responsible for decisions and ongoing monitoring.
- What account types and investment choices are available, and what is excluded?
- How are rebalancing and monitoring handled, and can you reach a qualified person?
- What are the steps, costs, and constraints for withdrawing, transferring, or closing the account?
- Where are the current Form CRS, Form ADV, fee schedule, and customer agreement?
Investor.gov describes Form CRS as a short relationship summary covering services, costs, conflicts, conduct standards, and reportable disciplinary information. Check the specific firm and professional in the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) and FINRA’s BrokerCheck resources for registration, licensing, and disciplinary records. Verify current records yourself rather than relying on an AI tool’s description. Provider fees, services, relationships, and terms vary and can change, so use current documents for the service you are considering.
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When evaluating more than one AI-based service, compare them on consistent terms rather than comparing a single percentage or portfolio snapshot. Keep notes using the same questions for each provider.
Quick Recap
- Total ongoing, investment-level, and transaction costs
- Investment range, account types, and limitations
- Personal financial information considered and material factors omitted
- Risk assumptions, market-decline response, rebalancing, and monitoring
- Human support and who is responsible for decisions
- Compensation arrangements and potential conflicts
- Withdrawal, transfer, and account-closure terms
- Registration and disciplinary history
Questions to ask before you act
- What goal, time horizon, risk tolerance, cash needs, debts, and other holdings did you use, and what did you leave out?
- What could make this portfolio lose value, and how might it behave in a significant market decline?
- What do I pay directly, what costs are embedded in investments, and what other charges might apply?
- How often are fees assessed, can they change, and where will they appear on my statements?
- How do you choose investments? Do you receive compensation from product providers or affiliates, use proprietary investments, receive referral payments, or have a relationship with the broker executing trades?
- What conflict could that create for me, and how do you address it?
- Who monitors the portfolio or makes trades, what human help is available, and how do I transfer or close the account?
- Where can I review your current Form CRS, Form ADV, fee schedule, agreement, and registration or disciplinary record?
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