SoFi Invest Review 2023: A Robo-Advisor & Broker for Millennials

SoFi Invest services provide a user-friendly trading environment for active investors, along with the possibility of using the firm’s robo-advisor to build investment portfolios. (SoFi  Invest is the name of the service segment that fintech company Social Finance, Inc. offers its users to manage their investment portfolios.)  

Social Finance Inc. was founded in 2011, and as of this writing, the company claims to provide services for more than 1 million customers in the United States. Those services include investment services, banking, and insurance products — but the following review will focus solely on SoFi’s investment products and services.

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What is SoFi Invest?

SoFi Invest aims to be a one-stop shop for everything related to investment account management.

To achieve this, the firm currently offers two options for its users:

1. Users can manage their portfolios on their own using SoFi’s active investing service.
2. The firm’s robo-advisor can design a broadly diversified portfolio, composed primarily of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), to be constructed based on the client’s profile and financial goals.

This two-pronged approach from SoFi is what makes it an interesting choice for most of its clients because the majority of the robo-advisors on the market do not allow investors to get involved in any kind of active trading or investment activity.

Additionally, SoFi provides zero-fee trading for US-listed stocks and ETFs, while allowing users to actively participate in a community made up of investors using the platform. 

For those who prefer a hands-off approach to their investments, the firm also offers an automated investment feature that is fairly similar to other robo-advisors on the market today.

>> Read Also: 12 Best Online Brokers for Stock Trading

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How Does SoFi Invest work?

Once you’ve decided what approach you want to take with your investments (active or passive investing), you’ll then need to select an account type and open the account so you can start investing.

Account Minimum

No minimum deposit is required to open a self-directed trading account with SoFi Invest. However, the company does require that customers make a deposit of at least $10 within 30 days after they complete their registration.

Meanwhile, to access SoFi’s automated investing program, customers are required to deposit at least $1 to the account. As for the crypto account, the minimum deposit is a bit higher at $10.

Account Types

SoFi Invest’s users can pick between active investing or automated investing during the process of signing up, and each of the following accounts are supported by the firm:

• Individual taxable accounts
• Joint taxable accounts
• Traditional IRAs
• Roth IRAs.

Additionally, SoFi accepts transfers of accounts held by other providers, along with 401(k) rollovers.

Investment Selection 

SoFi offers a self-directed trading account (Active Investing) that allows users to operate with various US-listed financial assets. Here’s a list of the instruments that they currently support:

• Stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs): With SoFi, customers can trade US-listed stocks and ETFs easily and without any commissions. 
• Fractional shares: These are small slices of a given stock or ETF that can be bought and sold from SoFi to build diversified financial portfolios with a relatively small account balance.
• Cryptocurrencies: With the SoFi crypto account, customers can buy and sell more than 20 different digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polkadot, and Litecoin. The minimum order for these instruments varies from $1 to $10, and the market is open 24 hours a day, 7 days of the week.
• Options: Options are financial derivatives that give the holder the right, not the obligation, to buy (call) or sell (put) the underlying asset at a certain price before or on the expiration date set forth in the contract. With SoFi Invest, customers can buy and sell these instruments and apply for Level 2 options access to execute sophisticated strategies by using these derivatives.
• Initial Public Offerings (IPOs): An IPO is the first time that a company offers its common shares to the public, and SoFi’s customers can use its platform to get their hands on these fresh-out-of-the-oven financial securities before they hit the trading floor. No additional requirement is asked to buy IPO shares aside from having an Active Investing account.

Opening an Account

Opening an account with SoFi Invest should only take a few minutes (although the ID verification process can take up to 48 hours). 

SoFi allows users to open an investment account with as little as $1.

To start the sign-up process, you must click on the “Invest now” button in the upper right corner of SoFi Invest’s official website, and then follow the instructions to complete registration.

The process is very user-friendly, and it consists of filling out a few forms with your contact name, and certain financial information. 

Afterward, you need to choose the investment style you would prefer (active vs. automated), and then the funding method for the account. 

>> Read Also: Stash Review: Invest with as Little as $5

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SoFi Invest Features

SoFi Invest has great features to dig into straight away. Whether you’re looking to invest in cryptocurrencies or you want to buy fractional shares, SoFi likely offers what you’re looking for.

Active Investing

SoFi’s active investing feature provides zero-fee trading services for US-listed stocks and ETFs. They offer individual stocks listed in three different exchanges (NYSE, NASDAQ, and AMEX) and more than 2,000 exchange-traded funds.

This service is a good fit for active traders and hands-on investors who prefer to build their portfolios with the help of their own expertise and knowledge. Users can access the web-based and mobile trading apps to buy and sell securities. 

One of the most interesting features of this service is the ability to buy a fraction of a certain stock — also known as Stock Bits (SoFi’s term),  which gives retail investors with small account balances access to high-priced stocks like those of Berkshire Hathaway (valued at more than $200,000 per share).

Additionally, SoFi provides investors with access to a portfolio of selected cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. More about this feature below.

Unfortunately, SoFi Invest does not provide access to options, penny stocks, or mutual funds at the time of writing..

Automated Investing

SoFi Invest’s automated investing feature is a robo-advisor service that relies on time-tested investment strategies that aim to generate steady returns with the lowest volatility possible based on the firm’s thoroughly researched optimal portfolio allocation mix, which varies depending on the user’s financial goals.

One of the most important upsides of SoFi Invest’s robo-advisor service is that the firm does not charge any advisory fees for clients with account balances lower than $10,000. 

The firm also provides goal-based portfolio design and an automatic rebalancing feature. That said, the firm does not provide tax-optimization features or other similar advanced features that are offered by some of its competitors.

SoFi’s robo-advisor uses low-cost exchange-traded funds (ETF) to build its clients’ portfolios.

Retirement Accounts

SoFi’s retirement accounts can either be managed by the robo-advisor via the automated investing feature,  or they can be managed by the user through the active investing alternative.

Whatever the path the user takes, SoFi offers free investment advice through consultations with qualified financial professionals who can guide investors in achieving their retirement goals.

SoFi users can either open a traditional, Roth, or SEP IRA account with the firm, or they can transfer their existing accounts. 401(k) rollovers are also accepted.

Stock Bits

Stock Bits (also known as fractional shares) are innovative financial products created by brokers to provide investors with a small account balance with access to high-priced securities.

These stock bits consist of small portions of a certain publicly-traded stock or ETFs that can be purchased by specifying the amount of money that the user wants to invest in each particular security. This entitles an account holder to ownership of the chosen fractional shares selected once the trade is executed.

It is important to note that Stock Bits are only available for a handful of companies, including Amazon, Tesla, Netflix, Facebook, Amazon, and others.

>> Read Also: 7 Best Micro-Investing Apps 

Crypto Investing

Cryptocurrencies are considered a must-have financial asset by many (particularly millennials),  and SoFi Invest has incorporated the three most important cryptocurrencies into its portfolio of available securities.

At the moment, investors can trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin only, although the firm regularly expands its portfolio. A minimum amount of $10 is required for cryptocurrency trades. 

One advantage of cryptocurrencies is that they can be traded at any time, because the cryptocurrency market is up 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

SoFi ETFs

SoFi recently launched its own broad-market index-tracking exchange-traded funds (ETFs), along with two other actively managed ETFs for both their automated and active portfolios. 

The four ETFs promoted by SoFi are:

• SoFi Select 500 (SFY) — an ETF that tracks the S&P 500, which is one of the most popular US broad-market indexes, and comprises the 500 largest publicly-traded companies in the country. This ETF does not charge any management fees (as of this writing).
• SoFi Next 500 (SFYX) — an ETF that invests in 500 mid-cap US stocks that SoFi screens based on their growth prospects. This ETF does not charge any management fees for now.
• SoFi 50 (SFYF) — This ETF holds the top 50 stocks held on SoFi Invest’s platform, based on the portfolios of the active investors registered with the firm. This ETF charges a 0.29% annual management fee.
• SoFi Gig Economy (GIGE) — The gig economy ETF is designed for investment in high-growth tech stocks that SoFi’s team particularly likes after their shares have launched in the open market through an IPO. The firm charges 0.59% in annual management fees for this ETF.
• SoFi Weekly Income (TGIF) — The SoFi weekly income is an actively-managed ETF that seeks to provide weekly income by investing in investment-grade and high-yield fixed-income securities. It expects to distribute income on Fridays, hence the ticker TGIF.

SoFi doesn’t currently charge a management fee on their broad-market ETFs (SFY & SFYX) but that offer expires on June 30, 2021. From that point forward, an annual management fee will be charged to users who hold these ETFs.

>> Read Also: 12 Best Investment Apps: For Beginners & Pros

Platform and Mobile Apps

SoFi Invest has a proprietary web-based and mobile trading platform, and they are both highly user-friendly and modern.

However, they are fairly basic for more experienced traders, especially when it comes to technical indicators and other advanced functions.

Additionally, one important downside of SoFi’s platform is that it only allows for market orders, which is usually a dealbreaker for most active traders.

The web-based version of the trading platform can be accessed through the firm’s official website, and the mobile app is available for both Android and iOS devices.

Options Trading

Customers can now trade options by using the SoFi Invest platform. Options are financial derivatives that give the user the right, not the obligation, to buy or sell the underlying financial asset at a predefined price and either on or before the contract’s expiration date.

Options are available for both stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and they can be bought in lots of 100 contracts per trade and at multiples of 100. All customers with an Active Investing account can apply to execute Level 2 options trades. This involves taking long positions on both calls (buy) and put (sell) options.

As of today, SoFi Invest does not support Level 1 options trades, which involve the issuance of covered calls and buy-write options strategies. 

SoFi does not charge a per-contract fee to customers for executing options trades. These instruments can be traded from either the web or mobile app and there are several educational resources available for those who want to learn more about financial derivatives and options trading strategies.

IPO Investing

Initial public offerings (IPOs) are market events that consist of a company selling its common shares to the public for the first time. In the past, only wealthy investors had access to these opportunities. Now, various broker-dealers including SoFi Invest have allowed retail investors to buy these shares before they hit the trading floor.

With SoFi, all customers with an Active Investing account are allowed to participate in IPOs. To do this, they can browse through the list of upcoming offerings published on the SoFi Invest trading platform and indicate their interest in one or more of these deals.

Once the IPO’s prospectus and offering date are set, SoFi will send a notification to the customer who signed up to participate so they can make a formal commitment and put down the money to apply to buy as many shares as they want.

SoFi allocates IPO shares among its customers based on several factors including the customer’s track record when participating in previous IPOs, the total account balance, and how much money is available and settled at the time.

Customers can freely sell their IPO shares at any given point but restrictions are imposed on accounts that sell these instruments within 30 days or less after the transaction is completed. The restrictions include limiting the customer’s ability to participate in future IPOs for a period of up to one year.

Moreover, an additional fee may be charged to customers who sell IPO securities less than 120 days after the purchase is settled.

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SoFi Invest Trading Platform

SoFi makes available a web-based and mobile trading interface to its users. The web version of the platform is pretty user-friendly. The home screen displays the performance of major stock indexes, provides access to educational materials, and presents customers with a selection of stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and recommended portfolio allocations that they can easily trade with.

There is a section called “Collections” that takes users to a page where the most traded investments in a certain category or a group of selected instruments within that category are displayed.

The charting tools are pretty basic and may be used primarily for reference to see how prices have fluctuated within the past 5 years. Aside from its price chart, SoFi displays basic financial ratios and market statistics about the instrument, related news, and the possibility to add it to the customer’s watchlist.

No demo account is available at the time but since SoFi does not require a minimum deposit to open an account, users can give the trading platform a test before committing any money to it.

The SoFi Invest trading platform is designed primarily with beginners in mind, meaning that sophisticated traders may not find enough technical indicators or advanced tools to perform market transactions. 

SoFi supports the following order types on the Active Investing account:

• Limit.
• Stop-loss Limit.
• Fractional.
• Market.

It is also possible to place orders during the market’s extended hours by using the application and selecting “Extended Hours” on the trade ticket.

As for the SoFi Invest mobile app, nearly 2,000 users have rated it with a 3.3-star rating on the Google Play Store. The app has been downloaded more than 100,000 times already. Users primarily complain about bugs and glitches on the app, slow loading times, a poor-performing user interface, and difficulties to troubleshoot issues with the customer support team.

On the Apple App Store, the SoFi Invest app has received a similar rating of 3.7 stars after 2,400 ratings. Similarly, users complain that the app’s customer service did not satisfy their expectations and that its interface is unstable and works poorly most of the time.

Overall, these reviews seem a bit discouraging and call for deeper testing of the SoFi Invest trading interface by those who are willing to open an account with this provider. Since the minimum deposit is $0, we encourage our readers to give it a test and see for themselves if some or all of these reviews are true and whether the app works as expected or not.

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SoFi Invest Pricing & Fees 

SoFi Invest’s services are essentially free — except for one instance. 

The firm does not charge any fees or commissions on the trades made through its platform via the active investing feature, and no management fees are charged by the firm for the portfolios built by using its robo-advisor unless the account balance exceeds $10,000, in which case the management fee is 0.25%.

That said, there’s a minimum $1 investment required to open an account with SoFi Invest, and investors also have to pay for the expenses charged by the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) they hold, including the two offered by SoFi that currently charge a management fee.

As a bonus, SoFi provides access to qualified financial advisors, free of charge.

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SoFi Invest Customer Support

Customers can reach out to SoFi via phone from Monday to Friday from 5 am to 5 pm PT by calling this phone number: (855) 525-SOFI (7634).

It is also possible to talk to a customer support representative via live chat on the SoFi website. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days of the week. However, the customer’s issue will be first screened by a chatbot before connecting the person to an agent if needed.

The reviews left behind by users on the mobile app include several complaints about customer support representatives not being able to assist them with their platform issues, unanswered emails, and even issues with the language where a representative is not able to speak English fluently enough to communicate with the customer. These comments are a bit concerning.

On the Trustpilot website, SoFi has received feedback from nearly 7,000 customers and its average rating stands at 4.6 stars. This profile is verified, meaning that the company has claimed it and they have access to the reviews and can deal with any complaints made by customers via this website.

The Trustpilot statistics indicate that SoFi has answered negative comments in less than 2 weeks. However, it has only replied to 80% of these comments.

Meanwhile, the company is not a member of the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Its profile with this organization indicates that SoFi has received an average rating of 1.3 stars after 179 customer reviews and that a total of 1,121 complaints have been solved in the past 3 years.

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SoFi Invest Ease of Use

SoFi Invest gives customers access to both a web-based and mobile trading interface that can be used to deposit and withdraw money, engage with any of the company’s services – automated or self-directed investing – and participate in upcoming initial public offerings (IPOs).

The web version of the trading platform seems to be the most reliable of the two and it is very user friendly. Customers can either turn to the search box to find the security they would like to trade or search for instruments that fall within a certain category of their interest by browsing through the various “Collections” presented by the SoFi Invest platform.

As for the performance of the mobile app, users have complained that the software has multiple errors and glitches that have not been fixed by SoFi yet. These glitches sometimes prevent them from completing orders or making money transfers.

SoFi regularly updates its app, which means that some or all of these issues may be eventually solved. However, for the time being, it seems that the web interface is the best-performing alternative of the two.

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SoFi Invest Security

SoFi provides its investing services via three different subsidiaries. The Active Investing service and accounts are offered by SoFi Securities LLC, a company that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). This means that all Active Investing accounts enjoy the SIPC’s insurance coverage for up to $500,000 in securities and cash including up to $250,000 in cash.

Moreover, the Automated Investing accounts are offered by SoFi Wealth LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisory firm that is also a member of SIPC. The assets held in these accounts are protected by SIPC insurance as well.

All of the trades executed by SoFi Securities and SoFi Wealth LLCs are cleared by Apex Clearing.

Finally, the digital assets bought with SoFi are offered by SoFi Digital Assets LLC, a company that is registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the United States. These accounts and assets are not insured by any organization. 

The crypto accounts opened with SoFi are part of an ongoing project sponsored by the state of Hawaii that will come to an end in December 2024. Once that date is reached, SoFi may close all of its crypto accounts if authorities within the state require it.

SoFi shares some customer information with third parties to provide its services. For example, they share data with Experian for credit reporting purposes and with MOHELA for servicing their loans.

They collect information including personal data, geographical location, financial information, call recordings, and IT data including IP addresses and log files. Most of this data is shared with third parties unless the customer decides to opt out.

SoFi claims that it maintains “administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect your information’s security, confidentiality, and integrity”. Its website has a valid SSL certificate and no malware or phishing has been found on it meaning that data can be freely and safely transferred to the company.

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SoFi Invest Pros Explained

• SEC-regulated company: Social Finance Inc. (the company behind SoFi Invest) is a US-based, SEC-regulated financial services firm.
• Comprehensive investment platform: SoFi Invest is a two-pronged investment management service that offers its users the possibility of handling their own portfolio — or they can also let the firm’s robo-advisor design it for them.
• Low cost: The firm’s services are among the cheapest available because SoFi Invest charges zero fees on individual trades and no management fees on the portfolios the company builds and manages.
• Low investment minimums: An investment account can be opened with as little as $1.
• Free human advice available: SoFi offers human financial advice at no extra charge.
• Solid robo-advisor features: SoFi’s robo-advisor follows a time-tested investment strategy that focuses on the user’s financial goals to design their portfolios accordingly.
• Crypto trading available: The firm offers access to a limited selection of cryptocurrencies (an instrument that cannot be incorporated into the portfolios of most of its competing robo-advisors).
• Fractional shares available: Users can purchase fractional shares to get exposure to a limited selection of high-priced stocks that are commonly inaccessible to investors with a small balance.
• Strong security features: SoFi’s investment accounts are protected by the SIPC for a maximum amount of $500,000 in securities and up to $250,000 in cash.

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SoFi Invest Cons Explained

• No tax-loss harvesting: The firm does not offer some of the advanced portfolio management features that its competitors offer, such as tax-loss harvesting or high-beta portfolios.
• Limited crypto offerings: SoFi’s portfolio of cryptocurrencies is limited as it only includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.
• Basic trading platform: SoFi’s trading platform is fairly basic for experienced traders.

>> Read Also: What is Compound Interest and Why is it Important for Investors

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SoFi Invest Alternatives

Before committing to SoFi Invest, you should be aware of the competition and understand how SoFi Invest stacks up. 

SoFi Invest vs. Betterment

Betterment only competes with SoFi with its robo-advisory service. The firm currently does not support active trading within its platform. 

In this area, Betterment services are more advanced than those provided by SoFi Invest, because  Betterment offers tax-loss harvesting features, a set of high-end portfolios, socially responsible investing, and a premium solution for clients with an account balance higher than $100,000.

That said, Betterment’s services are more expensive than those from SoFi. They charge 0.25% on the account balance per year for managing the user’s investment, and they charge 0.40% for their Premium Advice accounts, which adds up over time when compounded.

However, clients with a balance higher than $10,000 have to pay SoFi that same 0.25% management fee.

SoFi beats Betterment in terms of cost (which is not a variable that investors should overlook),  but that’s only the case if the client has less than $10,000 in their account. For clients with higher amounts invested, Betterment excels in providing more advanced features for its managed portfolios.

Check out our full Betterment review to learn more.

SoFi Invest vs. M1 Finance

M1 Finance’s services, fee structure, and features are fairly similar to those provided by SoFi Invest. The firm doesn’t charge any fees for managing its users’ portfolios. But it lacks the advanced features that other providers like Betterment offer.

M1 Finance does offer the possibility of actively trading within its platform, however. Users can also build a custom-made portfolio apart from the one built by the robo-advisor.

It should be noted that M1 Finance requires a minimum deposit of $100 to open an investment account, while SoFi requires a minimum of $1.

Read our full M1 Finance review to learn more.

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Who Is SoFi Invest Best For?

SoFi Invest is a service that caters to a younger audience. 

Its imagery and branding transmit freshness. The firm has also incorporated fractional shares, active investing, and cryptocurrencies into their portfolio of services and instruments, as a confirmation of their target client. 

The ability to build a portfolio through a robo-advisor, while also having the opportunity to actively trade within the same platform is one of the key advantages of SoFi Invest over its competitors.

Additionally, SoFi’s zero-fee structure for both investment management and active trading increases the firm’s appeal to retail investors with small portfolios who are interested in investing (possibly for the first time).

>> Read Also: What is an Exchange Traded Fund ‘ETF’: Everything You Need to Know

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Notable SoFi Invest Updates

• On August 2, 2023, SoFi was included in CNBC’s first-ever list of the World’s Top Fintech Companies 2023 as a participant in the Neobanking category.
• On May 2, 2023, SoFi launched an educational material called “Making Money On Your Money: Sophia Amoruso’s Guide to Financial Independence” to help women better manage their personal finances.
• On September 27, 2022, SoFi announced the launch of ‘On The Money, ’ a content hub where they share interesting and helpful content about finance and investing for both members and non-members.

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SoFi Invest FAQ

We’ve found some of the most frequently asked questions with regard to SoFi Invest. Following are our answers. 

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Final Thoughts

SoFi Invest is one of the services provided by Social Finance Inc., a US-based financial services firm. 

The firm offers both robo-advisory services and an active investing feature that makes it stand out from plain-vanilla robo-advisors in the market. It also puts some of its services in an entirely different category, as the active investing feature is more a brokerage service than an investment management service.

SoFi Invest’s top competitive advantage is its zero-fee structure, allowing clients to save money on management fees, which translates into higher returns over time. 

However, its free investment management services only extend to accounts with less than $10,000. At $10,000 and up, its fees are similar to those of more advanced robo-advisors.

And for active traders, the firm also offers zero-commission trades for US-listed stocks and ETFs, which is a positive, though as of this writing, it’s a perk that many investment platforms offer. 

All in all, apart from the firm’s zero-fee approach, SoFi Invest is a decent service, but it does lack some of the advanced features available from other providers that can be useful and profitable for long-term investors. 

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