Can you get a true understanding of a client's risk tolerance and place them in a portfolio with the appropriate portfolio risk by asking a few simple subjective questions? Robo Advisors Betterment (see my interview with Betterment founder Jon Stein) and Wealthfront believe they can but today's guest, Aaron Klein, co-founder of Riskalyze, believes those firms have it all wrong.
Aaron's firm tackles the risk tolerance and portfolio risk challenge from a different angle by utilizing concepts borrowed from Prospect Theory. Prospect Theory was developed by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky and essentially says, "People value gains and losses differently and, as such, will base decisions on perceived gains rather than perceived losses. Thus, if a person were given two equal choices, one expressed in terms of possible gains and the other in possible losses, people would choose the former." Source.
We had a fascinating discussion about how investors deal with risk and we capped it off with some thoughts about the future of the financial advice business. Aaron has strong opinions and he has the smarts to back them up. Don't miss this episode with Aaron Klein of Riskalyze.
