Custom robo-advice platform development
Appfront builds custom software for automated investment advice: onboarding with identification, a risk profile and suitability assessment that complies with MiFID II, allocation to model portfolios, rebalancing according to fixed rules and periodic review. For asset managers, banks and fintech companies that want to make investing accessible without compromising their duty of care.
What is a robo-advice platform?
A robo-advice platform takes a client from first contact to an invested portfolio without an adviser's involvement: identification and onboarding, establishing objective, horizon, knowledge, experience, financial position and risk tolerance, a suitability assessment, allocation to a model portfolio and then ongoing management with rebalancing.
It differs from back-office automation for asset managers. That is about making existing processes more efficient; this is about the client side and the advice itself. For the former, we have a separate page on AI automation for asset managers.
The hard part of a platform like this is not the charts but being able to demonstrate compliance. Every client must have a file showing why this portfolio suits this person, even if the questionnaire has changed since. See also our wider approach to building custom software.
Suitability as a file
The advice is recorded together with the answers, the version of the questionnaire, the profile thresholds applied and the reasoning. Years later it is still possible to reconstruct why a client was given that profile at the time.
Model portfolios with rules
Portfolios are compositions with bandwidths per category, not individual orders. Rebalancing follows documented rules and thresholds, so the platform's behaviour stays explainable and testable.
Sustainability preference included
Since the tightening of MiFID II, the client's sustainability preference forms part of the suitability assessment. We build that questionnaire in and link it to the available portfolios.
How we build your robo-advice platform
We start with your licence, your investment policy and the questionnaire you use now. Compliance, investment policy and client services are at the table from the first meeting, because how the suitability assessment is set up determines the whole platform.
We map out your services, licensing framework, profile structure and portfolio structure. We determine which questions are needed, which outcomes are possible, and which clients you deliberately do not want to serve through this channel.
We design the profiling model with version control, the portfolio model with allocation ranges and rebalancing rules, the suitability file, and the integrations with identity verification, payments and the securities administration.
We build in short iterations with working demos for compliance and client servicing. We connect identity verification, payments and the custodian early on, as that is where lead times are least predictable.
Controlled go-live with a limited client group and full file review, followed by scaling up. After that, ongoing management, monitoring and further development whenever your policy or the supervisory framework changes.
What a robo-advice platform actually does
A provider offering only index funds needs a different platform from a firm with multiple strategies and an adviser behind the scenes. These are the features we most often deliver.
Onboarding & identification
Digital client acceptance with identification, checks against politically exposed persons and sanctions lists, and client file recording, set up to meet the obligations under the Dutch Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act.
Risk profile & suitability
Collection of objectives, time horizon, knowledge, experience, financial position, risk tolerance and sustainability preferences, with an assessment that determines the profile and records why a particular outcome was reached.
Model portfolios & allocation
Management of portfolio compositions per profile, with bandwidths per asset class and a version history, so that a change in investment policy does not retrospectively alter the past.
Rebalancing & orders
Alerts when a portfolio drifts outside its bandwidth, with order bundling and integration with your broker or custodian. You define the rules and thresholds; the platform applies them consistently.
Client environment & reporting
A portal and app where the client sees value, returns and costs, including the legally required cost information and an annual overview. See also our financial app.
Periodic review & alerts
Reconfirmation of the profile on a fixed cycle and alerts for events that may affect the profile, with a route to human contact when automated advice is no longer appropriate.
Who we build robo-advice platforms for
Automated investment advice is offered by very different parties, each with a different focus. These are the types of clients we most often build for.
Asset managers
Firms that want to open up their services to clients with smaller portfolios, where the cost of personal advice would not justify the effort. They need a scalable channel alongside their existing service.
Banks and insurers
Providers that offer investing as part of a broader package and need to fit the platform into existing client systems and compliance frameworks. See also AI for banking and finance.
Fintech companies
New providers entering the market with their own proposition who need to move quickly from licence to a working platform. See also our fintech app development.
Pension and employer schemes
Providers of wealth building through the employer, where participants have limited financial knowledge and guidance and communication weigh more heavily than the investment choice itself.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
We build on a modern, maintainable web stack and integrate with the parties that handle identity verification, payments, execution and custody.
Why Appfront for your robo-advice platform?
Appfront builds custom software and starts with your licensing framework and investment policy. With robo-advice, the difficulty is rarely the calculation. The real challenge is that every recommendation must still be explainable years later, even after the questionnaire, profile boundaries and portfolios have all changed.
That is why we build version control into the questionnaire, the profile boundaries and the portfolio compositions, and store which version applied to each client at each point in time. At Appfront, a suitability file is not a PDF produced afterwards but a reconstruction the system can generate itself.
The substantive choices remain yours and your compliance function's: which questions you ask, where the profile boundaries lie, how the portfolios are composed. We build the environment in which those choices are applied explicitly, testably and consistently.
See also our wider services: building custom software and software for the financial sector. Questions about your situation? Get in touch with us.
- Suitability file that the system can reconstruct itself
- Version control over questionnaire, profile boundaries and portfolios
- Sustainability preference as part of the suitability assessment
- Rebalancing rules defined up front rather than decided case by case
- Route to human contact when advice is not suitable
- Client onboarding built around Wwft obligations
- Integrations with brokers, custodians and payments
- Immutable audit logging of advice and execution
- Clear documentation for regulator and auditor
- Ongoing management when policy or framework changes
Security and compliance in robo-advice software
Investment advice to consumers falls under MiFID II and the Dutch Financial Supervision Act (Wft), with the AFM as the supervisory authority. At its core is the suitability assessment: you must be able to demonstrate that the recommended portfolio fits the objective, horizon, knowledge, experience, financial position and risk tolerance of this specific client. We build that demonstrability into the data model.
Since the tightening of the MiFID II rules, the client's sustainability preference is also part of the assessment. We link that preference to the available portfolios, so that a mismatch becomes visible instead of being quietly resolved.
Client data on an investment platform is personal data and financially sensitive. We apply data minimisation in line with the GDPR and build to OWASP security standards. More on our approach: information security policy and vulnerability disclosure policy.
- Suitability assessment demonstrable per client and per point in time
- Sustainability preference built into the questionnaire
- Client onboarding with sanctions and PEP screening
- Immutable recording of advice and execution
- Strong authentication for the client environment
- GDPR-compliant processing and data minimisation
- Encryption in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest
- Built to the OWASP standards
Frequently asked questions about robo-advice platforms
Answers to the questions we are asked most often about custom software for automated investment advice.
A robo-advice platform takes a client from first contact to an invested portfolio without an adviser stepping in: onboarding and identification, collection of objective, horizon, knowledge, experience, financial position, risk tolerance and sustainability preference, a suitability assessment, allocation to a model portfolio, and then ongoing management with rebalancing.
Almost certainly. Investment advice and portfolio management are licensed activities under the Dutch Financial Supervision Act (Wft), with the AFM as supervisor. We build the software; the licensing process and the substantive choices within it remain with you and your compliance function or adviser.
By recording the advice together with the answers given, the version of the questionnaire, the profile boundaries in force at that moment and the rationale for the outcome. Because the questionnaire and profile boundaries are version-bound, a past recommendation remains reconstructable even after the model has been changed.
Yes. Since the tightening of the MiFID II rules, the client's sustainability preference is part of the suitability assessment. We build that questionnaire in and link it to the available portfolios, so that it becomes visible when preference and offering do not match, rather than the difference disappearing.
Portfolios are given tolerance bands for each asset class. If a portfolio drifts outside them, the platform flags it and proposes orders in line with the rules and thresholds you have set. Where possible we bundle orders and pass them on to your broker or custodian. You set the rules; the platform applies them consistently.
In that case, the platform must recognise it and direct the client to human contact, rather than assigning a portfolio anyway. We build explicit exclusion criteria in and raise alerts when events affect the profile, for example a significant change in financial position or a time horizon that has become too short.
Yes. We build the platform and the logic; execution and custody run through the parties you work with. We set up those integrations early in the project, as lead times with these kinds of parties are the least predictable and the platform depends on them at its core.
We build bespoke solutions. Client profiling, portfolio structure and the way you fulfil your duty of care are precisely the elements that set you apart, and they do not fit into a standard package. After an intake meeting, we decide together which components carry the most weight and the order in which we develop them.
Ready to build your robo-advice platform?
Tell us which proposition you have in mind and how your profiling and portfolios are set up. We are happy to help think through the suitability assessment, version control for your model, and integrations with identity verification, payments and your custodian. In a no-obligation first conversation, you will get a clear picture of what is possible.