Hey everyone, Josh here again for this weeks Friday finance review! Today, Im going to bring it back to the beginning of the finance reviews column with a review about an investing service. Today, were going to discuss the Motif Investing option. I havent seen too much chatter online about this company, but what I have seen has proven to be pretty interesting. They offer baskets or “Motifs” of up to 30 different ETFs in a system that reminds me a lot of Betterment.com, yet is far different. So, lets jump right into it!

Motif Investing Short Review

Motif Investing Pros – Choosing the stocks that you want to put your money into is simple. They have a wide range of what they call “Motifs” or baskets of stocks that you can choose based on a theme. One thing I really like is that you can leave it alone and keep the Motif as is, or you can customize it by taking out the stocks that you feel are too risky or making changes to allocation of funds from one portion of the bucket to the next. Motif Investing also provides a very simple platform structure thats easy to comprehend, even for the most novice internet based investors! Currently they are running a promo where you get $150 free when you open a new account !

Motif Investing Cons – One thing I dont like about Motif Investing is that it can get a little expensive if you later want to adjust which stocks are in your motif frequently. A beginner could get carried away swapping in and out several stocks weekly while the commission charges add up. Of course this is only a problem if you dont have much money invested.

Motif Investing Overall – Motif Investing is a great option for the indecisive investor that is happy with basket based investment plans. Their minimum balance requirements and fees are incredibly competitive and they make choosing stock baskets, or Motifs pretty simple. As with any option, this is not an option for everyone, especially those who would like to create customized profile with wide ranges of stocks from different themes. However, if you like the idea of theme based investing, or are new to the processes involved in online investing, this is a great option for you!

Motif Investing Long Review

When it comes to investing, one of the first things any seasoned investor will ask with regard to a broker or platform is, “What are the fees?”. That being said, lets start there! Motif Investing offers incredibly competitive fees. First off, to buy or sell any Motif will cost $9.95. Thats not on a per trade basis, its on a per “Motif” basis which can include up to 30 different ETFs at once. You do have the option however to buy or sell individual stocks within your Motif. That will run you $4.95 per trade. When we look at that in comparison to per trade fees on most other platforms, its easy to see that this is a highly competitive fee structure.

Another thing you may want to know is how much money it costs to start an account? In reality, we dont all have tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest. Even if we do, most of us would rather test the waters with a small amount before jumping in completely. That being said, you can start an account with an initial investment of $250.00.

Next, lets talk about what makes them unique, their Motifs. Motif Investing is a basket based investment solution. This means that you will choose a basket based on a theme with multiple stocks instead of choosing stocks one by one. This is like the basket investing we see at Betterment(read my review of Betterment here!). What Motif Investing has over Betterment is two things. First, they have several different “Motifs” that you can choose from with themes that vary greatly while betterment only has one main basket. Also, Motif Investing offers the ability to really customize your Motifs, something that Betterment simply doesnt provide.

Being able to customize your Motifs is a pretty important thing. After all, you may not be comfortable with the risk you will need to take to keep 30 different stocks in tact. Plus, allocation is one of the biggest aspects of investing. If youre not able to control the allocation of your funds, you may lose in the long run. In this platform, you have the opportunity to not only remove a stock completely from a Motif, but you also have the ability to customize the allocation of funds that a Motif receives.

Finally, the Motif Investing platform is among the easiest to understand in the market today. Its got such a simple design that, even if youve never used a computer before, as long as someone showed you the basics of using a mouse, keyboard and internet browser, youd be able to effectively invest your money with their platforms. I often talk about ease of use, and not all platforms are so user friendly. However, when it comes to Motif Investing, you can be sure that this one is!

My Final Thoughts Of Motif Investing

Overall, Motif Investing is a great company. Theyve got a huge client base for a reason! However, as with any other investment option, this ones not for everyone. If youre very picky about your stocks and you enjoy the process of choosing them one by one, this isnt going to be the option for you. However, if you are looking for a way to invest for your first time thats very easy to understand, or youd rather choose set baskets of stocks instead of combing the market for individual gems, Motif Investing may just be your best bet!