Morgan Stanley Is Using A Robo To Attract Younger Clients

Investment behemoth Morgan Stanley just entered the robo race.

This week, the firm debuted a digital investment product, Morgan Stanley Access Investing. The easy-to-use platform offers portfolios made up of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, combining elements of active and passive management. Investors need to put down a minimum of $5,000, and they'll pay a 0.35 percent assets under management fee - excluding fees and expenses relating to owning shares of a fund. To the company, its own way to reach younger investors.

"Access Investing allows Morgan Stanley's financial advisers to expand their reach and nurture clients by building a pipeline to the next generation of high net worth clients," read the announcement.

Morgan Stanley is the latest among incumbent firms getting into digital advice, following Wells Fargo and Bank of America Merrill Lynch that launched robo platforms earlier this year. What's at play here, say analysts, is a strategy to tap into the massive wealth transfer that's about to take shape.