The Asset management capitalism and investment robots

business models in the US and Brazil

Authors

  • Martin Mundo Neto Faculdade de Tecnologia do Estado de São Paulo FATEC - Campus São Carlos (SP) Author
  • Julio Cesar Donadone São Carlos Federal University Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13037/gr.vol42.e20269792

Keywords:

indexed investment, passive management, exchange traded fund

Abstract

The expansion of investments with a passive management strategy has contributed to the growth of the investment robot market, transforming investors, laymen in finance, into rational economic actors, since the algorithms follow the prescriptions of the Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT). This article aims to analyze the business model of robots operating in the United States of America (US) and Brazil. In the US, clients' investment portfolios are built only with exchange traded funds (ETFs) of different financial asset classes. In Brazil, the robots, despite starting with a strategy similar to the North American one, started to build investment portfolios with an active management strategy, with non-indexed products. Investment robots operating in the Brazilian market, by abandoning the use of ETFs, lose the legitimacy guaranteed by MPT and expose customers to the risks of active management.

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Author Biographies

  • Martin Mundo Neto, Faculdade de Tecnologia do Estado de São Paulo FATEC - Campus São Carlos (SP)

    PhD in Production Engineering (UFSCar), Level III Professor at the Faculty of Technology of the State of São Paulo - Fatec Campus São Carlos. Researcher member of the Center for Studies in Economic and Finance Sociology - NESEFI.

     

     

  • Julio Cesar Donadone, São Carlos Federal University

    Full Professor in the Department of Production Engineering at the Federal University of São Carlos (DEP/UFSCar) and coordinator of the Center for Studies in Economic Sociology and Finance - NESEFI.

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Published

2026-09-14

How to Cite

The Asset management capitalism and investment robots: business models in the US and Brazil. (2026). Gestão & Regionalidade, 42, e20269792. https://doi.org/10.13037/gr.vol42.e20269792