Where your money goes
When you fund your Illuminate account, your money is immediately directed to your personal account at Interactive Brokers. Your cash and investments are held at Interactive Brokers, not in Illuminate accounts, as we serve as your investment advisor. This structure ensures your assets are securely held by a regulated brokerage firm while Illuminate provides the advisory services to guide your investments.
What you're invested in
This depends on a few factors, including your account type, risk level, portfolio theme, and more.
You will be recommended one of our 8 core portfolios based on your risk tolerance level. Additionally, you can customize your portfolio with themes including Climate Technology, Women's Empowerment, Carbon Credits, Water Solutions, and Clean Energy, or just stick with the Core Portfolio. You can change your portfolio selection at any time. Just know there can be tax implications when you make a portfolio change.
Each portfolio is composed of individual company stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). An ETF is made up of broad holdings of stocks and/or bonds. Depending on your portfolio, you're invested in a mix of companies, regions, and bonds. We buy individual company stock for your U.S. stock allocation because we automate your voting at the companies you own to advance sustainability action. For example, if we were to buy the U.S. allocation of your portfolio through an ETF, we would not be able to vote at the individual companies, removing your ability to have your say.
After you've funded your guided investing portfolio, you can customize your portfolio by buying individual stocks and ETFs of your choice, as long as you are at risk level 3 or above in your investment profile.
