The Robo Report™, the first and only report on the performance and portfolios of robo advisors, published by BackenDBenchmarking, has been released for the first quarter 2017, the company announced.

The goal of The Robo Report™ according to the publisher is to bring transparency to robo investing. To date, it provides more than 1 year of data, encompassing investment returns, portfolio makeup, and trades within leading robo advisors. This information has not been previously available to the investing public or its financial advisors.

"We are proud to announce the publication of the third Robo Report™, covering the 1st Quarter 2017. This is a continuation of an ongoing study that monitors the most well-known robo advisors. We strive to provide a reliable resource for investors who are considering, or currently invest with, digital and automated investment products," said BackenDBenchmarking.

"In light of the recent emergence of algorithm- and automation-backed investment solutions, we think it is important to understand what their characteristics are in order to provide transparency for investors. That is why we believe the proprietary Robo Report™ is an innovative and go-to resource."

To really get a first-hand understanding about how the different providers operate and invest clients’ money, BackenDBenchmarking opened up, funded, and sought specific portfolios. For the taxable accounts, it sought a moderate allocation of approximately 60% stocks and 40% bonds for an investor in a high tax bracket.

As for the IRAs, the goal was to have the most aggressive (highest stock) allocation. Starting with a similar baseline allocation across the portfolios allows the publisher to measure performance and compare how its funds are invested as equally as possible on an ongoing basis.

For the 1st quarter of 2017, Schwab has fallen off the best leaderboard on equity and overall portfolio completely in the taxable account, but still leads in the fixed income portfolio from last quarter. For the first time, Vanguard has made the leaderboard with third place for the equity portfolio in the taxable account. International and emerging markets led the way for performance of robos in the Q1 report.

BackenDBenchmarking was spun off from Condor Capital Management, the original publishers of The Robo Report™. Alongside reporting performance on a quarterly basis, The Robo Report™ includes a discussion on the trends during the quarter that drove performance, highlighting portfolios that benefited or were disadvantaged by the trends. It has added a Robo News section highlighting news stories and announcements in the robo investing world.