Overview: Portfolio Alignment is an M1 Advisor feature that gives you a personalized investment recommendation for one or more of your M1 Invest accounts. M1 Advisor asks you a few questions, reviews your holdings, and suggests target securities and weights for each account you choose.
It’s a recommendation only. M1 Advisor doesn’t place trades, and nothing in your accounts changes unless you take action yourself.
What’s included in a Portfolio Alignment?
For each account you include, you’ll see:
Recommended securities and target weights: Each account’s weights add up to 100%.
A reason for each security: A one-sentence explanation of why it was chosen and what role it plays.
A comparison with what you hold now: Your current weight in each security next to its recommended weight.
An alignment score: How closely your current mix of asset classes matches the recommended mix. See How is my Alignment
Your largest current position: A high alignment score can still include a concentrated holding, so this is shown separately.
A risk explanation: What the recommended risk level means for your goal and time horizon, and the trade-offs involved.
Any assumptions: If you skip a question, the alignment lists what M1 Advisor assumed instead.
You can also ask for the design summary for a more detailed explanation of how your recommendation was built.
Who can use Portfolio Alignment?
Portfolio Alignment is being released gradually, so you may not see it in M1 Advisor yet. To use it, you need at least one funded M1 Invest account.
Only M1 Invest accounts receive recommendations. Crypto, High Yield Savings, and High Yield Cash accounts don’t.
M1 Advisor looks at your other M1 accounts as context.
If you’ve linked accounts held at other institutions, M1 Advisor can consider what they report, but it can only recommend changes to your M1 Invest accounts.
How do I start a Portfolio Alignment?
Ask M1 Advisor for broad portfolio guidance. For example:
“How should I be invested?”
“Can you review my portfolio?”
“Build me a portfolio for my brokerage account.”
If you ask a narrower question, such as “Should I buy this stock?”, M1 Advisor answers that question directly and may offer to build a full Portfolio Alignment afterward.
What can I expect during the conversation?
M1 Advisor starts by summarizing what your M1 profile says about you, such as your risk tolerance, goal, and time horizon. You can confirm or correct it. If you already have a saved alignment, M1 Advisor will ask whether you want to refresh it or make a specific change. Then it asks about five things, one at a time:
Which accounts to include: All of your funded M1 Invest accounts, or only some.
What the money is for
When you expect to need it: If different accounts serve different goals, you can give each its own timeline.
How much you might need to withdraw in the next 12 months: A rough range or “not sure” is fine.
Your risk level: M1 Advisor suggests one of four levels (conservative, moderate, growth, or aggressive), repeats your answers back to you, and asks you to confirm. You can ask for a different level.
Good to know:
M1 Advisor asks these questions even if your profile already has an answer, so the recommendation reflects your situation now.
You can ask questions, change an answer, skip a question, or stop at any time. If you skip a question, M1 Advisor tells you what it’s assuming instead.
If you change an answer after confirming your risk level, M1 Advisor will ask you to confirm the risk level again.
How your answers are stored: With your confirmation, details such as your income or risk tolerance can be saved to your M1 profile. M1 Advisor may also save other context you share, such as plans to buy a home, to refer to in future conversations. Learn more in M1 Advisor Memory.
What will I see when my recommendation is ready?
M1 Advisor reviews all of your M1 accounts, including any you didn’t include, so the recommendation reflects your whole M1 picture. It then shows a summary card and tables for each account, and may point out up to two things worth your attention.
Figures such as account values, current weights, cash, and alignment scores come from your account data when you view them, so they’ll change as markets move.
How does M1 Advisor build recommendations?
Risk level, Your time horizon sets the maximum risk level:
When you expect to need the money | Highest risk level used |
Less than 2 years | Cash-like investments only (for example, ultra short-term Treasury ETFS) |
2-4 years | Conservative |
5-9 years | Moderate |
10-19 years | Growth |
20 years or more | Aggressive |
Within that limit, your financial situation, including any near-term withdrawals, sets the level. Your comfort with market ups and downs can lower the level but never raise it. If a lower level is used because of your comfort with risk, the design summary explains what that choice may cost.
Other things to know:
Securities: Recommendations are built mainly from broad, low-cost index ETFs available on M1. An individual stock is included only for a specific reason, such as keeping a position you already hold. Mutual funds, target-date funds, and money market funds aren’t available on M1, so they aren’t recommended. Accounts usually have about 4–8 securities.
Account types: Where possible, M1 Advisor places investments that tend to generate more taxable income in tax-advantaged accounts, and investments that tend to generate less in taxable accounts. This is a general approach, not tax advice.
What isn’t recommended: Crypto, leverage or options as core holdings, leveraged and inverse ETFs, market timing, adding more of your portfolio to a single company, or anything that promises a guaranteed return.
How is my alignment score calculated?
The alignment score is a number from 0% to 100% showing how closely your account’s current asset-class mix matches the recommended mix. For each asset class (such as U.S. equities or U.S. bonds), M1 Advisor takes the smaller of your current weight and the recommended weight, then adds those numbers up. If you include more than one account, your overall score is weighted by account value.
Example: Your account is 70% U.S. equities and 30% U.S. bonds, and the recommendation is 60% U.S. equities and 40% U.S. bonds. The score is 60% + 30% = 90%.
What the score doesn’t tell you:
It isn’t a measure of performance or suitability, and a higher score doesn’t mean better results. No allocation guarantees a particular result.
It compares asset classes, not individual securities, so a high score can still include a concentrated position. That’s why your largest position is shown separately.
It reflects your holdings when you view it and changes as markets move.
What can I do with my recommendation?
You can save an account’s recommendation as a pie, or leave things as they are for now. Creating a pie doesn’t buy or sell anything, and M1 Advisor can’t make changes to your portfolio for you. For steps and what to expect, see How is my Alignment score calculated?
Can I change or revisit my recommendation?
Yes. Ask M1 Advisor to change it. For example, you can ask it to:
Leave out a particular security or sector
Swap one fund for a similar one
Change which accounts are included
Use a different risk level
Each change is saved as a new version, and your most recent version is the one to act on. If you share new information later and it makes your current recommendation unsuitable, M1 Advisor will tell you and offer a revised version.
To view your alignment later, ask something like “Show me my portfolio alignment.” Figures use your current account data, so they may differ from when it was created. You can also regenerate a new alignment at any time.
Frequently asked questions
Is Portfolio Alignment personalized advice?
Yes. It’s a personalized recommendation from M1 Advisor, provided by M1 Advisory Services, LLC, based on what you share in the conversation and the information M1 has about your accounts. It doesn’t reflect your complete financial picture, so review it carefully before acting on it.
Does a person review my recommendation?
No. Recommendations are generated by M1 Advisor, which is AI-powered, and individual accounts aren’t reviewed one by one by M1 Client Success team members. M1 Advisor can make mistakes, so review your recommendation and the figures shown before acting on it. If something looks wrong, contact M1’s Client Success team.
Will M1 Advisor make trades in my account?
No. M1 Advisor can’t place trades, move money, or change your portfolio.
Is there a cost?
M1 Advisor is currently offered at no advisory fee and will remain free for M1 clients through December 31, 2027. If the firm introduces an advisory fee in the future, you’ll receive 30 days’ written notice and an updated advisory agreement before any fee takes effect, and you’ll have the chance to review the new terms and decide whether to continue.
Ready to put your recommendation to use? See Using your Portfolio Alignment Pie.
Advisory products and services are offered by M1 Advisory Services, LLC, an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Registration doesn’t imply a certain level of skill or training. Advisory services are distinct from the brokerage products and services offered by M1 Finance LLC. Clients receiving advisory services must also maintain brokerage accounts with M1 Finance LLC, which is a separate legal entity and a Member FINRA/SIPC. For important information about M1 Advisory Services, LLC, including fees, services, and conflicts of interest, please review our Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS
This content was generated using artificial intelligence and is intended for informational and educational purposes only. While reasonable efforts are made to ensure accuracy, AI-generated outputs may omit key context; and should not be construed as financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. Users should independently verify all information and consult a qualified professional before making any financial decisions.
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