A New Robo-Adviser Lets You Build Portfolios That Shun Guns and Oil Shares

For many people, passively managed index funds have a powerful appeal: Buy one fund and be done. The 3,500-company Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund, for example, beats most funds in its category by owning essentially everything. But everything can also be a problem for those who want to put their money only into companies that are consistent with their values. For example, it means a liberal owning shares in gunmakers Sturm Ruger and American Outdoor Brands or companies that produce fossil fuels. You may be able to #deleteUber from your phone, but you can’t call your index fund managers and ask them to extract ExxonMobil from your portfolio.

The founders of OpenInvest, an online startup with backing from early-stage venture capitalist Y Combinator, think a cohort of newly moneyed millennials will be willing to pay extra for a passive investment that allows for more of a voice. They hark back to an older model of investing—people choosing stocks directly, rather than getting them through diversified funds. “It used to be that investing was like owning a piece of that factory or that building next door and saying, ‘I’m going to make some decisions that reflect what I care about,’ ” says Chief Strategy Officer Joshua Levin, 37, who joined OpenInvest in July from the World Wildlife Fund.