What Autopilot is not: not a brokerage, not a fund, not a signal service, not your personal financial adviser, and why each one matters

I'm Chris, one of the co-founders of Autopilot. Half the confusion about us comes from putting us in the wrong category, and each wrong category leads to a wrong expectation about your money. So here are the four things we get called, why each is wrong, and what the difference costs you if you get it wrong.

One thing first, because we're an SEC-registered investment adviser and I have to say it. Autopilot is the app. The actual investment advice comes from Autopilot Advisers, LLC. If you want the full legal version of anything in here, it's on our disclaimer page.

Not a brokerage

We don't open accounts, hold cash or securities, execute trades, or issue statements. Your brokerage does all of that, and it stays your brokerage. What we have is limited authority, granted by you, to send orders to the account you already have; when the Portfolio changes, we send them and your broker fills them, and the money stays put. Why it matters: if you think of us as a brokerage, you'll look for a deposit button that doesn't exist and wonder where your money went. It never left. The full picture is in Where your money actually is when you use Autopilot: allocation, custody, and why the app's balance won't match your brokerage balance.

Not a fund

A Portfolio on Autopilot isn't a pooled vehicle you buy shares of. You own the individual stocks and ETFs in your own account, in proportion to your allocation, and you can see every one of them on your brokerage statement. Some Pilots name their Portfolios "funds," because that's what they called them, but nothing here is a fund in the legal sense, and there's no fund fee or expense ratio; the cost is a flat subscription. Why it matters: a fund's return is the fund's; your result following a Portfolio is your own, shaped by when you joined, your allocation, your brokerage's fills, and your own actions, which is why Why your returns won't match the Pilot's: proportional following, timing, fractional shares, and the cash that never got invested exists.

Not a signal service

We don't send you alerts to go trade. The Portfolio changes, the orders go to your broker, and your account follows without you tapping anything. A signal service sells you decisions and leaves the execution to you; we deliver the execution and leave the one decision that matters, whom to follow, to you. Why it matters: if you treat Portfolio changes as signals and trade by hand alongside them, the system reads your hand trades as gaps to refill, as explained in Selling by hand while you follow a Portfolio: what Autopilot does next, and the two buttons to use instead.

Not your personal financial adviser

Autopilot Advisers, LLC is a registered investment adviser, but the advice is impersonal: Portfolio selection and suitability assessment, as our disclosures put it, not comprehensive financial planning. Nobody here knows your mortgage, your tax bracket, or your kid's tuition date. The Pilots are independent and aren't advisers to you at all. Why it matters: the questions a personal adviser answers, how much to invest at all, in what account, toward what goal, stay yours, and if you want them answered by a person you should hire one. What the adviser relationship does cover is in Is Autopilot SEC registered? How to verify it yourself in two minutes, and what registration does and doesn't mean.

What it is, in one sentence

An app where you follow a published Portfolio, a hedge fund's filings, a Pilot's own decisions, or an AI model's process, inside the brokerage account you already have, with an SEC-registered adviser sending the orders and your broker keeping everything. Everything we publish flows from that sentence, and every wrong expectation comes from swapping one clause of it.

Frequently asked questions

Is Autopilot a brokerage?

No. Autopilot doesn't open accounts, hold cash or securities, execute trades, or issue statements; your brokerage does all of that and remains your brokerage. Autopilot Advisers, LLC has limited authority you grant to send orders to your existing account, up to your allocation, and cannot withdraw funds. There is no deposit into Autopilot because there is nothing to deposit into.

Is Autopilot a fund or an ETF?

No. A Portfolio on Autopilot is a published set of positions that you hold directly, as individual stocks and ETFs in your own brokerage account, in proportion to your allocation. There is no pooled vehicle, no fund shares, and no expense ratio; the cost is a flat subscription. Some Pilots name their Portfolios funds, but nothing on Autopilot is a fund in the legal sense.

Is Autopilot a stock signal or alerts service?

No. Autopilot doesn't send trade alerts for you to act on. When the Portfolio you follow changes, Autopilot Advisers, LLC sends the orders and your broker fills them, so your account follows without you doing anything. The decision left to you is whom to follow and how much, plus a quarterly look at the record.

Is Autopilot a financial advisor?

Not in the personal sense. Autopilot Advisers, LLC is an SEC-registered investment adviser providing impersonal advice, Portfolio selection and suitability assessment, not comprehensive financial planning about your whole situation. The Pilots whose Portfolios you follow are independent and are not advisers to you. Questions about how much to invest, in which account, and toward what goal are yours or a personal adviser's.

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Since Autopilot Advisers is an SEC-registered investment adviser, we have to put disclaimers on stuff like this. They're below, and the full version is on our disclaimer page.

Disclosures

© Autopilot Holdings Corporation 2026 — All rights reserved. “Autopilot” refers to Autopilot Holdings Corporation and its wholly-owned, and separately managed subsidiaries, including Autopilot Advisers, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. All investing is subject to investment risks, including possible loss of the principal invested, and past performance is not indicative of future results. View our Customer Relationship Summary and other important information at joinautopilot.com/disclaimer.

This information is provided by Autopilot for educational and illustrative purposes only and is not a recommendation, an offer to sell or the solicitation to buy any security. Autopilot relies on information from various sources believed to be reliable, including information from Clients, Pilots and other third parties, but cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of that information. Autopilot does not provide tax or legal advice and you are encouraged to consult with professionals before making investment decisions.

Autopilot is not affiliated with, sponsored, or endorsed by the companies listed, described, or featured on its site. Company logos or trademarks used do not imply endorsement and are the property of their respective owners.

Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. You should carefully consider your investment objectives, risk tolerance, and time horizon before investing through Autopilot.

Autopilot Advisers, LLC is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Additional information about Autopilot is available in our Form ADV Part 2A, available at adviserinfo.sec.gov or joinautopilot.com/adv.

Autopilot provides limited investment advisory services focused on Portfolio selection and suitability assessment. Our services are not intended to replace comprehensive financial planning. We recommend consulting with a qualified financial advisor regarding your complete financial situation.

This content is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment, legal, or tax advice and should not be relied upon as the basis for any investment decision. You should consult with qualified professionals regarding your specific circumstances.

Autopilot does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult with qualified tax and legal professionals regarding your specific circumstances.

Autopilot does not hold client assets. All investments are held at the brokerage firm you select and connect to Autopilot. Your brokerage firm is responsible for trade execution, custody, and reporting. Autopilot is not responsible for your broker-dealer’s services, fees, or execution quality.

Autopilot’s services depend on technology systems, third-party APIs, and internet connectivity. System outages, API disruptions, or connectivity issues may temporarily affect service availability or trade execution timing.

Client account holdings are designed to track the Portfolio you’ve selected, but your actual holdings and performance may differ from the Portfolio due to execution timing, market conditions, brokerage capacity constraints, fractional share availability, and other factors outside Autopilot’s control.

For Portfolios inspired by publicly disclosed trading activity, there may be a delay between when a Pilot executes a trade and when that trade becomes publicly available and is incorporated into the Portfolio. This timing delay may affect the suitability or performance of trades when executed in client accounts.

Descriptions of Autopilot's structure follow its public disclosures, help center, and website FAQ as of the publish date. Autopilot Advisers, LLC provides impersonal investment advice and does not provide comprehensive financial planning, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a performance claim or a recommendation.