Even if Acorns makes a serious mistake that costs you money, the most you can recover from them is capped at whatever fees you paid Acorns in the past 12 months — not your actual investment losses.
This cap means that if Acorns makes an error that costs you hundreds or thousands of dollars in investment losses, your maximum legal recovery is limited to a few months of subscription fees — a significant financial risk for anyone with substantial assets on the platform.
Cross-platform context
See how other platforms handle Limitation of Liability — 12-Month Fee Cap and similar clauses.
Compare across platforms →If you have significant investment assets with Acorns and suffer losses due to a platform error or negligence, you could be legally limited to recovering only a small amount (e.g., $36–$60 in annual subscription fees) regardless of actual harm suffered.
(1) REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: Limitation of liability clauses in investment adviser agreements are evaluated under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, Section 206 (anti-fraud provisions), which prohibits advisers from contracting out of fiduciary liability. The SEC has taken the position that certain liability caps may be inconsistent with an investment adviser's fiduciary duty under the Advisers Act. FTC Act Section 5 also applies if the cap is deemed deceptive. State securities laws (Blue Sky laws) in California, New York, and Texas impose additional fiduciary standards that may limit enforceability. (2)
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