The LSE Directory / Retail brokers
Betterment is a digital wealth management firm based in New York City that builds and manages diversified portfolios of low-cost ETFs on behalf of retail investors. Its core product automates portfolio construction, rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting around a client's stated goals, and the platform has since expanded into retirement accounts (traditional, Roth and SEP IRAs, Solo 401(k)s), a high-yield cash management product with checking and savings, and self-directed stock and ETF trading alongside the managed option. Betterment specialises in automated, goal-based investing for mass-market retail customers rather than high-net-worth clients, competing with other robo-advisors and with the automated-investing arms of large brokerages. Its differentiator is a hybrid model: a low, asset-based fee for algorithmic portfolio management, with an optional premium tier that adds one-on-one access to Certified Financial Planner professionals for an additional fee. Betterment LLC is registered with the SEC as an investment adviser, and its affiliate Betterment Securities is a broker-dealer and FINRA/SIPC member. The company was founded in 2008 by Jon Stein and Eli Broverman and is widely credited as one of the first robo-advisors to launch in the US market, debuting publicly at TechCrunch Disrupt New York in 2010. Stein led the company as CEO until December 2020, when Sarah Levy, formerly chief operating officer of Viacom Media Networks, took over as CEO. Betterment has raised outside funding from investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, Anthemis Group, Kinnevik, Francisco Partners and Treasury, reaching a valuation of roughly 1.3 billion dollars following a 2021 round that combined a 60 million dollar Series F equity raise with a 100 million dollar credit facility. Betterment has grown partly through acquiring other firms' automated-investing books of business: it took on Wealthsimple's US advisory accounts in 2021, acquired Marcus Invest's digital investing accounts from Goldman Sachs in 2024, and acquired Ellevest's automated investing business in 2025 (Ellevest continued operating separately for higher-net-worth clients). As of mid-2026 the company reports serving over 1 million customers with more than 70 billion dollars in assets under management, up from roughly 900,000 customers and 55 billion dollars in assets in early 2025.
