The largest independent robo-adviser is adding human advice to the automated technology it’s championed for years.
Betterment will offer recommendations from certified financial planners and other experts alongside its computer-driven service, which aims to build portfolios for a fraction of the fees charged by traditional brokers. The human touch will cost 50 basis points of clients’ assets for a “premium” plan allowing unlimited advice from financial planners, roughly double the charge for the company’s digital service, depending the account size.
The move marks an evolution for robo-advisers as they add more services in an attempt to win high net worth individuals and compete against traditional asset managers .
Citigroup, which participated in at least two funding rounds for Betterment, previously said wealthier clients wouldn’t move large chunks of assets to robo-advisers.
“Over the last couple of years, as our client base has gotten older and wealthier, we’ve had a call for handling more advanced situations,” said Alex Benke, Betterment’s head of financial planning. “We’re meeting that need now with the ability to talk to a certified financial planning professional.”
— Bloomberg
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