Betterment adds mutual funds for custom portfolio builders

Advisors using Betterment’s RIA custody offering can now expect to see a thicker fund catalog for its custom portfolios. The market-leading independent technology provider announced Thursday that it has strengthened its Betterment for Advisors division by introducing thousands of mutual funds to its custom portfolio options.

Betterment unveiled the changes strategically in time with a red-letter date in financial history, as the mutual fund structure celebrated its one hundredth birthday.

The wealth tech titan’s sweeping update – the first of many additions to the Betterment for Advisors platform this year, it says – also comes roughly two years after it first unlocked the ability for advisors to bring their own custom model portfolios.

"Betterment for Advisors is laser-focused on delivering a holistic platform that includes flexible portfolio options for RIAs across retirement and wealth," said Tom Moore, head of Betterment for Advisors.

“Adding mutual funds has long been advisors' top request, and we are thrilled to be able to offer this capability,” Moore said.

Betterment’s revamp opens up a vast ocean of possibility for advisors on its RIA custody platform. Based on statistics from the Federal Reserve, the US mutual fund market holds roughly $20 trillion in assets – a far cry from the roughly $4 trillion it held 25 years ago.

The firm says users of Betterment for Advisors can now complement ETFs with mutual funds in their custom portfolios using options from leading asset managers such as Vanguard, Pimco, T. Rowe Price and Fidelity, with more options to come in the weeks ahead.

Betterment’s mutual fund shelf reveal follows other significant updates it made in 2023, including the launch of a suite of tax-efficient tools that advisors can use to manage their clients’ assets, as well as improvements to its digital client onboarding.