Betterment, a wealth and savings platform, has recently announced the launch of self-directed investing, a new offering that enables retail clients to buy and sell various stocks and ETFs commission-free. Via self-directed investing (SDI), Betterment extends its customer-first, intuitive experience to investors looking for more choice and flexibility. According to Betterment, over 75% of its customers now “hold self-directed investments off platform.”
Betterment previously only offered passive investing options as a robo-advisor. Betterment aims to become more competitive as the options for online investing and financial management continue to expand. Services like Robinhood are arguably better positioned to serve both novice investors as well as those with experience.
Sarah Levy, CEO of Betterment, said that investing isn’t a binary process, but rather, it’s a spectrum. Levy added that their customers want the ability to pick stocks and exchange-traded funds or ETFs alongside their managed accounts. By bringing these capabilities to Betterment, they’re focused on delivering “a more holistic investing and savings solution on one trusted platform.”
A key feature of the new product is Tax Impact Preview, a tool that helps customers make smarter, more tax-efficient trading decisions. The feature provides insights into how a “potential sale could affect an investor’s taxes, including capital gains and potential wash sales, before executing a trade.”
Levy continued by noting that tools like their Tax Impact Preview are could be quite useful. They added that the firm enables customers to “make informed, confident decisions at the moment of trade, something that’s never been done before in self-directed investing.”
According to the Fintech firm, this launch sets the stage for a “dynamic” 2026 at Betterment, with offerings such as direct indexing and additional tools “for investor personalization planned in the first half of next year.”
Betterment reports that it currently helps over 1 million customers manage more than $65 billion in total assets.