Senior Staff Engineer - AI Platform

Betterment Advisor Solutions launches AI Document Reader. The new tool automates brokerage statement uploads and transfer requests, meant to cut account opening time. Davis Janowski, Senior Technology Editor, Wealth Management September 24, 2026 Want a quick summary? Betterment Advisor Solutions has launched an AI-powered document reader within its client onboarding experience that is meant to further automate the process of account opening. The document reader, built internally, allows advisors to upload client brokerage statements directly (often as a PDF), with AI populating transfer request details automatically, building on Betterment Advisor Solutions' digital onboarding that helps advisors set up transfers in as little as 30 seconds, according to the company. The tool adheres to Betterment's privacy and security standards, with customer statements not used to train AI models and sensitive data protected with encryption, among other security measures. The document reader joins Betterment's other AI features including an AI-enabled Account Recommender and Custom Portfolios AI Insights for retail customers and an AI Plan Benchmarking tool for retirement plan sponsors. Asked whether Betterment has built AI-notetaking tools or agents for its advisors, Alison Considine, who heads up strategy and business development at Betterment Advisor Solutions, said these were areas the unit was exploring. "Feedback from advisors helps inform our decisions for what is next on the roadmap," she said, hinting that such products might be coming. Betterment plans to make data from its new AI Document Reader available to agentic workflows in its advisor application before the end of the year, followed by an MCP release, according to CEO Sarah Levy in a prepared statement. The AI-powered document reader is available now to all advisors on Betterment Advisor Solutions. Betterment, which launched in 2010, later built Betterment Institutional in 2014, which then became Betterment for Advisors, and in 2024 was rebranded to Betterment Advisor Solutions. Senior Technology Editor, Wealth Management Davis Janowski is a New York-based technology journalist whose work spans consumer, business and the FinTech sectors. Prior to his six years with WM, Janowski worked for Forrester Research as an analyst covering Digital Wealth Management. In edition, he has worked for two FinTech startups, Wealthfront and New York-based FeeX, Inc. (now Pontera). His work covering the advisor tech space began in 2007 when he joined InvestmentNews as the advisor industry's first dedicated technology reporter. His start in tech journalism began as an editor with PC Magazine in 1999 where he later served as an analyst and reviewer. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Wealth Management., Financial Planning, RIABiz, InvestmentNews, PC Magazine, numerous blogs and several books, including Technology Tools for Today's High Margin Practice. He has also been a speaker and moderator at numerous industry conferences. Outside his day-to-day he is a senior guide for Manhattan Kayak Company in New York City.

Betterment client files class action lawsuit over loss of interest on cash sweep accounts. Last Modified on Aug 24, 2026 Betterment is facing a class action lawsuit filed by a client who alleges the robo advisor did not act in the best interests of its clients with regards to its cash sweep program, according to Wealth Management. The suit was filed in New York federal court by New Jersey resident Michael Treadway. He alleges that Betterment, as part of its Transfer Sweep Program (TSP), swept excess cash from clients into deposit accounts with participating banks that did not generate any interest. As a result, he said, investors lost significant interest they would have otherwise earned if Betterman had placed the money into deposit accounts paying "reasonable" market rates. Treadway states that Betterment's own materials acknowledged that funds held in its Transfer Sweep Program earn no yield, but that the firm's advisors received payments from the participating TSP banks based on balances maintained in those accounts. "Thus, every dollar of client cash swept into the TSP increased the base on which Betterment could earn bank payments, even though the client received no interest on that same cash," the complaint read. Betterment's disclosure documents noted its incentive to increase the balances in the TSP accounts. But Treadway contends the documents did not "disclose the magnitude of Betterment's bank-paid compensation, the spread retained, the amount of lost client yield, or the alternatives that could have allowed clients to earn interest on cash." The complaint points out that Betterment's Cash Reserve program offered clients "the opportunity to earn interest on cash," but the TSP disclosures did not explain why clients' funds would be swept into a non-interest-bearing account when interest-bearing opportunities were available. "Had Betterment provided full and fair disclosure of these material facts, plaintiff and other class members would not have agreed to have their cash swept into the TSP, would have transferred those funds to available interest-bearing alternatives, would have invested those funds elsewhere, or otherwise would have taken steps to avoid the loss of interest and Betterment's undisclosed capture of the economic return on their cash," said Treadway. Treadway, claiming to represent all those who have been affected by Betterment's sweep program, contends that the firm violated its fiduciary duty as a registered investment advisor. "We believe the claims are without merit and intend to defend against them vigorously," a Betterment spokesperson told InvestmentNews via email regarding the lawsuit. "We're unable to comment further on the specifics of pending litigation." The attorneys at Hyman Cotter include former senior attorneys at the SEC whose legal experience and industry knowledge make them uniquely qualified to provide counsel on securities regulatory, compliance and enforcement matters. Its attorneys fully understand the regulatory scrutiny financial professionals and their firms face from the various regulators that oversee the financial services industry. If your firm is facing an investigation from a regulatory agency, please contact Hyman Cotter at (833) 665-0784 or through its online contact form.

Betterment has launched Custom portfolios, allowing retail investors to build personalised portfolios security-by-security whilst maintaining automated portfolio management features. The new offering lets customers select from over 5,500 individual stocks and ETFs, with real-time AI insights evaluating diversification, sector exposure, and geographic exposure. The platform handles rebalancing, reinvesting, and tax-loss harvesting automatically. Customers can either personalise one of Betterment's expert-built portfolios or start from scratch. "Investors no longer have to make the all-or-nothing choice between DIY investing and full-service management," said Sarah Levy, Betterment's CEO. Custom portfolios are currently available for eligible individual taxable investing accounts. Betterment serves over one million customers managing more than $70 billion in assets across its wealth and savings platform.