Betterment links its tool for advisers with outside tech provider

Betterment for Advisors is deepening its relationship with financial planning technology vendor RightCapital.

The two companies are already integrated, but the new partnership includes a joint go-to-market strategy with cross-selling components. RightCapital will help advisers develop investment workflows using Betterment for Advisors‘ digital platform, and advisers already using Betterment for Advisors will get easier access to RightCapital’s interactive financial planning features with a single login.

Cara Reisman, head of Betterment for Advisors, indicated that while the partnership today is more about “helping each other identify like-minded advisers,” it could mean deeper technology connections in the future.

“As we continue to get more familiar with each other, we will look to that product integration and how we can make that even better,” she said.

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The companies found a common user base in the XY Planning Network, the coalition of fee-only financial planners founded by Michael Kitces and Alan Moore.

Michael Caligiuri, founder and CEO of Caligiuri Financial and a member of XYPN, uses both technologies and said he would welcome improved data connectivity between the two. Specifically, he would like to see expected rates of return from Betterment portfolios transferred automatically to RightCapital so advisers don’t have to manually input them.

An integration with a vendor like Capitect, which would let Mr. Caligiuri and other fee-only financial planners collect fees from a Betterment brokerage account for managing a held-away assets like a 401(k), would be at the top of Mr. Caligiuri’s wish list.

“What adviser is going to bring high earner clients on to the Betterment platform if they can’t charge on the held away assets?” he asked.

Betterment for Advisors has “made tremendous progress” for such a relatively young firm, but he would like to see the platform connect better with the rest of his advisory tools, Mr. Caligiuri said.

Yves-Marc Courtines, another XYPN member and principal at Boundless Advice, echoed this point.

Betterment for Advisors needs to broaden its product suite to overcome other areas of frustration, such as branding, and partnering with a financial planning provider is a step in the right direction, he said. He called RightCapital a “well-regarded newer entrant that dovetails with Betterment’s reputation as newer and more technologically efficient.”

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RightCapital is strong on tax planning and comes in at an attractive price point relative to eMoney, a larger competitor, Mr. Courtines said.

Betterment for Advisors already has some product integrations with portfolio management tools like Orion Advisor Services and Advent Software’s Black Diamond. The company’s future plans will be driven by demand from advisers, Ms. Reisman said. The company continues to invest in the adviser version of the automated investing platform to give planning professionals more control over how they use the technology, she said.

“The adviser tech stack is pretty fragmented in nature,” Ms. Reisman said. “Any technology is prudent to think about integration to make the end-client experience better. We are looking at other technology we should be integrated with to make it a more streamlined experience.”