Betterment Acquires Rowboat Advisors: What It Means for RIAs

Betterment’s Acquisition of Rowboat Advisors: What It Means for RIAs

Betterment’s recent acquisition of Rowboat Advisors marks a strategic step toward delivering deeper portfolio customization and tax optimization capabilities for RIAs—especially firms under $1B in AUM that have historically been underserved by traditional platforms.

At the core of the announcement is Betterment’s mission to combine automation with advisor-directed flexibility. Rowboat’s sophisticated overlay engine adds functionality like direct indexing, sell-only substitutes, intelligent tax-aware transitions, and household-level portfolio management—while retaining Betterment’s hallmark simplicity. Advisors will soon have the ability to override rebalancing behavior, control gains budgets, and view transaction-level simulations before executing trades.

The platform is also expanding its support for individual securities, SMAs, UMAs, and custom models. Advisors will be able to construct portfolios from legacy positions rather than starting from a model, enabling a smoother transition from incumbent custodians like Schwab or Fidelity. An implementation team is in place to reduce repapering friction and handle asset transitions with tax considerations in mind.

Billing flexibility is also increasing, with support for tiered, fixed, and ad hoc billing—including billing on held-away assets. And while Betterment continues to offer deep vertical integration—custody, portfolio management, reporting, billing—it also supports CRM and financial planning integrations, with plans to innovate around data repopulation for onboarding and account setup.

In short, Betterment is positioning itself as a vertically integrated, tech-forward alternative to legacy custodians and monoline challengers—able to deliver more value, faster, to a growing cohort of independent advisors. The combination with Rowboat enhances that vision by enabling advisors to deliver a truly modern and customized client experience with institutional-grade tax intelligence at scale.

RIAs looking to upgrade their tech stack or explore advanced portfolio customization should watch this closely. The next wave of advisor platforms is being built—and Betterment just added fuel to its engine.