The latest news in investment offerings, financial products and other services relevant to wealth advisors and their clients.

Betterment
Betterment Advisor Solutions has launched Unified Managed Accounts (UMAs), adding the ability for registered investment advisors to combine multiple investment strategies within a single client account.

The new offering allows advisors to combine portfolios from Betterment's model marketplace, including Betterment and third-party models, with custom strategies held as separate investment sleeves, the firm said in a statement. Advisors can configure individual sleeves while maintaining a consolidated view of the client's portfolio.

Advisors set the overall asset allocation for each account, while Betterment coordinates rebalancing across the underlying sleeves. Its tax-loss harvesting and gains allowance management capabilities also operate across the different strategies.

Betterment Advisor Solutions provides custody, portfolio management software and back-office services to RIAs. Its platform also supports advisor billing and client offerings spanning cash, investing and 401(k) retirement plans.

The UMA launch follows an expansion of Betterment's model marketplace earlier this year. The firm added portfolios from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, State Street Investment Management and Vanguard, giving advisors access to third-party strategies alongside Betterment's own models.

Betterment said the UMA infrastructure will also support the future addition of direct indexing as an investment sleeve, which would allow advisors more scope to customize portfolios and manage clients' tax exposures.