Betterment's Stein To Relinquish Chief Executive Post, New CEO Named

Tom Burroughes

9 December 2020

Online financial services group Betterment has named Sarah Kirshbaum Levy as its new chief executive, taking the helm from founder Jon Stein, who is remaining as board chairman.

The firm, which oversees more than $25 billion in client money, is one of the more prominent of the “robo-advisor” businesses that have been a much-discussed part of the wealth management ecosphere in recent years.

Levy, who most recently served as Viacom Media Networks' chief operating officer, has been an operating advisor at Betterment for the last several months. During her time at Viacom she was responsible for overseeing its global strategy, finance and operations for the $10 billion division that housed some of Viacom's major brands, including MTV, Comedy Central, and BET. Levy previously served as the COO at Nickelodeon for more than 10 years.

The change at the top ends a chapter for Stein, who launched Betterment in 2010, seeking to extend wealth management services via automated portfolio management strategies that had previously only been available to the ultra-wealthy. He also oversaw the firm's entry into the business-to-business space, launching its 401 arm, Betterment for Business, and advisor services platform, Betterment for Advisors.

Betterment serves more than 550,000 customers.