About

Since Benjamin T. Alden joined leading independent robo-adviser Betterment in 2014, the company has grown from several dozen employees to several hundred, and has increased its assets under management by roughly $11.5bn and now serves over 300,000 customers. Alden serves on Betterment’s management team and built and led the ‘mission-driven’ legal and compliance teams. Alden and the legal team expertly guide Betterment through fast-changing and complex regulatory regimes, as well as multifaceted challenges with legal, financial, policy, product and PR dimensions. ‘We are recognised as a center of excellence: everyone on my team has won a Betterment of Betterment award’ explains Alden. His main areas of focus during his time at Betterment includes creating the legal and compliance department from scratch, however the most integral change he’s made is embedding the lawyers deeply into key areas of the company, from product development, to marketing and to engineering, ultimately serving as partners to the business. ‘When we engage at the outset of a new challenge we’re able to help guide the business faster as trusted advisers and add more value in a regulated environment’ says Alden. Working in an ever-evolving industry has required him to work collaboratively with core participants to assists regulators and stay abreast of key regulatory issues. In line with this, Alden has been behind the founding and chairing of the Digital Adviser Committee within the Investment Adviser Association for all digital advisers. Helping put the fintech company on what Alden says is ‘strong regulatory footing’ is something he takes great pride in. ‘Speaking at the Securities Exchange Commission’s 2016 Fintech Forum as the only lawyer on the panel talking about robo-advisers, the industry Betterment helped create, meant a lot’. Alden’s proactivity in this area has led to the establishment of the Securities Exchange Commission’s guidance on robo-advisers, something which is excellent for the growth and stability of this important space in the trillion-dollar wealth management arena.