Betterment waives custody fees through Dec. 31, 2028 for RIAs transferring from Fidelity

Betterment will waive its custody fees through Dec. 31, 2028 for RIAs that transfer assets from Fidelity Investments. AdvisorHub first reported the promotion, which came days after Fidelity told custody clients they needed at least $100 million on its platform by July 2027 or leave — letters that, as this publication reported, offered no fee option to stay.

Qualifying firms have until June 30, 2027 to sign up with Betterment Advisor Solutions. The offer is open to RIAs that used Fidelity as a custodian as of Oct. 6 and did not already have clients with funded accounts at Betterment, per AdvisorHub. There is no minimum amount of assets that must move, and firms that Fidelity would not have forced to leave still qualify.

Betterment's platform fee runs from 0.12% to 0.20% of assets a year. On a $100 million book — the floor Fidelity set for staying — that is $120,000 to $200,000 in annual fees, and a firm signing at the June 30, 2027 deadline would have roughly 18 months of them waived, about $180,000 to $300,000.

The Fidelity-linked promotion does not specify whether firms that sign up would keep the waiver if the offer is terminated early, or whether other fees may still apply. In July, Betterment offered a broader waiver for firms that moved $10 million by the end of March 2027; that version required firms to repay waived fees if the assets later left, per AdvisorHub.

Other custodians are making their own pitches on social media in the wake of Fidelity's memo. Jon Beatty, head of Schwab Advisor Services, pointed out that Schwab works with more than 11,000 firms with less than $100 million, per AdvisorHub. Altruist CEO Jason Wenk wrote that the notice "should be a great first half of 2027 for Altruist" and noted his firm has no account minimums; AdvisorHub describes Altruist as a firm Vanguard agreed in August to acquire.