Meet the all-woman team disrupting an antiquated financial industry

It’s not often you come across an all-woman management team in business — or in tech.

It’s even less likely you’ll find one that came together organically.

But that’s the case for the robo-adviser Betterment’s new 401(k) business line, Betterment for Business, which was built from the ground up by a group of five women.

“What I think is so cool about this is that this wasn’t intentional,” Jaime Strollo, the team’s product design manager, told Business Insider.

Instead, she said, it was the result of a concerted effort by the company a couple of years ago to hire for diversity. Betterment launched an internal club for women, Women of Betterment, and an even more niche group for women within the technology division.

The fact that the company made that a priority a few years ago ultimately enabled the all-female Betterment for Business, or B4B, team to come together naturally, according to Strollo.

“Someone told me a long time ago, if you’re at a company… and there’s no one there that you want to be, it’s time to move on,” B4B’s general manager, Cynthia Loh, said.

“So hopefully now we’re working in a much more diverse environment where there are women you can aspire to be.”

Betterment for Business launched in January to complement the company’s existing retail and institutional business lines. The 401(k) platform offers automated advice and low fees.

After announcing the new line in September, Loh said, they were overwhelmed by interested clients and had to stop taking on new plans by November.

Their clients span everything from doctors’ and lawyers’ offices to other fintech startups. Boxed, Estimize, and Stocktwits were among B4B’s first customers.

The majority of clients already had existing plans and have switched to B4B’s platform. With Betterment’s RetireGuide platform, individual customers can integrate their retail accounts with their 401(k)s and receive broader tailored advice.

“We’re incorporating your taxable accounts, we’re incorporating your external accounts, we have social security income, where you’re going to live, your spouse’s assets, your kids’ — it’s all in one place,” Loh said. “So you’re really getting advice from the whole picture.”

Meet the women behind the push for innovation in the antiquated 401(k) business.