Here’s Why Betterment’s CEO Loves That People Call His Investing Website A ‘Robo-Adviser’

By Libby Kane

The term “robo-adviser,” which can be traced back to 2002, isn’t usually meant as a compliment.

It refers to online automated investment platforms, which use algorithms to manage investors’ money automatically, rather than assigning a human adviser to actively manage each client’s investments. By calling companies that practice this investment method “robo-advisers,” critics insinuate that they’re something foreign, something unwelcome, something not human.

Betterment is one of the most well-known and biggest robo-advisers. So, how do they feel about the term? When we asked founder and CEO Jon Stein, he said:

This article originally published October 17th, 2014 on Business Insider