Ellevest: Is It The Right Investment Platform For You?

Ellevest is a robo-advisor platform that offers a range of financial planning services and tools for women. It provides personalized investment portfolios, retirement planning, and private wealth management services tailored to women's financial needs and goals. The platform emphasizes ESG funds through its Impact portfolios and is designed to address the gender wealth gap by considering factors such as women's longer lifespans and salary curves. Ellevest offers a monthly subscription for $12, with no account minimums or annual advisory fees. However, there is a $12 monthly subscription fee, and funds expense ratios range from 0.05% to 0.19%. While Ellevest provides a range of benefits, it does not offer tax-loss harvesting or joint accounts.

Ellevest's investment management and pricing

Ellevest is a robo-advisor service that offers investment management and financial planning services. The platform is designed by women for women, focusing on the unique financial needs of women, such as lower incomes, career breaks, and longer lifespans. However, Ellevest is open to all users, regardless of gender.

Investment Management

Ellevest offers two main types of investment accounts: the Ellevest Plan for online investing and Private Wealth Management for high-net-worth individuals.

Ellevest Plan

The Ellevest Plan is a digital investment management service that offers the following features:

• Up to five goal-specific investment portfolios, including retirement portfolios, created to suit your financial goals.
• Tax minimization strategies, such as investing in tax-efficient municipal bonds.
• Automatic rebalancing of your portfolio to maintain your desired asset allocation.
• Discounts on one-on-one financial guidance and career coaching sessions.
• Access to educational resources, workshops, and a personal finance blog.

The Ellevest Plan has a monthly subscription fee of $12, with no account minimums or advisory fees. However, there is a $1 million asset limit for this plan.

Private Wealth Management

Ellevest's Private Wealth Management service is designed for clients with over $1 million in assets. This service offers personalized financial planning and investment management, including:

• Holistic financial planning that takes into account your goals, tax situation, and risk tolerance.
• Access to a dedicated team of financial advisors, including CFPs and CFAs.
• Impact investing options that address gender inequality, racial injustice, and climate change.
• Coordination with your accountants and estate attorneys.

The fees for Private Wealth Management vary based on the amount of assets under management, ranging from 0.55% to 1% for clients with under $2 million, and 0.55% to 0.95% for clients with over $2 million.

Pricing

Ellevest's pricing structure is straightforward and transparent. The Ellevest Plan has a flat monthly fee of $12, which provides access to investment portfolios, financial tools, and discounts on financial planning services. This fee remains the same regardless of the amount of assets under management, making it attractive for high-net-worth individuals. However, for investors with small portfolios, the fee can be relatively high compared to the industry standard of 0.25% of assets under management.

For Private Wealth Management, the fees are based on a percentage of assets under management, ranging from 0.55% to 1% for clients with under $2 million, and 0.55% to 0.95% for clients with over $2 million. This pricing structure is more in line with the industry standard for wealth management services.

Ellevest's financial planning services

Ellevest is a robo-advisor platform that offers financial planning services to its clients. The platform is designed by women for women, but it is open to all users. Ellevest offers two types of accounts: Online Investing (with no minimum balance requirement) and Private Wealth Management (which requires a minimum balance of $1 million).

The Online Investing option provides clients with up to five goal-specific accounts, tax minimization strategies, automatic rebalancing, and exclusive discounts on one-on-one financial guidance. The fee for this service is $12 per month or $129 per year. Ellevest's financial planning services include:

• Financial foundation package + unlimited support: This package offers two 60-minute phone calls, one 30-minute phone call, and one year of unlimited email conversations with a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) for personalized day-to-day money management guidance. The cost is $1,100 for Ellevest clients and $2,200 for non-clients.
• Comprehensive planning package: This package includes two 60-minute calls and multiple "what-if" scenarios to help clients manage multiple financial goals, such as homeownership and career changes. The cost is $1,599 for Ellevest clients and $3,198 for non-clients.
• Comprehensive planning + unlimited support: This package is best for folks looking to manage multiple overlapping financial goals. It includes three 60-minute video calls, unlimited emails, access to financial planning tools, and a financial planning portal. The cost is $2,080 for Ellevest clients and $4,160 for non-clients.
• Financial plan refresh package + unlimited support: This package is for clients who want to update their financial plan after a major life event, such as a job change or moving. It includes two 60-minute video calls, unlimited emails with a CFP, access to the financial planning portal, and an updated financial plan. The cost is $1,790 for Ellevest clients and $3,580 for non-clients.

In addition to these packages, Ellevest also offers a 50% discount on one-on-one sessions with CFPs and career coaches for its members. These sessions cover various topics, including budgeting, spending, saving, debt repayment, retirement planning, and career coaching.

The Private Wealth Management service is for clients with over $500,000 in assets and offers personalized planning, access to a dedicated team, impact investing, and investment opportunities that address gender inequality, racial injustice, and climate change. The fee for this service is based on the amount of assets under management:

• 1.25% for clients with under $1 million
• 1% for clients with $1-2 million
• 0.55% to 0.95% for clients with more than $2 million in assets

Ellevest's account options

Ellevest offers two account options: Online Investing and Private Wealth Management. The Online Investing option has a minimum account balance of $0 and costs $12 per month. It includes up to five goal-specific accounts with portfolios created to suit your financial goals, tax minimization strategies, automatic rebalancing, and exclusive discounts for one-on-one financial guidance. The Private Wealth Management option requires a minimum account balance of $1 million and has variable fees. It offers personalized planning, access to a dedicated team, impact investing, and investment opportunities that address gender inequality, racial injustice, and climate change.

Ellevest's portfolio construction

Ellevest is a robo-advisor that offers a unique service tailored to the needs of women investors. Its investment portfolios are constructed with a focus on the gender-specific issues of salary gaps, career breaks, and longer life expectancy. The platform has a questionnaire that helps determine the best investment strategy for the client based on their financial goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon.

Ellevest offers two main types of portfolios: the Ellevest Core Portfolio and the Ellevest Impact Portfolio. The Core Portfolio invests in a blend of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds from 21 different asset classes, with expense ratios ranging from 0.05% to 0.10%. The Impact Portfolio has a focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing and allocates over 50% of the portfolio to funds that advance women in leadership and promote sustainable and ethical business practices. The expense ratios for the Impact Portfolio range from 0.13% to 0.19%.

Ellevest's portfolio management includes periodic rebalancing to ensure the client's portfolio aligns with their original investment objectives. The company monitors client portfolios and makes adjustments as needed due to market fluctuations, additional cash deposits, dividend distributions, or changes in the recommended asset allocations.

Ellevest's customer support

Ellevest offers customer support through phone, email, Instagram direct message, and Facebook Messenger. Support is available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time. Email support is also available for urgent matters on weekends.

Phone calls with the Ellevest Client Support team are scheduled in advance, as the company does not publicize its phone support number. The team can assist with consolidating IRAs and old 401(k)s, customizing Ellevest goals and accounts, and any other Ellevest-related questions.

At this time, Ellevest only offers support in English. The company states that making investing accessible to everyone is part of its mission, and it hopes to expand its services in the future. For those who require assistance in another language, Ellevest recommends calling the Client Support team with a translator.

Frequently asked questions