Ellevest Ellevest is a goal-focused wealth management platform designed by women for women. Ellevest is designed for high-net-worth investors who can invest at least $500,000.
Ellevest is merging its automated investment account with Betterment. Existing automated accounts will be transferred to Betterment by April 17, and Ellevest will continue to offer financial planning and wealth management services.
Business Insider's personal finance team compared Ellevest Ellevest to comparable products and named it on our list of the best online financial advisors.
Pros and Cons
Ellevest Pros
- No minimum to open an account
- Access to CFPs
- Private wealth services and financial guidance are available
Ellevest Cons
- $12 monthly subscription fee
- High minimum to access private wealth services
- One-on-one financial planning is only 50% for Ellevest clients
- No longer offers investment services
Open an Account
$500,000
$12 per month
- Personalized financial planning and wealth management
- Monthly plans include discounted access to certified financial planners
- No longer offers investing services
- Private wealth management for individuals, families, and institutions requires at least $1 million to invest
Ellevest is a comprehensive financial planning and wealth management platform for women.
- Promotion: None at this time.
- Consider it if: You're looking for a one-stop shop for financial planning.
Compare Ellevest
$0
0.25% annual advisory fee
- No account minimum or management fees to invest
- Goal planning and automatic portfolio rebalancing
- Range of other account options across SoFi website
- SoFi offers complimentary CFP access across all accounts
- No tax-loss harvesting
- No socially responsible portfolio options
SoFi Invest is one of the best investment apps and the best investment apps for beginners. It's a great platform for US investors who are looking for an intuitive online trading experience or an open active or automated investing account.
SoFi Robo Investing- Promotion: None at this time.
- Consider it if: You're new to investing and want to leave the trading decisions to professionals.
$0 ($1 for fractional shares; $2,000 for margin trading)
0% ($5/month for Robinhood Gold)
- Free stock, option, ETF, and cryptocurrency trades; 0.01% APY on uninvested cash for non-Gold users and 4.00% for Gold members
- IPO investing available
- Cash management accounts available
- Website is easy to navigate; advanced charts for all users
- Lack of investing research and trading tools; can only take advantage of professional research if you're a Robinhood Gold member
- No joint accounts, education savings accounts, or mutual funds
- App store rating: 4.2 iOS/4.0 Android
- Consider it if: You want to trade crypto and invest in a wide range of stocks and ETFs.
$1 ($500 for automated investing)
$0 for stock trades. 0.25% for automated investing (0.06% to 0.13% for fund fees)
- Low annual fee for investment accounts; crypto trust investments available
- Tax-loss harvesting, portfolio lines of credit, 529 college savings plans available
- Cash account
- Mobile app and investing and retirement tools
- You need at least $100,000 to utilize additional investment strategies
- No human advisor access
Wealthfront is one of the best robo-advisor options if you're in search of low-cost automated portfolio management, and one of the best socially responsible investing apps for features like tax-loss harvesting, US direct indexing, and crypto trusts.
Wealthfront- Consider it if: You're balancing several goals and want to streamline your finances.
- Promotion: Fund your first taxable investment account with at least $500 in the first 30 days of account opening and earn a $50 bonus.
Ellevest Overview
Ellevest Ellevest is a woman-run investing and private wealth management platform for individual investors, offering a suite of financial planning services and tools for navigating change and coordinating estate plans.
Investment strategies tailored for women by Ellevest get you access to customized financial plans based on gender-specific salary curves and longevity data.
Ellevest stands out for its comprehensive educational resources and tools, including access to online workshops led by Ellevest financial planners. Plus, you'll receive monthly market insight from Dr. Sylvia Kwan, Ellevest's Chief Investment Officer. Ellevest is a fiduciary.
Ellevest approach to savings and retirement planning was designed to close the wealth gap experienced by women, Ellevest welcomes all clients, including non-binary and gender non-conforming individuals.
Personalized financial planning with Ellevest is one of the platform's strongest perks. However, you should consider other platforms — such as our picks for the best stock trading apps — if you're searching for brokerage services and investment options as Ellevest no longer offers robo-advisory services.
Ways to Invest with Ellevest
Let's explore Ellevest's offerings.
Ellevest Private Wealth Management and Financial Planning
Ellevest applies a holistic approach to private wealth management focused on goal-based investing, tax optimization, and top-down asset allocation based on objective and risk tolerance.
Ellevest offers guidance on various wealth management topics, including navigating generational wealth, inheritance, impact investing, and private alternatives.
Closing the gender gap in investing with Ellevest includes financial planning features, such as consulting with certified divorce financial analysts (CDFA), tax professionals, and CFPs. Ellevest financial planners offer one-on-one advice and live events.
Available Ellevest multi-session financial planning packages include:
- Financial foundation package + unlimited support: Get two 60-minute phone calls, one 30-minute phone call, and one year of unlimited email conversations with a CFP for personalized day-to-day money management guidance. CFP can help with spending, saving, paying down debt, and retirement planning. This package costs $1,100 for Ellevest clients and $2,200 for non-clients.
- Comprehensive planning package: CFP helps you manage multiple financial goals, including homeownership, career changes, and more. You'll get two 60-minute calls and multiple "what-if" scenarios to strengthen your financial plan. This plan costs $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. This package costs $2,080 for Ellevest clients and $4,160 for non-clients.
- Financial plan refresh package + unlimited support: Update your financial plan after a job change, moving, or another big life event. Get two 60-minute video calls, unlimited emails with a CFP, access to the financial planning portal, and an updated financial plan. This package costs $1,790 for Ellevest clients and $3,580 for non-clients.
Ellevest Automated Accounts
Ellevest previously offered two portfolio options: Core and Impact. However, Ellevest is transferring its automated accounts to Betterment by April 17.
- Ellevest Core: The standard portfolio option that invests your funds in a blend of ETFs and mutual funds to best reach your financial goals. This is a better option for investors not interested in socially conscious investing with an (ESG) portfolio. Fund fees range from 0.05% to 0.10% with Core portfolios.
- Ellevest Impact: With a socially responsible lens, this portfolio will invest over half of your funds in ETFs and mutual funds that uplift and advance women on boards and leadership teams. Up to 53% of your funds will be invested in ESG and impact funds, This is a great option for investors looking to make an impact while reaching their financial goals. Fund fees range from 0.13% to 0.19%.
Impact Portfolios allow you to invest in companies that advance women in leadership, support loans for affordable housing, or encourage sustainable and ethical business practices. At this time, Ellevest does not offer a fund that invests 100% of your assets in impact investments.
Portfolios mitigate risk with global diversification investments. You can invest in up to six investment portfolios, including one retirement portfolio.
The auto-deposit feature allows you to set aside a portion of your paycheck into your Ellevest account. Other features include tax minimization.
Ellevest Fees
Ellevest requires a $500,000 minimum for finanical planning and wealth management services. There is a $12 monthly subscription fee.
Private wealth management requires a $1 million minimum. Financial planning packages range from $1,100 to $2,080 for Ellevest clients and $2,200 to $4,160 for non-clients.
Ellevest Trustworthiness
Ellevest has a D- status from the Better Business Bureau. The BBB usually rates companies on a scale of A+ to F. Ellevest's D- is a fairly low score.
BBB ratings can vary per investment app, but the bureau generally considers the following factors when evaluating businesses: type of business, time in business, customer complaint history, licensing and government actions, and advertising issues.
Ellevest's record is clear of any major lawsuits or scandals.
Ellevest Alternatives
Here's how Ellevest compares to other robo-advisors.
Ellevest vs. Betterment
Ellevest and Betterment Investing are online trading and financial planning platforms offering advisor access and tax-smart strategies. Ellevest is transferring its automated accounts to Betterment by April 17 but will continue to offer wealth management and finanical planning to high-net-worth investors.
If you want to access Ellevest's automated Core and Impact portfolios, you will have to use Betterment.
It doesn't cost anything to open an account with Betterment, but you'll need to pay $10 to start investing (unless you use a $100,000 minimum premium account with Betterment). If you're interested in investing in cryptocurrencies or an automated investment account, Betterment is a better option. Betterment is also one of our picks for the best IRA accounts.
You can only use unlimited CFP guidance at Betterment if enrolled in the premium plan (which has a $100,000 minimum). Ellevest's wealth management account minimum is $500,000. That said, Ellevest clients get 50% off financial planning services.
Ellevest vs. Wealthfront
Compared to Ellevest, Wealthfront Investing is the better option for those searching for tax-bill-lowering strategies like tax-loss harvesting.
The platform offers a wider range of investments — including index funds and crypto trusts — and portfolio customization options. But it does require a $500 minimum for automated investing. Wealthfront is the best option for automated trading, as Ellevest no longer offers robo-advisory services after merging with Betterment.
Ellevest is a stronger choice for those who want access to financial planning. Wealthfront doesn't offer ongoing, one-on-one advisor guidance, but it offers a team of specialists to help answer any questions.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Ellevest
We examined the Ellevest investing app using Business Insider's rating methodology for investing platforms to compare and examine account types, pricing, investment options, and overall customer experience when reviewing investing platforms. Platforms are given a rating between 1 and 5.
Investing platforms typically offer multiple assets, trading tools, and fees. Some platforms are better for more advanced or active investors, while others may better suit beginners and passive investors. Ellevest was evaluated, focusing on how it performed in each category.
Business Insider's Overall Ellevest Rating
| Feature | Our rating (out of 5) |
| Fees | 3.50 |
| Account features | 4.00 |
| Access | 4.00 |
| Ethics | 3.50 |
| Customer support | 4.00 |
| Overall score | 3.80 |
FAQs
What is Ellevest, and what makes it unique?
Ellevest is a comprehensive investment and financial management platform for women. It is unique in that it considers women's longer lifespans and salary curves to create long-term investment strategies and resources to empower women investors.
What are the fees associated with using Ellevest?
Ellevest requires no account minimums or annual advisory fees. To access Ellevest brokerage accounts and financial planning services, you must pay a $12 monthly subscription fee. Expense ratios for funds range from 0.05% to 0.19% for portfolios. Financial planning packages range from $1,100 to $2,080 for Ellevest clients and $2,200 to $4,160 for non-clients.
Is Ellevest only for women, or can anyone use the service?
Ellevest is designed specifically for women's financial needs and goals but can be used by clients of any gender. It is an inclusive platform that welcomes all clients, including non-binary and gender non-conforming individuals.
Sofi Active Invest: Investments are not FDIC-insured - Are not bank-guaranteed - May lose value - Automated investing is offered through SoFi Wealth LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser.
