It’s no hidden secret that the investing industry has been built by men, for men. It’s all about picking the best stock and beating the market — and not about taking into account women’s longer lifespans and reaching financial goals.
Today, the market is answering the call for portfolio management platforms specifically created for women. One of these platforms is Ellevest, a female-focused automated investing platform founded by former Wall Street CEO and finance industry veteran, Sallie Krawcheck. Nicknamed by Fortune Magazine as “The Last Honest Analyst,” Krawcheck believes gender-neutral investing fails women, so she turned the problem on its head by giving women a platform targeted to their life paths and financial goals.
To level the playing field for women, we’re teaming up with Ellevest on economic empowerment. Read on to get financially empowered.
True Equality Includes Financial Equality
As we work to achieve equality for all women, we’re also aware that true equality includes financial equality. You’ve likely heard about the pay gap—but did you also know that there is an investing gap too?
And that gap exists not only between men and women — but between women, with the median wealth for women of color at just pennies on the dollar compared to white men and white women. This needs to change.
Women and Investing
Here are the facts: women live longer, we earn less—and, we need to account for that while preparing for the future. So, ask for that raise you deserve, negotiate when you’re applying for that job, set a budget for yourself (we recommend the 50/30/20 rule), talk about money with friends, partners, colleagues, family, and start investing regularly.
Ready to start investing? Get started investing in minutes with Ellevest, a company designed by women, for women with no minimum to start.
Ellevest is an easy online investing tool using algorithms tailored to your salary, gender, and lifespan (aka your real life).
⇒ Get Started Investing With Ellevest
What is Ellevest?
Having created partnerships with entrepreneurs, analysts, engineers, Ellevest’s goal is to close the gender investing gap and empower women take financial control today.
And that’s not just a cute marketing slogan, either.
Gender-based investing at Ellevest means factoring women’s generally longer lifespan, lower incomes, and different lifetime earnings curve into portfolio construction. Another way the company delivers on its female empowerment promise is through its Impact Portfolios, which give clients the opportunity to invest up to half of their portfolios into funds that drive positive social and economic change (check) … by advancing women.
The company’s 0.25% advisory fee for Ellevest Digital — no minimum account requirement — and 0.50% advisory for Ellevest Premium ($50,000 minimum), which includes access to certified financial planners and executive career coaching services, make them competitive among robo-advisor rivals like Betterment and Wealthfront and especially attractive to female investors.
In a planning mood? See how an investment plan could help you manage your finances. Ellevest is one way to do it. You can get a personalized portfolio in under 10 min. And it’s made by women, for women.
Invest in Women. Starting with Yourself.
At the core, impact investing is designed to effect positive social and economic change. At Ellevest, this is done through impact investment portfolios that work to advance women. With these, you could earn a competitive return so that you can reach our goals — like starting a business, buying a home, starting a family, and retiring comfortably—by investing in other women (brilliant, right?).
So, rather than lusting after the latest Chloé bag or throwing money into that last minute weekend getaway—put it towards your goals.
In order to glean more into what impact investing is and how it works, I sat down with Sylvia Kwan, CFO of Ellevest to talk about how they invest for you, with $0 minimum and low fees.
They Believe in the Power of Women
“Not only are companies led by women more successful, but women leaders hire more women and pay women more. We also direct trillions of dollars in consumer spending (think about it who makes all the grocery decisions and spending decisions); one estimate has women directing $72 trillion by 2020. So we can do this; it won’t even be hard. We can change the game.”
They Believe In The Power of Smart Tech
At Ellevest, impact investments are specifically designed to generate measurable, positive social and/or environmental outcomes —with a focus on advancing women. Through these funds, Ellevest actively supports businesses that work to improve the environment, support and advance women, and enhance lives around the world.
Here are examples of what investments in the digital Ellevest Impact Portfolio include:
- Funds that support growing small businesses owned by women and other underrepresented populations.
- Funds that invest in companies that care about sustainability, value transparency, and good governance, and promote social responsibility (ESG).
As more women invest, we will demonstrate through our collective force that we believe in each other enough to invest in each other. We will show our economic power by choosing investments that advance women and help improve our world.
In fact, management consulting firm McKinsey finds that the global economy could be between $12 trillion and $18 trillion larger in 2025 if women were employed at the same rate, in the same roles, with the same pay as men. $28 trillion??? That’s bigger than the gross domestic product of any single country on this planet, including the United States and China.
In other words, investing in women is good for business. It also good for the economy, and good for people of all genders. Win-win. Please join us. You can learn more here.
Simple. Adaptable. Practical
Ellevest’s impact investments look at companies not just for their earnings potential, but also by how well their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices are lined up.”
Here are some examples:
- Companies with high environmental standards
- Companies that hold high social standards
- Companies with high governance standards
So, you might be asking now why that matters for women. It matters for women because investing in companies with an ESG lens helps advance women because all of those factors — environment and climate change, poor governance and corruption, unequal pay, and the lack of gender diversity — all have a disproportionately higher effect on women.
Let’s do this. Women direct trillions of dollars in consumer spending. It’s time for us to use our financial power to change the money for all women (more on why here). So, by investing in companies with high ESG standards, we’re not only making money, we help to advance women around the world. And that’s worthwhile all by itself, of course.
Working to put more money in the hands of more women isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s the smart thing to do. And it’s time.
Let’s disrupt money. Together.
For when you don’t have a retirement fund…
Don’t sound the alarm – yet. Ellevest can get you set up in less than 10 minutes so you can reach all of your money goals. Sans judgment, finance jargon, and trust issues. Crisis, averted. Get into it here.*
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We’re excited to be working with Ellevest to start conversations about women and money. If you become an Ellevest client, we will be compensated.
Questions? We’re here to help. Leave us a comment and we’ll get back to you!
