Ellevest Review: Robo-Investing, Career Counseling, and More

Ellevest is one of the best robo-advisors we've found, and the platform is designed specifically to help women take control of our financial futures. Its well-rounded offer suite includes traditional investing services, plus career coaching, personal finance workshops, and banking. In this Ellevest review, we'll take an in-depth look at how the robo-advisor platform works, what it costs, and the features it offers.

This platform is a good fit for: Women and people who want to take the guesswork out of investing by using a robo-advisor. Ellevest is also valuable for its career and financial planning services and competitive costs. While the brand focuses on women, its services take gender-specific data into account to serve people of all genders.

Top perks

Flat monthly fee

Ellevest charges a flat $12 monthly fee, while competitors typically charge a percentage of assets under management (AUM).

No minimum balance

Unlike many robo-advisors, Ellevest's service has no minimum deposit requirement to get started. You can open an account with $1.

Female-founded, owned, managed, and focused

Ellevest refers to itself as a company "designed by women, for women." Its data and recommendations take into account factors like gender pay gaps, career breaks, and the difference in average lifespan among genders. The company was founded to address the gender wealth gap women and other underrepresented people experience due to their gender. The company welcomes clients of all gender identities and expressions -- it just places more emphasis on gender-related financial gaps than most platforms.

Financial planning

All Ellevest members can purchase discounted one-on-one coaching sessions with financial planners. Non-members can also purchase sessions at their retail value -- for reference, a single 30-minute call with a CFP® professional is $398 for non-clients and $199 for clients. All financial planners with Ellevest are Certified Financial Planner™ professionals. In addition to one-off sessions, you can purchase annual access to a CFP®. Unlike many competitors, Ellevest works to give you a dedicated CFP® with that package, so you'll talk to the same planner every time. Depending on your membership tier, the discounts on this service can make it much cheaper than finding a financial planner on your own.

Career coaching

Ellevest members can purchase discounted one-on-one career coaching on topics that include:

• Career clarity
• Resume review
• Interview prep
• Negotiation
• Leadership

Non-members can also purchase coaching and courses at their retail price.

Automatic rebalancing

Most robo-advisors automatically rebalance client portfolios, but this is still worth mentioning. If asset allocation in your portfolio gets out of alignment with your goals, Ellevest will automatically make adjustments. Even better, Ellevest does it as needed. Some competitors only rebalance at certain intervals (such as twice a year).

Impact Portfolio

In addition to its core portfolio options, Ellevest offers options for socially responsible investing, with portfolios that put your money in companies with good track records for:

• Women in leadership
• Sustainability and ethics
• Supporting women-owned businesses and community services

Low-cost ETFs

Ellevest invests client assets in low-cost exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These have expense ratios ranging from 0.05% to 0.10% for Ellevest's core portfolios. For its Impact Portfolio options, the annual expenses are in a slightly higher (but still competitive) 0.13% to 0.19% range.

What could be improved

Tax-loss harvesting

Ellevest offers tax minimization strategies, including using investments like tax-free municipal bond funds in taxable accounts. However, unlike some of its competitors, it doesn't offer tax-loss harvesting strategies. If you have a large amount to invest or are in a high federal income tax bracket, tax-loss harvesting could be a valuable benefit.

Account types

Ellevest offers individual brokerage accounts as well as traditional, Roth, and SEP IRAs. It does not offer joint brokerage or banking accounts, so you can't open an account to share with a partner. It also doesn't offer:

• Trusts
• College savings accounts
• Solo 401(k)
• A few other less commonly used account types.

Ellevest does provide 401(k) guidance to its clients and will help you rollover your 401(k) into an Ellevest IRA if you leave your employer.

Commissions

Ellevest doesn't charge commissions on its funds. Instead, you'll pay a $12 flat monthly fee for an Ellevest membership.

Investors with $1 million more under management with Ellevest can sign up for Private Wealth Management for an additional annual management fee between 0.55% to 1.00%, depending on AUM.

Buying mutual funds and ETFs

You may have to cover fees charged by the brokerage firms Ellevest works with to manage funds. That could include service fees, IRA fees, mutual fund fees, and other operating expenses. The prospectus for a fund will include all the fees you'll pay when you invest in a particular fund.

For mutual funds, you'll pay expense ratios charged by the ETFs Ellevest includes in your portfolio. These are charged as an annual percentage of assets in the ETF and range from 0.05% to 0.10% for core portfolios and 0.13% to 0.19% for impact investing portfolios.

Fees

Ellevest charges a flat $12 monthly fee for membership that includes up to six portfolios, retirement planning, automatic rebalancing, and 50% discounts on CFP® appointments.

Trading platform

To set up your membership, you'll answer a few simple questions about yourself. Once you're a member, you can set up investing, or come back to them later.

Like most robo-advisors, Ellevest starts the investing process by asking a series of questions about you as an investor. These questions include your age (for retirement planning) and investment goals. It uses your information to craft an investment portfolio made up of low-cost ETFs. Each portfolio is designed to produce maximum returns while staying within your acceptable risk level. You make deposits -- Ellevest does the rest. You'll also get monthly progress reports by email to keep you in the loop.

Like most robo-advisors, Ellevest creates custom-made investment portfolios based on your personal situation. Unlike other robo-advisors, Ellevest offers a particular focus on gender-related factors. The platform also offers:

• Automatic rebalancing of your portfolio to stay on track with goals and risk factors
• Discounts on appointments booked with financial experts
• Educational resources including on-demand email courses, live workshops, video content and a personal finance blog called Magazine

In addition, Ellevest's membership pricing structure can make investing far cheaper than it is with many brokerages. The flat rate is especially appealing if you have an account with several hundred thousand dollars invested, because you'll pay the same as someone with $10,000 invested.

Ellevest also offers Private Wealth Management for those looking to invest $1 million or more. With this service, you'll get a dedicated financial advisor who will work to help you reach your money goals. This bespoke service comes with an investment management fee and isn't included with an Ellevest monthly membership.

Research offerings

Ellevest doesn't offer investment research tools, because it doesn't let members pick individual securities to invest in. Instead, it matches you with a portfolio of ETFs and mutual funds based on your goals and circumstances.

Customer service and support

Robo-advisor clients need two types of support: investment advice from a human being and help with technical issues. Let's take a look at how Ellevest stacks up.

All Ellevest members have access to platform support and general questions from the Ellevest Client Support Team, as well as discounts on one-on-one sessions for more specific money or career advice. The rollover team will also help you roll over your 401(k), even including calling your provider together.

For accessibility issues, Ellevest asks you to contact [email protected] or call 844-355-7100. However, Ellevest doesn't offer numbers you can reach out to for technical support. This is a much more feeble offering than competitors, who typically offer phone and chat support.

• You want an investment and financial strategy that factors in gender-specific financial concerns.
• You want access to a dedicated Certified Financial Planner® professional or a career counselor.
• You want to start investing, but don't have a ton of money to contribute right away.
• You want to open an individual brokerage account or IRA.
• You aren't terribly concerned with the tax implications of your investments or are planning to invest in a tax-advantaged (retirement) account.

At The Motley Fool Ascent, brokerages are rated on a scale of one to five stars. We primarily focus on fees, available assets, and account types; however, we also take into account features like research, education, tax-loss harvesting, and highly rated mobile apps. Our highest-rated brokerages generally include low fees, a diverse range of assets and account types, and useful platform features.

See our full methodology here: Ratings Methodology