Ellevest raises financial planning fee 33% in upmarket shift

Ellevest, an RIA backed by Melinda French Gates to serve women investors, has raised its financial planning fee by 33% from $3,600 to now $4,800 annually. 

According to Ellevest’s July 10 Form ADV filing, the firm has also removed the monthly payment option as part of its increased comprehensive financial planning fee. Clients enrolled in the service will be invoiced via third-party vendor AdvicePay on a quarterly, or semi-annually or annual basis.  

“We recently updated fees for new financial planning clients, in line with industry trends, to reflect our scope of our planning services,” an Ellevest spokesperson told InvestmentNews. “As part of this update, we have phased out monthly billing in favor of an annual, quarterly, or semi-annual structure, which better aligns with how our services are delivered and what our clients prefer.” 

Ellevest was founded in 2014 by Wall Street titan Sallie Krawcheck, who stepped down as CEO in 2024 as Sylvia Kwan has since become the CEO of Ellevest. The firm’s mission is to close the gender investment gap, and its investors include Melinda French Gates' Pivotal Ventures, Astia Venture Fund, Khosla, Morningstar, and PayPal Ventures. 

“These adjustments support our continued commitment to delivering personalized, fiduciary advice and an exceptional client experience,” added the Ellevest spokesperson. 

Industry-wide fee pressure

Ellevest’s fixed annual financial planning fee increase marks its latest upmarket shift after the company sold its robo-advisor business to Betterment in February 2025. Ellevest’s financial planning fee provides one-on-one access to a CFP, and comes in addition to the AUM-based investment management advisory fee ranging from 1.25% annually on Ellevest client accounts between $500,000 and $1,000,000, scaling down to 0.35% on accounts above $100 million. 

"I don’t see this (the Ellevest news) as a reflection of the cost of serving women specifically. It is more likely a reflection of the rising cost of delivering comprehensive financial planning,” Cary Carbonaro, wealth advisor at Ashton Thomas, told InvestmentNews. “Many advisors have held fees steady since the pandemic despite higher staffing, technology and compliance costs, in part because of ongoing fee compression.” 

According to the 2026 State of Financial Planning Fees study by Datos Insights, prepared for EnvestnetMoneyGuide, the average annual retainer fee among advisors who charge separately for financial planning has surged 52% since 2023, climbing from $4,484 to $6,815. The study, which surveyed 491 advisors in the first quarter of this year, found that 53% of advisors who charge for planning raised their fee in the past 12 months.  

“Eliminating monthly billing may also be an administrative decision, since collecting smaller monthly payments can be less efficient. More firms are likely to revisit whether their pricing accurately reflects the scope and value of the advice they provide,” Carbonaro, an author and CFP Board ambassador, added on Ellevest’s fee change.   

This month’s Form ADV from Ellevest reported the RIA having about $1.1 billion in assets under management across 474 client accounts, which marks a drop from the $2 billion AUM figure Ellevest announced it had reached in March 2024. 

Rival RIA holds steady 

Francis Financial, another RIA that specializes in serving women, generally requires client accounts to have at least $2 million in assets under management. The firm bundles financial planning into its investment management fee, which ranges from 0.5% to 1% of AUM according to its latest Form ADV from March 2025. 

“At Francis Financial, we are holding steady on our fees and do not anticipate an increase in the near future. We regularly review our pricing, but we do not believe clients should face fee increases simply because another firm or the broader industry has raised its rates,” Stacy Francis, president and CEO of Francis Financial, told InvestmentNews. 

Francis is also the founder of Savvy Ladies, a non-profit that offers free financial education support to women.  

“There are legitimate pressures behind rising fees as firms are spending more time with clients helping with more advanced tax and estate planning as well as executive compensation, family dynamics/generational planning, and ongoing behavioral finance,” said Francis. “Firms are also absorbing higher compensation for staff as the competition for talent is fierce. On top of this technology, cybersecurity, insurance, and regulatory costs have all increased.” 

Francis Financial manages about $800 million in client assets. The RIA does charge a minimum fee of $3,000 per year for Asset Management via Institutional Intelligent Portfolios, as well as a divorce financial planning fee of $10,000 flat for up to 30 hours, then $400/hour. 

“Retainer-based firms like Ellevest are finding that they need to raise their fees to keep pace with those expenses,” added Francis. “I would not interpret one firm’s 33% increase as evidence that the entire industry is about to make a similar move.”