00:00So let's talk a little bit about that next generation, because, of course, Ellevest has been very vocal about the
00:05feminization of wealth,
00:07the idea that there is a big wealth transfer coming specifically into the hands of more women.
00:12And I wonder where we are on that sort of timeline and whether or not, you know, the investment community,
00:18whether or not the financial advisor community is prepared for that.
00:21Yeah, we're already seeing it. The great wealth transfer is obviously already underway.
00:25And I think when I think about the feminization of wealth, it's really describing not just the growing economic power
00:31of women.
00:32As you mentioned, women are coming into more wealth through the great wealth transfer, through divorce, through building more businesses,
00:39through climbing up the corporate ladder. But more importantly, it really describes how that growing economic power is going to
00:47create significant shifts
00:49in giving, in investing, in spending, which can have ripple effects for the economy.
00:56And so it's not just the growing economic power, but it's really the potential seismic shifts that we're going to
01:02see in the economy.
01:03And that's really the feminization of wealth.
01:05Well, I'm really interested in, you know, how basically the wealth management community shifts around that,
01:12particularly the financial advisor community.
01:15I mean, how can financial advisors sort of stay relevant in a world where you do have that wealth transfer
01:20and you do have more money coming into the hands of women?
01:23Yeah, so the financial industry, so it was really built, the models that we use in the financial industry
01:30were really built for careers and lives that are really more linear, that really reflect men's lives.
01:37So if you think about it, we all talk about accumulating wealth, growing wealth, retiring, drawing down wealth,
01:44and then giving away wealth.
01:46Women's lives, not so linear.
01:49They're more cyclical.
01:50They're nonlinear.
01:51Women take more career breaks to care for children or for parents.
01:55They pivot their careers more often.
01:57And so what are priorities for a woman in their 20s or very different in their 30s, 40s, and 50s?
02:04And those traditional kind of just single models aren't working so well.
02:09So women, what we found, are really looking for life-stage and career-stage specific advice
02:15that really reflects their lived realities.
02:18I am curious just about the LFS approach to this, though, in terms of targeting,
02:23and particularly since you took over.
02:24I mean, you've been leading this company for a little over a year now.
02:28You got rid of the robo-advisor.
02:30I mean, your background was basically in kind of, you know, robo-advisor, for lack of a better phrase, here.
02:38What's your goal here?
02:39I mean, I thought everyone was moving into more of a sort of a digital, agentic, sort of robo-style
02:44form of advisory.
02:47Well, because of the great wealth transfer and what we found in our research is women don't feel as prepared.
02:54This may be the very first time that women have full agency and independence over their money,
02:59and they're not feeling prepared.
03:00So we feel as a firm we are very well positioned to help those women who are now coming into
03:06real wealth
03:07to manage and build it with intention.
03:10And so our firm now is 100% focused on wealth management and financial planning
03:16in order to help those women that are coming into this new economic power.
03:19I mean, you are a quant by background, let's say.
03:23I mean, I don't want to belabor this point, but we talk about just sort of the idea, you know,
03:27obviously advisory to a large degree is about the human interaction.
03:30Absolutely.
03:31And obviously, you know, your famous dissertation on kind of, you know, behavioral investing
03:34and social interaction and all that stuff here.
03:36But is that still applicable in a world where everybody seems to be rushing more towards technology?
03:42It is 100% applicable.
03:44And where I see it happening actually with our clients is often in the financial industry.
03:51Like we're really, it's all about returns, right?
03:53How do we optimize portfolios?
03:54How do we beat the benchmark, et cetera?
03:56That is our sole benchmark for success.
04:00But for women, it's not only about returns, but how do they optimize their well-being?
04:05And so we launched a concept called Wealth Care that really takes an expanded approach to wealth management.
04:12And it basically says, hey, you know, what's the right financial answer that's going to maximize your wealth
04:18may not be the right answer for maximizing your well-being.
04:22And so we talk about not only creating, you know, optimizing your returns, but optimizing your life.
04:28Well, when it comes to, you know, optimizing your returns and that question about how do you, you know,
04:32sort of maximize your wealth, I have to imagine a big part of the potential answer there is taxes, you
04:38know,
04:39sort of the after-tax return.
04:40We've seen that really across the investment community.
04:43How are you thinking about it at Ellevest?
04:45A hundred percent.
04:46Taxes is one of those known things.
04:49And I don't think people pay enough attention to that because that is something,
04:54fees and taxes, for example, are known things.
04:56And there are a number of different strategies that can be used that we use in order to help our
05:02clients maximize after-tax returns.
05:05Because that's really the bottom line is how much you're actually going to be keeping in your pocket.
05:08Yeah, absolutely.
05:10Yeah, this category of tax alpha, it seems to be erupting when you think about different investment products out there.
05:15But I want to go back a little bit to, you know, how women are approaching wealth.
05:21Because you mentioned, you know, it's not just about maximizing return necessarily.
05:25And when it comes to women and how they invest, there are perceptions out there that women tend to be,
05:30you know, less risk-averse.
05:32They tend to be a little bit more conservative with their investments.
05:35But what does your data, what does working with your clients that show you about, you know,
05:41which of those theories, those conceptions actually hold water?
05:45So there is a misperception that women are risk-averse.
05:49We believe that women are not risk-averse.
05:52They're actually risk-aware.
05:53So that means that women take more time to really understand the risks that they're taking.
05:59But once they have and they're investing, they are really great long-term investors.
06:04And they don't overreact to things like volatility and headlines and things like that.
06:10And so it's just taking more time.
06:12It's not like they're shying away from risk.
06:14It's taking the time to understand risk, and then once they do, they're in it for the long term.
06:20I mean, use the wealth care moniker.
06:23I mean, is that just a rebranding of just regular, you know, financial advice,
06:27or is this kind of a completely different product, if you will, for lack of a better phrase?
06:31I don't think it is.
06:32It's not really a product.
06:33It's really maybe an approach.
06:34I call it kind of a functional approach to wealth management.
06:36So it just says, hey, it's not just about returns anymore, because if you are not living your best life,
06:43what's the point of having more wealth?
06:45Yeah.
06:46And so what we really try to do is help our clients dig deep and figure out what does that
06:50life look like,
06:51and then how do we optimize their finances in order to support that life?
06:55Is there a sense, though, too?
06:56I mean, I know when we talk about returns, I mean, we generally talk about it strictly from, you know,
07:01whatever the financial yield was on the investment here, taking that more holistic approach of the person's life,
07:08particularly as they age.
07:09And we were actually just talking about this a little bit earlier with Tim Sloan,
07:12and it's kind of the way they're structuring sort of real estate products for a tax-advantaged basis.
07:17Does this apply just beyond women, though?
07:20Because, I mean, a lot of what you're saying makes sense, and I think a lot of men could benefit
07:24from that,
07:24and particularly as you age up and you start having to think about not just your own financial yield,
07:30but what you're passing on to your children and beyond.
07:34Absolutely.
07:34Yes.
07:35I think it applies to everybody.
07:38But particularly I think women are really resonating with that because women traditionally have been what I call the chief
07:46care officers, right?
07:48You know, caring for kids and family, et cetera, and community.
07:51And so wealth to them means more than just growing the pie.
08:00And so that's why wealth care is really resonating, and it's really making our clients really think about what's really
08:06important to them.
08:07Yeah.
08:08And how do then we use wealth as a tool to create the life they want to live.
08:14And you think that overall, just in terms of the business, this is going to help you scale up a
08:18little bit more?
08:18I mean, in terms of assets under management, you're just going to bring in more people?
08:22Yes.
08:22It's getting a lot of traction and a lot of risk.
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