Build Robo Advisor Ellevest Portfolios With ETFs

What are the Robo Advisor Ellevest porfolios?

The Ellevest portfolios are exposed to between 50% stocks and 50% bonds and 100% stocks and 0% bonds.

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Performance of robo-advisor Ellevest portfolios

Here is the return of the Ellevest portfolios when using our timeseries.

Portfolio data was last updated on 11th of August 2023, 08:35 ET

NameYear to dateReturn in 202210 year returnCAGR since 1989 (%)Draw DownExpense ratioYield
Ellevest Wealthbuilding Portfolio 15.7-11.365.417.03-20.290.07%2.12
Ellevest Wealthbuilding Portfolio 26.16-11.975.747.27-22.360.07%2.18
Ellevest Wealthbuilding Portfolio 36.54-12.46.047.57-24.550.07%2.22
Ellevest Wealthbuilding Portfolio 48.21-13.877.068.17-30.60.06%2.28
Ellevest Wealthbuilding Portfolio 58.8-14.237.418.35-32.580.06%2.29
Ellevest Wealthbuilding Portfolio 69.51-14.797.858.56-34.540.06%2.3
Ellevest Wealthbuilding Portfolio 78.8-14.237.418.35-32.580.06%2.29
Ellevest Wealthbuilding Portfolio 89.51-14.797.858.56-34.540.06%2.3
Ellevest Wealthbuilding Portfolio 910.13-15.328.188.72-36.540.06%2.32
Ellevest Wealthbuilding Portfolio 109.51-14.797.858.56-34.540.06%2.3
Ellevest Wealthbuilding Portfolio 1110.13-15.328.188.72-36.540.06%2.32
Ellevest Wealthbuilding Portfolio 1210.75-15.768.58.83-38.50.06%2.31
Performance for Robo Advisor Ellevest porfolios

Here is what the table is showing you

Year to date: This shows what the portfolio has returned this year starting from the first trading day of the year.

10 Year return: This shows the compounded annualized growth rate over a ten-year period. The current year is excluded from calculations.

CAGR since 1989: This shows the compounded annualized growth rate since 1989. The current year is excluded from calculations.

Expense ratio: This shows the cost of holding the portfolio if you were to construct the portfolio using the proposed ETFs.

Yield: This is the expected dividend yield of the portfolio.

Please note that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns.

How do Ellevest’s portfolios compare to the best portfolios?

Below you can see the returns of the best portfolios that we have benchmarked.

NameSee PortfolioYear to dateReturn in 202210 year returnCAGR since 1989 (%)Draw Down
Ben Stein RetirementComing soon!4.05-18.039.4610.8-35.42
Paul Merriman 4-Fund-PortfolioComing soon!9.22-11.9811.2510.38-35.26
S&P 500Coming soon!17.09-18.1912.5210.28-37.63
Paul Merriman Target Date Portfolio (25 year old)Coming soon!6.63-13.088.2810.2-36.46
Scott Adams Dilbert PortfolioComing soon!10.87-18.757.010.19-44.88
JL Collins, Simple Path To Wealth, Wealth Building PortfolioComing soon!16.6-19.5112.0810.19-37.0
American Institute of Individual Investors (AAII) PortfolioComing soon!3.74-13.919.710.16-40.85
Paul Merriman Target Date Portfolio (35 year old)Coming soon!6.57-13.228.3110.08-36.35
Assetbuilder.com Portfolio 14Coming soon!6.95-16.947.599.99-37.91
Balanced Portfolio 90/10Coming soon!14.83-18.8711.039.84-32.78
The 10 Best Performing Portfolios That We Have Benchmarked

What is Ellevest?

Ellevest was founded in 2014. It is a roboadvisor explicitly targeting women.

Ellevest competes with many other robo advisor firms such as Betterment, Wealthfront, and Wealthsimple.

Ellevest is fueled by the sentiment that many women feel intimated by investing. Ellevest tries to use empowering words and pictures to draw women to their platform.

 

Description of robo-advisor Ellevest portfolios

Morningstar builds the Ellevest portfolios. We have seen from the Morningstar’s portfolios that they love to have many asset classes.

Ellevest uses many portfolio asset classes for its portfolios. Ellevest also has many portfolios. They claim to have over a hundred.

For this reason, we decided only to benchmark a selected portion of Ellevest’s portfolios.

Here’s how we selected the portfolios.

We chose the goal of “wealth-building.” Within that goal, we chose the time frames:

  • Five years
  • Ten years
  • Fifteen years
  • Twenty years

Then, within each timeframe, you can select three risk levels

  • Conservative
  • Standard
  • Aggressive

The timeframe tweaks the risk level very slightly.

We thus have 12 portfolios to benchmark (4 timeframes times three risk levels)

We give the portfolios a number ranging from 1 – 12, denoting their risk level. 12 is the portfolio with the most risk.

So portfolio 1 is for a timeframe of 5 years with a conservative level of risk. Portfolios 12 is for a timeframe of 20 years with an aggressive risk level.

Are you confused yet?

It gets even more confusing – hang in there.

Ellevest also has impact portfolios. These are socially responsible investing portfolios (ESG portfolios). They use very particular funds that do not have a long track record. If you want a socially responsible portfolio, we recommend checking our socially responsible investment portfolios that portfolioeinstein.com track.

You don’t need hundreds of portfolios to help your customers.

We are not (yet) tracking Ellevest’s impact portfolios.

Asset class choices

Morningstar, which has built the Ellevest portfolios, uses a lot of asset classes.

  • Ellevest use muni bonds when you are close to your target (lower risk)
  • They use REITs and junk bonds early on to capture as much return as possible
  • They use some very rarely seen asset classes like the high yield municipal bonds (HYD). We use corporate bonds as a proxy for this. They have comparable returns and risk levels.

I was already impressed by the Morningstar portfolios, and Ellevest gives off the same impression.

They come off as being highly asset allocation clever. They use the right tools for the right job.

For all the complexity that the Ellevest portfolios display, some of the portfolios are identical. For example, portfolios 5 and 7 are the same. In Ellevest, these correspond to 10 years till goal on a standard risk level and 15 years till goal on a conservative risk level. The same goes for portfolios 6 and 8. And the same with 8 and 10 and 11 and 9.

Alright, let take a look at the performance.

 

What is the asset allocation for robo-advisor Ellevest portfolios?

Where can I learn more about robo-advisor Ellevest?

Check out the Ellevest YouTube channel.

Suggestions for your next steps

If you have already committed to a portfolio then maybe you need help maintaining the portfolio. In this case you will find our rebalance worksheet useful.

Rebalancing your portfolio lowers your risk and may provide higher returns in the long run. It is completely FREE.

You can find the rebalance worksheet in our article Here Is The Most Easy To Use Portfolio Rebalance Tool.