Advisors Katie Burke and Bridget Grimes launched Equita Financial Network in May for women-led financial planning firms.
Both advisors said they’ve dealt with unhealthy business environments that Grimes defined as an “an all boys network.” She wrote in an Equita blog post that she’s been paid less than male planners, and been told that she was too ambitious or too old and that her efforts to bring women together were a waste of time.
Burke said most women at the firms where she was employed were assistants, so there were no women role models or mentors. That situation is not uncommon in an industry dominated by male advisors.
The two women created Equita Financial Network, a registered investment advisor (RIA) network in California and Pennsylvania for women-led firms, with their practices as its only members upon its debut.
“Unlike most RIA roll-ups, Equita is really a platform to bring together like-minded women financial planners,” explained Burke, founder of Method Financial Planning in Fountainville, Pa. “Equita’s goal is not to just aggregate assets, but rather to help women-led firms be successful through collaboration and sharing of resources.” Grimes is president of San Diego-based Wealth Choice.
Membership in the network includes services that large wirehouses and other RIAs offer. Burke and Grimes have partnered with TD Ameritrade Institutional and Schwab Advisor Services as Equita’s custodians. Other services include compliance support, financial planning software, insurance, tech support and practice management tools. They’ve also partnered with Dimensional Fund Advisors to provide assistance with portfolio management.
The cost of the resources that Equita provides is shared among all members, said Burke. Equita does not currently offer a stake in the network to members or invest in their firms.
“The fees to be on the platform are at cost, so member firms keep what they earn over and above the cost to run their business,” explained Grimes. “However, decisions as to the resources on the platform and contracts with resources are all between Equita and the service provider, so the member firm just pays to plug into the resources.”
The caveat is that women-led firms that become members need to match Grimes and Burke’s financial planning values. To be a part of Equita, advisors must have a Certified Financial Planner designation, act as fiduciaries, be an independent RIA or an investment advisor representative, have a blemish-free firm record and invest for clients in mutual funds, investment-grade bonds and ETFs.
The platform is for women who own their own business or aspire to own their own business, explained Burke and Grimes.