Business Insider
Sallie Krawcheck is encouraging women to be "risk aware" rather than risk averse.
But the uncertainty and risk that comes with the markets is very often a major deterrent, especially for women, who invest at a much lower rate than men in the US.
Just 28% of women are willing to take on high risk to get a good return on their investment, compared to 45% of men, according to a 2015 report by BlackRock.
Women tend to be less concerned with beating the market - the focus of much of the modern investment industry - and more interested in assuring that their money won't disappear completely, according to Sallie Krawcheck, a former Wall Street executive and the founder of Ellevate, a global network for professional women.
"What she really wants to see is how bad can it get," Krawcheck previously told Business Insider. "This is what keeps her from investing."
Mid-2016, Krawcheck devised a solution for the gender-investment gap when she launched Ellevest, a digital investing platform that puts users' money in low-cost ETFs based on a pick-and-choose set of goals, like starting a business, buying a home, having children, and retiring comfortably.
Beyond that, Ellevest takes into account the established facts of how women's financial experiences differ from men's: longer lifespans, different salary arcs, and the possibility of extended time off from work. This specificity alone differentiates the platform from an emerging crop of startup robo-advisors, including Betterment and Wealthfront.
In September, Ellevest raised $9 million in its second round of funding, including tennis superstar Venus Williams, who is a champion of equal pay and opportunity for women both on and off the court.
Business Insider recently took a test drive of Ellevest's new software. Below, check out the simple (and surprisingly fun) process of setting up an account and creating an investment plan via Ellevest's website (the platform is currently available on mobile devices, but not yet in the app store).
(Note: Business Insider used a hypothetical situation and figures for this demonstration.)