Equita Financial Network, founded in 2018, aims to help women-led firms grow through collaboration.

As women are increasingly launching their own financial planning firms, some are finding new pathways to growth by pooling their resources.

Although women-owned firms are gaining clients -- particularly women investors, who are increasingly controlling their household's finances -- the level of assistance generally available in the industry hasn't proven equal to the demand. Fort Washington, Pennsylvania-based Equita Financial Network said it plans to fill that gap for this growing segment and since August has added three member firms, making a total of 10 women-owned firms now on the platform.

Equita, which was launched in 2018 by Bridget Venus Grimes and Katie Burke, offers financial planning resources, information technology services, back-office support and investment solutions to existing registered investment advisor firms through partnerships. The firm oversees $283 million, according to its latest Form ADV, updated in August.

"Financial planning and financial advising are really expensive," said Grimes, who is also president of financial planning firm WealthChoice. "Equita provides all of the resources [women] owners need in order to run a really top-notch investment advisory and financial planning firm and get amazing investment solutions."

Those resources include access to a community of fee-only women advisors who have achieved the Certified Financial Planner designation as well as a centralized technology hub with services that include performance reporting, a customer relationship management system and streamlined billing through Advyzon; a subscription to financial planning software through eMoney Advisor; and access to investment solutions and practice management support through Dimensional Fund Advisors and others, according to Equita's website.

Firms are charged $1,500 per month in advance on a quarterly basis and an annual portfolio management fee of 20 basis points of assets under management, also paid quarterly, according to the website. Equita's member firms are on a shared Form ADV and use Charles Schwab as their primary custodian, according to the firm.

Equita does not take an equity stake in its member firms, which maintain their independent brands and "own" their client relationships, the firm notes on its website.

Help WantedAs more women gain greater access to finances, the market for female financial advisors increases. Women already control nearly one-third of global wealth, manage more than $10 trillion in total U.S. household financial assets, and by 2030 are expected to inherit much of the $30 trillion in assets now possessed by baby boomers, noted State Street Global Advisors in its 2024 Influential Investor Segment Study, citing a 2020 McKinsey & Co. report.

But just 23.8% of certified financial planners are women, according to a recent CFP Board study, which noted that the figure significantly lags a Bureau of Labor Statistics finding that women represent 31% of all U.S.-based advisors, which is still a "definite minority," the CFP Board said in a recent study.

"As a Black female financial planner, I seem to attract people that are like me," said Shehara Wooten, founder and financial planner at Dallas-based fee-only fiduciary firm Your Story Financial. "I joined [Equita Financial] because I wanted to be able to really focus on what I do best -- financial planning."

While it is evident that there is a wealth gap, Equita has been able to provide Wooten's clients the proper resources and tools, despite those clients not having "enough assets" by other providers' estimations, Wooten added.

Your Story Financial, which launched in 2016, offers cash flow planning, investment management and financial planning. The firm joined Equita's network in August.

Melinda "Mindy" McCubbin said Equita provides women the chance to collaborate with each other to prove that there are unique methods to designing and growing their firms. She also says Equita provides a wide-ranging field of flexibility, which she believes hasn't been available for a lot of women in the industry.

McCubbin's Missouri-based financial planning firm, Truman Wealth Advisors, launched in 2018 and the following year became the first member firm in Equita's network. Truman Wealth serves retirees, families, women, executives and entrepreneurs with offerings that include retirement planning, investment strategic services and investment planning.

For Amy Hamasaki, president of fee-only fiduciary firm Mountain Wealth Planning, partnering with Equita "greatly freed up" her schedule, which allows her to provide her clients more in-depth planning and work for herself.

Mountain Wealth, which was launched in 2020, joined Equita Financial as a member firm this May. Prior to launching her firm, Hamasaki was a wealth advisor for Mariner Wealth Advisors and held roles at Charles Schwab and Prudential Financial, according to her LinkedIn profile.

And for Stefanie Crowe, CEO and founder of fee-only advisory firm AegleWealth, Equita plays the role of "infrastructure" for her firm, allowing her to "cast my own vision" on deciding how her firm and services are going to be "relevant to different demographics."

Chattanooga, Tennessee-based AegleWealth, which launched in 2020, offers estate planning and succession and retirement planning to families, women and entrepreneurs. AegleWealth joined Equita's network that same year.

Despite starting her firm during a different stage in her life and career and not having a book of business, Equita allowed her to start from the very beginning, Crowe said, adding that she found it "exciting" that the member firms are not being "penalized" for focusing on women.