The financial industry is working to position itself to better serve the needs of a rapidly expanding client base. What is that client base? Women. So how do you as an advisor gain your stake of this growing market? Start by understanding women’s views about money, which can be very different from their male counterparts.
An article from The Wall Street Journal discusses women’s growing wealth, their desire to increase understanding and participation in financial matters, and views about money.
Clients From Venus
The Wall Street Journal
April 30, 2012
By Ruthie Ackerman
“Women control $8 trillion in assets in the U.S., and by 2020 are expected to control $22 trillion, according to TD Ameritrade Institutional, a division of TD Ameritrade Inc. Individual women are increasingly wealthy, too. Some 27% of millionaires world-wide were women in 2010, up from 24% in 2008, according to a report by Capgemini SA and Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management.” This client base is not only expanding due to increases in wealth, but also as more women resolve themselves to be engaged in financial matters.
Addressing the needs of women clients requires advisors to understand those needs and how they can best be served. Women are not content with the overall services and products offered by the financial industry. The article references a 2010 Boston Consulting Group study, sharing “Those surveyed said the industry doesn’t understand that women view money and wealth differently from men. For example, women don’t seek to accumulate money, the study reported, but see it as a way to care for their families, improve their lives and find security.”
Candace Bahr, of Bahr Investment Group, provides findings from her experience in the article, “”Men are extremely competitive about money management,” she says. “They think, ‘how much money can I make and how much more is it than the benchmark or the guy sitting next to me?’ For women, it is about having enough money for our family and the opportunity to build a better life.””
The image below was included in the article, displaying the percentage of individuals who have over one million dollars in investable assets that are women on the left, and highlighting some difference in concerns regarding financial issues between women and men.
To help better serve the needs of women, advisor should explore increasing their role in educating clients and addressing financial concerns of if the clients have enough money for a secure a comfortable future, rather than focusing on investment performance. Taking the time to go through the process of creating a financial plan is a great way to increase the clients understanding of their financial situation and outlook for the future.
